At a Glance
Rating Breakdown
Performance Overview
Scores out of 5, based on our editorial analysis
About Ellevest
Ellevest was founded by Sallie Krawcheck, former CEO of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and former CFO of Citigroup, who built the platform on a specific financial thesis: standard retirement calculators and investment models are calibrated to male earnings trajectories and lifespans, systematically shortchanging women. The data supports this. Women live an average of 5 years longer than men, earn 82 cents per male dollar (with wider gaps for women of color), are more likely to take career breaks for caregiving, and are more likely to be single in retirement. A standard retirement calculator that assumes uninterrupted earnings growth and male life expectancy will underestimate a typical woman's savings needs by 15-30%. Ellevest's portfolio construction accounts for these factors. The algorithm uses gender-specific salary curves (including typical career break patterns), female life expectancy tables, and higher projected healthcare costs in retirement. The result is usually a more aggressive savings recommendation and a slightly different asset allocation than a gender-neutral robo-advisor would produce. Whether this justifies the $12/month membership fee versus a free or lower-cost robo-advisor depends on whether you value the gender-specific modeling or can replicate the same outcomes by simply increasing your savings target at Betterment or Wealthfront by 10-15%. The membership model bundles investing, banking, and career coaching into tiered plans. The basic plan ($12/month) includes investment accounts and financial planning. The Plus plan ($5/month more) adds 1:1 coaching sessions and career workshops. The Executive plan ($9/month more) includes retirement planning, stock option guidance, and unlimited coach access. The all-in cost at the top tier is $26/month ($312/year), which on a $50,000 portfolio is equivalent to a 0.62% advisory fee -- more expensive than Betterment (0.25%) but cheaper than a traditional advisor. The value proposition depends heavily on how much you use the coaching.
Key Features
Gender-Specific Financial Modeling
Ellevest's planning engine uses female-specific salary data, life expectancy tables, and career-break probability models to calculate savings goals. The algorithm accounts for the gender pay gap, longer retirements, higher healthcare costs, and Social Security benefit differences. For women earning $75,000 with a planned 2-year career break at age 33, Ellevest's retirement target will be 12-20% higher than what Betterment or Wealthfront would calculate using gender-neutral assumptions.
Financial Planning and Career Coaching
Higher-tier memberships include 1:1 sessions with financial planners and career coaches. The career coaching is unique among investment platforms -- sessions cover salary negotiation, career transitions, and workplace equity issues. These are actual certified professionals, not chatbots or scripted advisors. The career coaching alone can generate significant ROI: a successful salary negotiation of even 3-5% on a $80,000 salary produces $2,400-$4,000 in annual income gains.
Impact Investing Portfolios
Ellevest offers impact-focused portfolio options that tilt toward companies with strong gender diversity metrics, women in leadership, and ESG criteria. The impact portfolios use ETFs screened for these factors. Historical returns have tracked within 0.10-0.50% of non-impact equivalents, though the tracking error can widen during periods when ESG-screened sectors diverge from the broad market.
Ellevest Banking (Spend and Save)
The Ellevest banking product includes a spending account (no fees, no minimums, ATM reimbursements) and a savings account with competitive APY. Banking is included in the membership fee with no additional cost. The integration with the investment side means you can set up automated sweeps from spending to investing based on rules you define.
How It Works
Choose Your Membership Tier
Basic ($12/month) covers investment accounts and digital planning tools. Plus ($17/month) adds 1:1 coaching. Executive ($26/month) includes unlimited coaching, stock option guidance, and retirement planning. Start with Basic unless you have a specific coaching need.
Complete the Financial Plan
Ellevest's onboarding asks detailed questions about salary, career stage, partner income, caregiving plans, and retirement goals. The output is a personalized plan showing your savings target, recommended monthly investment, and projected portfolio growth using gender-specific assumptions.
Fund Your Investment Account
Link a bank account and set up recurring transfers. Ellevest supports individual taxable, IRA (Traditional, Roth, SEP), and retirement accounts. No minimum deposit, though the $12/month fee means very small accounts have a high effective expense ratio.
Set Up Banking (Optional)
The Ellevest spending and savings accounts are included in membership. Direct-depositing your paycheck triggers automatic allocation to spending, saving, and investing based on your plan's recommendations.
Book Coaching Sessions (Plus and Executive)
If your membership includes coaching, book your first session within 30 days. Come prepared with specific questions -- salary negotiation strategy, career transition planning, or retirement withdrawal projections. The sessions are 30-45 minutes via video.
What They Do
- Automated Investing
- Financial Planning
- Career Coaching
- Retirement Planning
- Impact Investing
- Banking (Spend & Save)
- Stock Option Guidance
- Salary Negotiation Coaching
Debt Types They Take On
- Individual Taxable
- Traditional IRA
- Roth IRA
- SEP IRA
- Rollover IRA
Fee & Cost Structure
Regulatory & Trust
Review Summary
Notable Case Studies
Career-Break Planning with Gender-Specific Modeling
A 32-year-old marketing director earning $95,000 planned to take a 2-year career break starting at age 34 for childcare. Ellevest's model projected her return-to-work salary at $85,000 (10% pay cut, consistent with data on career-break reentry) and calculated retirement needs based on female life expectancy of 84.
Salary Negotiation Coaching ROI
A software engineer earning $120,000 used Ellevest's Executive-tier career coaching before a performance review. The coach helped prepare data-backed salary benchmarks, role-specific market rates, and negotiation language.
Impact Portfolio for Values-Aligned Investing
A client invested $75,000 in Ellevest's impact portfolio, which tilts toward companies with women in leadership, strong pay equity practices, and ESG compliance. Over a 2-year period, the impact portfolio returned 14.2% versus 15.1% for the standard portfolio.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Gender-specific financial modeling accounts for pay gaps, career breaks, and longer lifespans -- factors that generic robo-advisors ignore entirely
- Career coaching and salary negotiation services are unique among investment platforms and can generate returns that dwarf the membership fee
- Sallie Krawcheck's background (CEO of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management) lends institutional credibility to the platform's investment methodology
- Impact investing option for values-aligned portfolios with historically modest return drag versus standard allocations
- Banking products included in membership fee -- no additional cost for spending and savings accounts
Cons
- $12-$26/month flat fee is expensive for small accounts -- on a $5,000 portfolio, the Basic plan alone is equivalent to a 2.88% annual fee
- The gender-specific modeling advantage can be replicated at a free or cheaper robo-advisor by simply increasing your savings target 10-15%
- Limited asset selection -- you cannot pick individual stocks, and portfolio customization is minimal beyond choosing standard vs. impact
- The membership model means you pay even if you pause investing or reduce contributions, unlike percentage-based fees that scale with your balance
User Reviews (8)
The planning tools are great
As a woman planning to take time off for kids, the career-break modeling was really helpful. It showed me exactly how much more I need to save before and after. No other platform does this.
fine but pricey for small accounts
I only have about 8k invested. The $12/month fee is a lot as a percentage. I'll probably switch to Betterment once my free trial ends unless I get more money in there.
meh on the investing, great coaching
The actual investment portfolio is nothing special. Same ETFs you get anywhere. But the career coaching is legit. Had 3 sessions and each one was actually useful. That's what I'm paying for.
Coaching paid for itself
Used the salary negotiation coaching before a job change. Got 15k more than my initial offer. The coaching was $26/month. Do the math. My coach Beth was amazing and really prepared me for the conversation.
Subscription model is annoying
I stopped investing for 6 months while between jobs and was still paying $12/month for basically nothing. With Betterment the fee would have been close to zero since it's percentage based. Cancelled and moved to Wealthfront.
Good concept
I like the mission and the gender-specific planning. The retirement number Ellevest gave me was about 20% higher than what I got from other calculators. Scary but probably more accurate.
Can't pick my own investments
Wanted to add some individual stocks to my Ellevest account. Nope. You get their model portfolio and that's it. Same complaint I had about Betterment. Just let me buy what I want.
Good for my wife
Set up an account for my wife. She likes the coaching and the community stuff. I just use Fidelity. Different strokes.
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