Reviewed by
Stang Gappa
Reviewed by
Stang Gappa
Updated on May 30, 2024
Learn about our Editorial Process
Vanguard offers an IRA comprised mainly of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with low fees and great educational resources.
Alto IRA offers a self-directed IRA with more than than 200 coins and other alternative investments including venture capital, fine art, regenerative agriculture, private equity, and more.
Vanguard’s platform is built on trading low-cost mutual funds, index funds, and ETFs. As an investor, you’ll get access to Vanguard’s research, easy-to-read fund performance analyses, and helpful retirement planning tools. These perks, as well as Vanguard’s low-cost philosophy, make them a good choice for buy-and-hold investors planning for long-term goals like retirement. Vanguard’s low fees and earnest investment philosophy continue to attract new customers, the company’s assets under management (AUM) recently hit $6.2 trillion.
Alto offers one of the most affordable ways to diversify your tax-advantaged retirement assets (like a Roth IRA account) into alternative investments, including crypto through the Alto Crypto IRA. In addition to more than 200 coins through CryptoIRA, you can also benefit from the Alto IRA which enables investments in alternatives ranging from private equity to venture capital and securities in fine art.
For those hoping to bring the strength and diversity of alternative investment classes to their retirement accounts while managing a risk tolerance, Alto offers an inventive, easy-to-use, low-cost way to do so. With over $1.4 billion in assets under management at the time of this writing and multiple well-known integrated alternative partners that are accessible right through the Alto platform, the Alto team has made a worthy name for itself in the market by creating a way for everyday investors to buy into these asset classes, which are often reserved for the wealthy. Alto members can invest their retirement funds in the platform’s available alternatives for costs as low as $37.50 per quarter.
Vanguard offers a wide selection of investment account types, including standard brokerage accounts and goal-oriented investments like education savings plans. If you’re saving for several different goals in addition to retirement, Vanguard’s platform will allow you to manage it all from one online dashboard.
Vanguard offers customers the ability to work directly with a financial advisor, though you’ll need at least $50,000 to invest. Until then, you can take advantage of their free research and planning tools to help you invest wisely.
Along with its array of retirement accounts that provide access to alternative asset classes, Alto also provides services for financial advisors looking to help their clients diversify their portfolios.
If you’re a buy-and-hold investor looking for low fees, Vanguard may be the place for you. However, if you’re looking for access to a wide variety of investment choices and a high-tech platform, you’ll likely get frustrated by Vanguard’s narrow investment selection and simplistic trading platform.
Alto’s Alternative IRA offers a streamlined, online way for people to invest some of their retirement assets in private, alternative asset classes at low monthly account fees. This is especially powerful for those seeking to add diversification to their automated accounts (robo-advisor portfolios) or self-directed IRAs at a large brokerage – which is normally invested in stocks and ETFs. It’s also a way for people to invest in private opportunities that they source themselves – all from the comfort of their computers. Alto’s transparent and reasonable account fees make this an excellent option for those looking to broaden the range of investments in their retirement portfolios, even if they’re beginners.
