Premium Services Terms & Conditions

These terms and conditions (the “Terms and Conditions”) govern the services provided by Betterment LLC (“Betterment”) when you elect to receive the discretionary investment advisory services and additional features described below (collectively, “Premium Services”) in connection with your wrap program brokerage account with Betterment Securities (“Betterment Securities”) and/or crypto account with Gemini Trust Company (“Gemini”) (such accounts collectively, “Account”) as described in the Betterment Client Agreements. 

These Terms and Conditions set forth certain rights and obligations between you and Betterment when receiving Premium Services. You hereby acknowledge that you have received, carefully read, and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. 

1. Summary

Premium Services are only available to Clients who have agreed to the Betterment Client Agreements, and who meet the Account Balance Threshold (as defined below). In order to receive Premium Services, you must indicate your desire to consult with Betterment’s team of financial consultants (“Financial Consultants”) through Betterment’s online interface (“Interface”). By electing to receive Premium Services, you represent that you have the authority to grant Financial Consultants the right to provide discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services to your Account. 

You understand and acknowledge that, in order to receive Premium Services, you are responsible for contacting Betterment through the Interface to schedule consultations with Financial Consultants. Financial Consultants are not responsible for scheduling consultations with you. You acknowledge and agree that if your goals, financial circumstances, or investment objectives change materially or you wish to impose or modify reasonable restrictions on the management of your Account(s), you will promptly update your information through the Interface or by reaching out to Betterment’s Financial Consultants.

2. Premium Services

A. Discretionary and Non-Discretionary Investment Advice. Betterment’s Financial Consultants provide Premium Services, which are discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services offered over the phone, video conference, as well as over the Internet. As a part of Premium Services, Financial Consultants provide investment advice on your goals, portfolio strategy selections, and asset allocations, as well as advice relating to debt, such as student loans and credit card debt, mortgages, savings, crypto, and retirement (including pensions and social security). Such advice does not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. You acknowledge that any Premium Services, including investment advice or financial planning advice, provided by Financial Consultants is based on information you provide. Financial Consultants will not independently verify any such information. Financial Consultants cannot be held responsible for any recommendations based on inaccurate or incomplete information, and you that if you provide inaccurate or incomplete information, the Premium Services that Betterment provides through Financial Consultant may not match your needs.

B. Consultations with Financial Consultants. If you are receiving Premium Services, you may schedule an unlimited number of telephone or video conference consultations with Financial Consultants, subject to the availability of such Financial Consultants, which may be adjusted to take into account scheduling needs of other Clients. Betterment’s Financial Consultants use a team-based approach to providing Premium Services. You are likely to interact with multiple Financial Consultants. Telephone and video conference consultations will be scheduled on Business Days during Betterment’s normal business hours, as described on the Website. On behalf of and in consultation with you, Financial Consultants are able to access, view, and make certain changes in your Account(s) (as described in Premium Authorized Actions below).

C. Premium Authorized Actions. As a part of Premium Services, you grant Financial Consultants the authority to view, receive, access, provide instructions, and modify your Account information in all communication mediums Betterment offers. Based upon your situation, as determined from questionnaires, written or verbal communications, or your Account information, you grant Financial Consultants the authority to modify your investment selections through the Interface. This includes but is not limited to creating new goals or modifying existing goals within your Account, adjusting your settings (e.g., investment strategies, asset allocations, and enabling or disabling certain automated features), setting an annual realized gains allowance target for your Account (a “gains allowance”), and implementing certain tax-aware migration strategies described below (collectively such actions,  “Premium Authorized Actions”). In accordance with the Betterment Privacy Policy, you also grant Financial Consultants the authority to view, receive, and access information from accounts linked to your Betterment Account, including if applicable, your checking account offered by Betterment Financial through nbkc bank (“Betterment Checking”), a Betterment at Work-offered 401(k) account, 529 account, and any accounts with external financial institutions or brokerage firms that you have linked to your Betterment Account, but Financial Consultants will not have the ability to provide instructions for, or modify, such accounts. 

Betterment may modify the Premium Authorized Actions from time to time and will update these Terms and Conditions to reflect any such modifications. You understand and agree that Premium Authorized Actions are not completed immediately after they are discussed or communicated in a consultation with a Financial Consultant, and that Betterment will not be liable for any missed market gains between the time directions are discussed to undertake a Premium Authorized Action and the time the Premium Authorized Action is complete. In connection with Premium Services, you individually may undertake any Premium Authorized Actions in the Interface except for changing portfolio strategies, which must be communicated to and implemented by a Financial Consultant. 

3. Premium Additional Benefits.

Betterment Clients who elect to receive Premium Services (or upgrade their current Premium Services) on or after April 25, 2024, are eligible for the additional benefits described below. For the avoidance of doubt, clients receiving Premium Services that remain on the legacy Premium Pricing are not eligible for additional benefits.

a. Preferred Cash Reserve Rate. For eligible Clients, Betterment will increase the current standard Cash Reserve rate (“Cash Reserve Rate”) by 0.25% (the “Preferred Rate”) on top of the Cash Reserve Rate during the period of time that you maintain the Account Balance Threshold and receive Premium Services (the “Promotional Period”). The Cash Reserve Rate is subject to change, including during the Promotional Period. For example, if the Cash Reserve Rate decreases during the Promotional Period, the Preferred Rate will also decrease. The Cash Reserve Rate is variable and only applies to Cash Reserve accounts or Cash Reserve goals, not investments. If you fail to maintain the Account Balance Threshold and/or elect to discontinue Premium Services, your interest rate will return to the Cash Reserve Rate at that time. If you elect to exclude Cash Reserve deposits from one or more participating Program Banks, Betterment is unable to guarantee you will receive the Preferred Rate regardless of whether you continue to qualify receiving Premium Services. The Preferred Rate is not valid with other offers, and it is non-transferable. Betterment reserves the right to terminate the Preferred Rate promotion at any time, to limit account bonuses you are eligible to receive, and to refuse or recover any promotion award if Betterment determines that it was obtained under wrongful or fraudulent circumstances, that inaccurate or incomplete information was provided in opening the account, or that any of these Terms and Conditions or Betterment Client Agreements have been violated.

b. Estate Planning Discount via Trust & Will. Eligible Clients can receive a 20% discount (“Discount”) on estate planning services through Betterment’s third-party partner, Huge Legal Technology Company, Inc. d/b/a Trust & Will (“Trust & Will”). In order to receive the Discount, you must elect to receive estate planning services through Betterment’s referral link. Estate planning services are provided solely by Trust & Will. Trust & Will is not an affiliate of Betterment, and Betterment does not receive compensation when you elect to receive services from Trust & Will. The Discount is not an endorsement by Betterment of Trust & Will services. Estate planning laws may vary by state, and you should consider your personal situation and read all relevant terms and conditions before electing to receive estate planning services. Information that you provide Trust & Will in connection with estate planning services will not be incorporated into your Betterment Account(s) unless you provide Betterment with such information. 

c. Prioritized Customer Support. Eligible Clients receiving Premium Services receive prioritized customer support from Betterment’s team of customer support associates, relative to the broader Digital investment advisory services client base. Customer support associates are available to assist with questions about how Betterment works or to help with your account, but are not investment adviser representatives and are not licensed to give financial advice.

d. Subject to Change. The additional benefits that Betterment makes available to Clients receiving Premium Services are subject to change. Betterment may modify the additional benefits described in this Section 3 at any time upon notice to you, which may be posted on the Website or communicated through other electronic means. 

4. Eligibility and Fees

a. Account Balance Threshold. In order to be eligible to receive Premium Services, Clients must meet and maintain a minimum investing balance across eligible investing Accounts of $100,000 (the “Account Balance Threshold”). The eligible investing Accounts of all Clients in a Household will be considered in the aggregate in determining whether the Account Balance Threshold has been satisfied. The eligible investing Account balances included within the Account Balance Threshold include  balances in traditional investing taxable, IRA and HSA accounts, and Betterment Crypto accounts. The Account Balance Threshold does not include balances held in Betterment Checking, Betterment at Work employer-sponsored 401(k) and 529 accounts, and Betterment Cash Reserve accounts. Betterment may, in its sole discretion, reduce or waive the Account Balance Threshold.

b. Fees.  Clients who elect to receive Premium Services (or upgrade their current Premium Services) on or after April 25, 2024, are charged an incremental fee of 0.40% on all assets in their Account on top of the Digital Wrap Fee set forth in the Betterment LLC Advisory Agreement Wrap Fee Schedule (together, annually 0.65% on all assets in the Account). However, for the first two months following your election or upgrade to Premium Services, Betterment will waive a portion of the incremental fee as follows:

i. On or after April 25, 2024, if you are new to Premium when you sign up for Premium Services (i.e., you were previously participating in Betterment’s Digital Plan), you will receive a 60-day waiver of the incremental 0.40% portion of the Premium Wrap Fee and shall continue paying your Digital plan fees for the 60-day period. On or after April 25, 2024, if you upgrade your legacy Premium Services (i.e. you were already receiving Premium Services), you shall continue paying the historical fee for Premium Services of 0.40% for the first 60 days after upgrading, instead of the combine 0.65% fee (both instances referred to as the “Temporary Fee Reduction”).

ii. Betterment reserves the right to terminate the Temporary Fee Reduction at any time, to limit fee waivers you are eligible to receive, and to refuse or recover any fee waiver if Betterment determines that it was obtained under wrongful or fraudulent circumstances, that inaccurate or incomplete information was provided in opening the account, or that any terms of these Terms and Conditions or Betterment Client Agreements have been violated.

5. Limitations

You acknowledge that the Financial Consultant who provides you Premium Services is not an attorney, accountant, or tax professional, and no advice given to you through Premium Services should be interpreted as legal, accounting, or tax advice.

You hereby explicitly provide Betterment with full authorization to communicate any and all information regarding any of Betterment’s advisory services, including your Account(s) or the Program, to or through Financial Consultants, including, but not limited to, any documentation provided by you to Betterment or Betterment Securities. If you are part of a group of clients treated as a single unit for investment advisory services (a “Household”, as further described in the Client Agreements) that receives Premium Services, you hereby acknowledge and agree that personal data regarding your Betterment Account(s) may be shared with other members of your Household through conversations between such other members and Financial Consultants.