FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
About Us
GrowWealth Digital Strategies could be a good fit for individuals who might not have experience in managing their own assets or individuals who would like someone to manage them on their behalf.
Typically, GrowWealth Digital Strategies clients are comfortable with online experiences. In addition to online access, clients also have access to our team’s assistance by emailing [email protected]. Another investor benefit is that an individual can have access to a globally diversified portfolio of investments with a minimum account balance. Investors who choose GrowWealth Digital Strategies have access to the best thinking of an industry-leading investment firm.
GrowWealth Digital Strategies is available for all United States residents who are at least 18-years-old and have a valid social security number.
GrowWealth Digital Strategies’ online financial advice is available for 0.50% APR of your total Assets Under Management balance per year. This is our Digital Only plan because you receive our advice online only.
GrowWealth Digital Strategies utilizes Charles Schwab to custody your assets.
The Charles Schwab Corporation is an American multinational financial services company. It offers banking, commercial banking, investing and related services including consulting, and wealth management advisory services to both retail and institutional clients. It has over 400 branches, primarily in financial centers in the United States and the United Kingdom. As of December 31, 2022, it had $7.05 trillion in client assets, 33.8 million active brokerage accounts, 2.4 million corporate retirement plan participants, and 1.7 million banking accounts.
Investing
GrowWealth Digital Strategies’ investment strategies are built around research concepts that have been shown to have a meaningful impact on real-world investor returns: global diversification, smart portfolio structure, investor behavior, and risk management. We see the world of investment opportunities through a lens of risk and behavioral factors and see to outperform the market by tilting client portfolios toward the factors that drive returns.
We ask a few questions to determine each client’s risk tolerance and their investment time horizon. Your answers then help us to create a diversified portfolio, with exposure across asset classes (i.e. equity, fixed income and cash equivalents) through the use of ETFs and/or Mutual Funds. Prudent risk management is central to our approach to preserve and grow assets.
GrowWealth Digital Strategies does not time the market. The idea of timing markets may sound intriguing, but can be a treacherous strategy for investors. Although past performance is not necessarily indicative of future returns, those with the discipline to buy, hold and sit tight (and rebalance as necessary, assuming these ETFs and Mutual Funds are part of a diversified portfolio) have historically been rewarded with respectable compounding of wealth over long periods of time.
Diversifying a portfolio by creating exposures to a mix of different investments (such as stocks, bonds, and alternative assets) is a core component of risk management in an investment strategy. Through reducing the concentrated exposure an investor might otherwise have in a single company, industry, country, or asset class, a diversified portfolio reduces the possibility that any individual portfolio component will expose that investor to significant losses. While diversification does not eliminate the risk of a portfolio experiencing negative returns, it does help to control the risks of a given portfolio strategy and may benefit the investor in volatile markets as asset classes respond differently to market conditions.
As your situation changes, you can update your information and strategy to be more conservative or aggressive.
Money Movement
You can fund your account through a transfer from your checking or savings account, by transferring your existing investments, an IRA Transfer, or the rollover of a retirement plan (i.e. 401k).
Once you have established an account, you can login and add funds at any time. Simply click on Transfers to initiate a cash transfer and select your bank account or add a new bank account. You can also select the frequency of your transfers if you wish for them to reoccurring. Once you complete the information, you can electronically sign the form and submit. It will take 24-48 for your request to be processed.
Yes, once you have established an account, you can login and add funds at any time. Simply click on Transfers to initiate a cash transfer and select your bank account or add a new bank account. You can also select the frequency of your transfers if you wish for them to reoccurring. Once you complete the information, you can electronically sign the form and submit. It will take 24-48 for your request to be processed. A step-by-step guide can be found here.
Typically, funds are invested within 24-48 hours when the funds are coming from a checking or savings account. Transfers from other investment accounts may take longer.
There is a minimum for the initial account opening, but there is no minimum for additional contributions. The maximum amount that can be transferred from a checking or savings account at one time is $250,000. IRA and ROTH IRA contrition limits should be considered when making a contribution to those types of accounts.
Yes, when you are going through the account opening process you will be given the opportunity to transfer other investment accounts to your new GrowWealth Digital Strategies account.
You can transfer brokerage accounts including stocks, bonds, mutual funds and ETFs, mutual funds direct at the mutual fund company, 401(k) rollovers and annuity assets.
Deposits must be more than $1.00.
Account Opening
We need permission from your compliance department before opening your investment account. Your firm may also require duplicate confirmations and statements (Pursuant to FINRA Rule 3210 and/or NYSE Rule 407). Please contact your compliance department and ask them to forward a letter authorizing us to open your GrowWealth Digital Strategies Account. We’ll also need them to let us know if they require duplicate confirmations or statements.
We offer a variety of account types, including Individual and Joint accounts, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), and ROTH IRAs. Specific accounts include: Individual, JTWROS, Community Property, Tenants in Common, IRA, Rollover IRA, and ROTH IRA. If you need another account type, please contact us by clicking on the Contact link and we will see how we can help.
Retirement Accounts
An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is a tax-advantaged account that is designed to help you save for retirement. However, unlike a 401(k), it’s not tied to your employer. An IRA belongs to you individually, which means you get more control and flexibility. There are typically two types, Traditional IRAs and ROTH IRAs.
You deduct your IRA contributions from your taxes in the year you made the contributions, which lowers your taxable income for that year. You then pay taxes on the money when you withdraw it in retirement (based on your income at the time of withdrawal).
You contribute using after-tax money (taxed based on your income at the time of contribution), without deducting those IRA contributions from your taxes. You then withdraw your money tax free. Your account must be open for 5 years and you must be over age 59 ½ to be eligible for qualified tax-free withdrawals. You can withdraw your contributions (but not earnings) at any time—not just in retirement.
Generally, it takes 7-10 business days after the funds have left your old provider for the funds to appear in your GrowWealth Digital Strategies account. This includes mail time, processing, and time for the funds to settle. You will be notified via email as soon as the funds appear in your account.
Withdrawals
Once you have established an account, you can login and withdraw funds at any time. Simply click on Transfers to initiate a withdrawal. You can also select the frequency of your withdrawal if you wish for them to reoccurring. Once you complete the information, you can electronically sign the form and submit. It will take 4-5 days for your request to be processed.
Yes, once you have established an account, you can login and withdraw funds at any time. Simply click on Transfers to initiate a withdrawal. You can also select the frequency of your withdrawal if you wish for them to reoccurring. Once you complete the information, you can electronically sign the form and submit. It will take 4-5 days for your request to be processed.
It typically takes 4-5 days to liquidate assets and deposit funds to your account.
Yes, you must withdraw more than $1.00.
Non-Qualified Accounts
One of the most basic types of investment accounts is a taxable brokerage account. These types of accounts can be opened individually or jointly. Unlike IRAs or employer sponsored plans, they offer no tax benefits, but they are free of the restrictions and rules that affect IRAs and employer sponsored plans.
When you are going through the account opening process you will be given the opportunity to transfer other investment accounts to your new GrowWealth Digital Strategies account.
Educational
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) combine aspects of mutual funds and conventional stocks. Like a mutual fund, an ETF is a pooled investment fund that offers an investor an interest in a professionally managed, diversified portfolio of investments. But unlike mutual funds, ETF shares trade like stocks on stock exchanges and can be bought or sold throughout the trading day at fluctuating prices.
Mutual funds are a popular way to invest in securities. Because mutual funds can offer built-in diversification and professional management, they offer certain advantages over purchasing individual stocks and bonds. But, like investing in any security, investing in a mutual fund involves certain risks, including the possibility that you may lose money.
A bond is a loan an investor makes to a corporation, government, federal agency or other organization in exchange for interest payments over a specified term plus repayment of principal at the bond’s maturity date. There are a wide variety of bonds including Treasuries, agency bonds, corporate bonds, municipal bonds and more. Likewise, there are many types of bond mutual funds.
Standard deviation is a statistical measurement that shows how much variation there is from the arithmetic mean (simple average). Investors describe standard deviation as the volatility of past mutual fund returns. In simple terms, a greater standard deviation indicates higher volatility, which means the mutual fund’s performance fluctuated high above the average but also significantly below it. Therefore, many investors use the terms volatility and standard deviation interchangeably.
Tax Information
Your tax documents will be posted under documents when you log into the site. Typically, year-end tax documents are available by February 15th of the following year.
1) 1099 composite: Brokerage Account (This form may include IRS Forms(s) 1099DIV, 1099INT, 1099MISC, 1099B, and 1099OID, depending on your situation.) Tax Year – Jan through April 2022. 2) 1099R Retirement Accounts (This form reports distributions from IRA and Roth IRA accounts) Tax Year – April – May 2022. 3) 5498 Retirement Accounts (This form reports your IRA contributions made by your tax filing deadline.) Tax Year – April – May 2022.
A bond is a loan an investor makes to a corporation, government, federal agency or other organization in exchange for interest payments over a specified term plus repayment of principal at the bond’s maturity date. There are a wide variety of bonds including Treasuries, agency bonds, corporate bonds, municipal bonds and more. Likewise, there are many types of bond mutual funds.
You may need to pay taxes on realized capital gains, dividends received, and other transactions occurring in your non-retirement accounts. By February 15, we will email you with the status of your 1099 tax form and details on next steps. Please consult your CPA or tax professional for advice on filing your personal taxes or visit the IRS website.
Documents
GrowWealth Digital Strategies is a digital program. By agreeing to the terms and conditions in the Client Application, you have consented to the DocuSign electronic delivery and electronic signature process.
GrowWealth Digital Strategies is a digital program. By agreeing to the terms and conditions in the Client Application, you have consented to the DocuSign electronic delivery and electronic signature process. If you prefer to interact outside of this digital program and revoke your consent to the electronic delivery and/or electronic signature process, GrowWealth Digital Strategies will cancel your Investment Advisory Agreement no sooner than thirty (30) days after your revocation and transfer the ETFs in your Model Portfolio to a brokerage account established at GrowWealth Digital Strategies. Or, if you prefer, you can transfer your assets to another financial institution by providing GrowWealth Digital Strategies with valid transfer instructions within this thirty (30) day period.
Miscellaneous
Our support team is here to help! If you forgot your username, you may contact us by visiting our Contact page on the site, along with the following information:
- Your first and last name.
- Your date of birth.
- Your full mailing address on file with us.
All dividends are automatically reinvested in your account. This means that any dividends (cash) you receive as an investor are automatically put to work for you.
On an asset allocation level, we use a threshold-based rebalancing approach. We will monitor your portfolio and when markets fluctuate and an asset class is out of its respective, pre-determined, “tolerance band” we will look to rebalance.
All investments carry some degree of risk. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds can lose value if market conditions sour.
No. Only United States residents over the age of 18 can establish an account with us. |
You can visit out Contact page on our site to send us any questions you might have.
Security
GrowWealth Digital Strategies is committed to ensuring that your confidential personal and financial information is protected. If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, please review our Privacy Statement.
While on the Login page, click the “Forgot Your Password” link located directly below the Login button. You will be prompted to enter your email address (Login ID). An email will be sent to your provided email address containing a link to change your password. You must click the link within 12 hours of receipt.
Account Maintenance
If you need to change your address, please submit your request on our Contact page.
You can access your tax documents via the ‘Documents’ tab.
If you need to change your beneficiary, please submit a request via our Contact page.
Users can set up new bank accounts via the ‘Linked Bank Accounts’ section in your profile. The next time you initiate a transfer using that bank, you will need to sign an ACH form via an electronic signature process. In addition, users may also cancel any active recurring deposits/withdrawals instructions through the Transfer tab. If you need to Edit or Delete existing bank information on file, please contact us.