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What is the difference between a goal and an account?

Published | Updated

We aspire to help you build a personalized financial plan based on the specific investment goals you’re trying to reach. Within each of your taxable legal accounts, you can set multiple goals, each with a different time horizon and target amount.

Legal Account Types

  • Taxable

    • Personal Taxable Account
    • Can contain multiple goals
  • Joint Taxable Account

    • Can contain multiple goals.
  • Trust Taxable Account

    • Can contain multiple goals
  • IRA

    • Traditional IRA
    • Roth IRA
    • SEP IRA
    • Inherited Traditional IRA
    • Inherited Roth IRA
  • Betterment For Business 401(k)

    • Betterment For Business Traditional 401(k)
    • Betterment For Business Roth 401(k)
Learn about the different tax treatments of various legal accounts.

Taxable Goal Types

Taxable accounts do not have any contribution limits or income restrictions. You can contribute to and withdraw from a taxable account at any time.

  • Retirement Savings—for those saving for retirement.
  • Retirement Income—for retirees potentially making withdrawals.
  • Safety Net—for growing an emergency fund.
  • Major Purchase—for a specific future expense, such as a house or vacation.
  • General Investing—for investing for the future but with no set time horizon.