The first time I tried to set up retirement savings as a freelancer, I nearly gave up. No HR department to auto-enroll me. No employer match. Just me, a pile of confusing options, and the creeping fear that I'd be working until I was 80.

Traditional 401(k) providers wanted nothing to do with my irregular income. Banks pushed products with fees that would eat my savings alive. I spent three months paralyzed by options before finally just picking something. That something cost me around 1,800 in unnecessary fees over two years.

The good news: it's way easier now. Robo-advisors have gotten actually good at handling freelancer retirement. They understand irregular income. They offer SEP IRAs. They don't require you to have a finance degree.

Short version if you're in a hurry: Betterment for most freelancers. Low fees, SEP IRA option, and their RetireGuide tool actually understands freelancer finances. Wealthfront if you want more hands-off automation. Acorns only if you're just starting out with spare change.

Why Freelancer Retirement Is Different

Regular employees have it easy. Money gets pulled from their paycheck before they see it. Employer matches feel like free money. Automatic increases happen without thinking.

Freelancers get none of that.

You pay both halves of Social Security. Your income varies month to month. You need to actively choose to set money aside. And the options are more complicated. Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, Solo 401(k). Each has different contribution limits and tax implications.

The contribution limits are actually better for freelancers. SEP IRAs let you put away up to 25% of net self-employment income, maxing at 69,000 for 2024. Compare that to the 23,000 limit on a regular 401(k). The opportunity is there. You just need the right tools.

Betterment

This is what I use. Have been for about three years now.

Betterment gets freelancers. They offer SEP IRAs, which most robo-advisors skip. Their RetireGuide tool pulls in all your accounts, including that old 401(k) you forgot about, and shows you if you're on track. It's not just numbers in a vacuum. It accounts for irregular income.

The fee structure changed recently. You either pay 5 bucks a month or 0.25% annually if you have 20k or set up recurring deposits of 250 monthly. For most freelancers, the annual percentage works out better once you're past about 20k invested.

What I actually use it for

Automatic deposits when income comes in. I set up transfers for 15% of every client payment. Tax-loss harvesting happens automatically, which saved me around 400 last year in taxes. Their goal-based projections show me when I can realistically retire based on actual numbers, not fantasies.

The good stuff

No minimum to start. SEP IRA available. Tax-coordinated portfolio across all your accounts. RetireGuide actually useful. The app doesn't overwhelm you with options. Human advisor access if you pay more.

What's annoying

The 4 dollar monthly fee hits hard when you're just starting with small balances. Interface could be simpler. Premium tier with human advisors costs 0.65% annually, which adds up fast.

Betterment is best for: Freelancers serious about retirement who want hands-off investing with solid tax optimization.

Start Investing with Betterment

Wealthfront

Wealthfront takes the opposite approach from Betterment. Fully automated. No human advisors. Just algorithms doing their thing.

Their Path tool is genuinely impressive for planning. It connects to all your accounts and runs scenarios. What if you retire at 55? What if the market tanks? What if you move somewhere cheaper? All modeled out.

The catch: you need 500 to start. For a freelancer just getting going, that's a real barrier. But once you're past that threshold, the experience is smooth.

How it works

Connect your accounts. Answer questions about your goals. Wealthfront builds a diversified portfolio across ETFs. Tax-loss harvesting kicks in automatically. You basically forget about it until you need the money.

The good stuff

Excellent tax optimization, including direct indexing for larger accounts. Path planning tool is best in class. 0.25% annual fee is straightforward. Good variety of account types including Roth IRA, traditional IRA, SEP IRA.

What's annoying

500 minimum is a barrier for beginners. No human advisors ever. The automation means less flexibility. Their SEP IRA offering is less prominent than Betterment's.

Wealthfront is best for: Freelancers with steady income who want fully automated investing and don't need to talk to humans.

Start Investing with Wealthfront

Acorns

Acorns is the starter option. Not necessarily for serious retirement planning, but for building the habit.

The idea is simple. Round up your purchases and invest the difference. Buy a 3.50 coffee, round up to 4, invest the 50 cents. It sounds trivial, and honestly, it kind of is. But for people who've never invested anything, it removes the mental barrier.

The problem: at 3 bucks a month, those fees hurt when you're only investing spare change. If you invest 20 bucks through round-ups, you're paying 15% in fees that month. That's brutal.

What it's actually good for

Getting started. Building the habit of seeing investment accounts grow. Learning what a portfolio looks like. Then graduating to something with lower percentage fees once you have real money to invest.

The good stuff

No minimum investment. Retirement account option included in Personal tier. The round-up feature is genuinely clever. Simple enough that anyone can use it.

What's annoying

3 to 5 dollar monthly fee is expensive for small balances. No tax-loss harvesting. No SEP IRA for freelancers. Limited customization. You'll outgrow it fast.

Acorns is best for: Complete beginners who need to build the investing habit before they're ready for serious retirement planning.

Start with Acorns

Quick Comparison

AppPriceMinimumSEP IRATax-Loss Harvesting
Betterment$5/mo or 0.25%/yrNoneYesYes
Wealthfront0.25%/yr$500YesYes
Acorns$3-12/moNoneNoNo

What About Solo 401(k)?

This is the other option freelancers hear about. Solo 401(k) plans let you contribute even more than SEP IRAs in some cases, and you can do both employer and employee contributions.

The downside: more paperwork. Annual filings once you hit 250k. More complexity in general.

None of the robo-advisors handle Solo 401(k) well. If you want that route, you're looking at Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard directly. More work, but potentially more tax-advantaged space.

For most freelancers, a SEP IRA through Betterment or Wealthfront is simpler and good enough.

My Actual Setup

Here's exactly what I do.

Client payment comes in. 15% goes to Betterment automatically. Within Betterment, my SEP IRA gets priority contributions up to the limit. The rest goes to a taxable brokerage account. Tax-loss harvesting happens in the background.

Every quarter, I check the RetireGuide projections. Adjust contribution percentage if income changed significantly. Takes maybe 20 minutes a quarter.

I kept my old employer 401(k) at Fidelity because the fees are low and rolling it over wasn't worth the hassle. Betterment's RetireGuide still factors it into my projections.

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

The standard advice is 15% of income. But freelancers need to save more since there's no employer match. I aim for 20% minimum. Some months I hit 25% when cash flow allows.
Yes. With SEP IRAs, you contribute based on what you actually earn. Low income month? Contribute less. Big month? Max it out. The limit is 25% of net self-employment income up to 69,000 for 2024.
Start anyway. Even 50 bucks a month builds the habit. Use Acorns initially if you need the round-up feature, but graduate to Betterment once you're past 1k or so.
SEP IRA contributions are pre-tax, reducing current taxes. Roth contributions are after-tax, but withdrawals are tax-free in retirement. If you're in a lower tax bracket now, Roth often makes sense. Higher bracket? SEP. I do both, prioritizing SEP when income is high.
I'd keep crypto under 5% of retirement savings. Maybe 10% if you're young and aggressive. These platforms offer traditional diversified portfolios, which is what most of your retirement money should be in.
At small balances, the 5 dollar monthly fee hurts. But once you're past 24k or set up 200 monthly deposits, you switch to 0.25% annually. At that point, the tax-loss harvesting and RetireGuide features easily pay for themselves.

Recommendations

Three years of freelancing. Four different apps tested. Way too much time on retirement forums. So:

Betterment if you're serious about freelancer retirement. The SEP IRA, tax optimization, and RetireGuide make it the best overall choice. I use it. It works.

Wealthfront if you want maximum automation and already have 500 to start. Their planning tools are slightly better. No human support though.

Acorns only as a stepping stone. Great for building habits. Bad for actual long-term retirement savings due to fees.

The best retirement app is the one you'll actually use. But at some point you need to graduate from round-ups to real contributions. Start with whatever gets you going, but have a plan to move to Betterment or Wealthfront once you're past the beginner phase.

Future you will thank current you. Or curse you. Depends on whether you read this and did nothing.