Finhabits Review

Company background

Finhabits was founded in 2015 by Carlos Garcia in New York. Garcia created the platform after recognising that Latino families in the United States had limited access to investment resources in Spanish. Finhabits Advisors LLC is the registered investment adviser entity and operates as a wrap-fee robo-advisor serving retail investors. The platform positions itself as a bilingual financial wellness tool, combining automated investing with financial education content, newsletters and a virtual financial planner called Emma.

Finhabits has received more than $400 million in client deposits and accepts ITINs, allowing investors without a U.S. Social Security Number to open an account.

Fees and pricing

Finhabits uses a tiered membership model. A free Starter plan provides access to educational content and financial wellness tools but does not include investment accounts. The Growth plan costs $10 per month or $99 per year and includes up to three investment accounts. When a client's combined account balance across all Finhabits accounts reaches $12,000, the Growth fee converts to a Premium asset management fee of 1.0% per year, charged monthly. This management fee applies only to the first $100,000 of combined assets. There is no deposit fee or standard withdrawal fee. Finhabits describes its offering as a wrap-fee program, meaning rebalancing and dividend reinvestment are included. The underlying ETFs carry an average internal expense ratio of approximately 0.12% per year, deducted at the fund level.

Regulation and safety

Finhabits Advisors LLC is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser. Client accounts are held in the client's own name at Apex Clearing Corporation, which is a member of FINRA and a participant in SIPC. SIPC covers securities held at Apex up to $500,000, including a maximum of $250,000 in cash. Finhabits does not hold client funds directly. The SEC CRS form filed by Finhabits notes no disciplinary history for the firm or its financial professionals.

Platform experience

The Finhabits platform is available as a web application and as mobile apps for iOS and Android. The full interface and customer support are provided in both English and Spanish. Account setup requires an SSN or ITIN, a U.S. residential address and a U.S. bank account. Once funded, the platform automatically diversifies across up to six asset types including U.S. stocks, international stocks, government bonds and real estate via REITs, using ETFs from Vanguard, iShares and Goldman Sachs. Automatic rebalancing and a dividend reinvestment program are included. A virtual planner called Emma is available 24/7 within the app to answer financial planning questions. Access to a human certified financial planner is available for clients with combined balances above $12,000.

Pros and cons

Finhabits' main strengths are its bilingual design, ITIN acceptance, low entry point and fully automated portfolio management. Clients benefit from automatic rebalancing, dividend reinvestment and access to low-cost ETFs from Vanguard, iShares and Goldman Sachs. The main limitations are the flat subscription fee on small balances, the absence of self-directed trading or a demo account, and the restricted investment universe - clients cannot choose individual stocks or bonds and cannot customise the underlying ETF allocation beyond the pre-built Vanguard, iShares and Goldman Sachs portfolios.