On this page13 sections
- Ratings and complaints
- Personal Capital vs. competitors
- Pricing
- Step by step
- What happened to Personal Capital
- Empower (formerly Personal Capital) legitimacy and licensing
- The free Retirement Planner
- What Personal Capital costs now
- Complaints since the switch to Empower
- How to stop advice or close your account
- What customers say
- Alternatives
- FAQ
Personal Capital is now Empower. Empower bought it in August 2020 for $825 million at closing (up to $1 billion), Personal Capital's adviser registration is now inactive, and its free tools and paid advice continue under the Empower name. The free Personal Dashboard and Retirement Planner are still worth using to see if you're on track, wherever your accounts are. The paid service is expensive next to robo advisors: 0.89% a year from $100,000 to just under $1 million.
- Status
- Acquired by Empower August 18, 2020; products renamed under Empower; Personal Capital Advisors Corporation's SEC registration is inactive1
- Deal
- $825 million at closing, up to $1 billion with $175 million tied to planned growth1
- Free tools today
- Empower Personal Dashboard: Retirement Planner, net worth, budgeting, savings planner and portfolio analysis, no cost3
- Paid advice today
- Personal Strategy: 0.89% a year from $100,000 to $999,999; tiered 0.79% to 0.49% above $1 million4
- Who advises
- Empower Advisory Group, LLC, SEC-registered adviser (CRD 112058); assets held at Pershing5
- Cash account
- Empower Personal Cash at 3.50% APY, no minimum, as listed October 20266
- Regulatory history
- SEC order, August 29, 2025: $5,989,969.94 over undisclosed advisor incentives for its managed account service7
- BBB
- A+ for Empower Retirement, not accredited; 515 complaints in the last 3 years8
Pros
- The free dashboard and Retirement Planner still work and still cost nothing
- Backed by Empower, the second-largest U.S. retirement company
- Advice from an SEC-registered adviser with assets held at Pershing
- Highly rated mobile app
Cons
- The Personal Capital brand, app and company no longer exist separately
- 0.89% advisory fee is several times what robo advisors charge
- $100,000 minimum for paid advice
- Sales calls after linking larger balances
- 2025 SEC fine over undisclosed advisor incentives
Best for: Anyone who wants a free view of net worth and retirement readiness across accounts, and high-balance investors who want a human-led portfolio and accept a higher fee.
Skip it if: You don't want to link accounts or field sales calls, or you want low-cost managed investing, where Vanguard, Betterment and Fidelity Go charge far less.
Personal Capital vs. competitors
| Company | Free planning tools | Paid advice fee | Minimum for paid advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empower (formerly Personal Capital) | Personal Dashboard and Retirement Planner | 0.89% up to $1 million | $100,000 |
| Vanguard | Digital Advisor up to 0.20%; Personal Advisor Select 0.30% | $100 (Digital); $500,000 (Select) | |
| Betterment | 0.25% a year or $5 a month; Premium 0.65% | $0; Premium at $100,000 | |
| Fidelity Go | $0 under $25,000, then 0.35% | $0 to open |
Personal Capital pricing at a glance
Former Personal Capital services and what they cost under Empower, October 20264
| Personal Capital name | Empower name today | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Free Financial Dashboard | Empower Personal Dashboard | Free |
| Retirement Planner | Retirement Planner in the dashboard | Free |
| Wealth management | Personal Strategy | 0.89% a year from $100,000 to $999,999 |
| Private Client | Personal Strategy Private Client | 0.79% on the first $3 million, then 0.69%, 0.59% and 0.49% above $10 million |
| Personal Capital Cash | Empower Personal Cash | No fees or minimum; 3.50% APY as listed October 2026 |
| None | Personal Strategy+ (advice on your 401(k)) | 0.49% a year |
Advisory fees are charged monthly on all managed assets, including cash, and do not include ETF expenses (average 0.08%, per Empower's Form ADV). At $250,000, 0.89% is about $2,225 a year.
Personal Capital, step by step
Sign in or sign up
Old Personal Capital logins now open the Empower Personal Dashboard. New users sign up at empower.com for free.
Link accounts
Connect bank, brokerage, 401(k), IRA, loan and card accounts to see net worth, cash flow and fees in one place.
Run the Retirement Planner
Enter your spending goals, Social Security and savings to see your odds of meeting your retirement goal.
Expect an advisor call
If you link larger balances, Empower usually offers a call about Personal Strategy. You can decline.
Paid advice, if you want it
Personal Strategy needs $100,000 with Empower. You can end it any time and keep or transfer the investments.
What happened to Personal Capital
Empower bought Personal Capital. The deal was announced June 29, 2020 and closed August 18, 2020, with $825 million paid at closing and up to $175 million more tied to growth. At first it ran as “Personal Capital, an Empower Company.” Its products were later renamed under Empower: the free dashboard is the Empower Personal Dashboard, the advice service is Personal Strategy, and the cash account is Empower Personal Cash.
The adviser that served Personal Capital clients, Personal Capital Advisors Corporation, is now listed as inactive in the SEC’s adviser database. Advice now comes from Empower Advisory Group, LLC. The personalcapital.com sign-in link opens the Empower Personal Dashboard.
Empower (formerly Personal Capital) legitimacy and licensing
Yes. Empower is the second-largest U.S. retirement services company, created in 2014 by Great-West Lifeco and based in Greenwood Village, Colorado. It says it serves more than 20 million people. Personal Strategy advice comes from Empower Advisory Group, an SEC-registered adviser (CRD 112058), and client assets are held at Pershing, a BNY company.
The record has a mark. On August 29, 2025, the SEC ordered Empower Advisory Group and Empower Financial Services to pay $5,989,969.94 after finding they did not properly disclose incentives paid to advisors who enrolled retirement savers in its managed account service. The firms settled without admitting or denying the findings. Empower Retirement holds an A+ BBB rating but is not accredited, with 515 complaints in three years.
The free Retirement Planner
The Retirement Planner that made Personal Capital popular is still free inside the Empower Personal Dashboard. You link accounts or enter balances, set retirement spending and income such as Social Security, and it estimates whether you’re on track and what changes would help. The dashboard also tracks net worth, budgeting and savings, and flags investment fees.
It’s a good free tool. Remember that it is also how Empower finds advisory clients, so linking larger balances usually brings a call.
What customers say about Personal Capital
Recurring themes across the review sites and complaint records listed above, not individual quotes.
Common praise
- Free net worth and retirement planning in one view
- Fee analyzer that shows what your funds cost
- Highly rated mobile app
- No cost unless you choose paid advice
Common complaints
- Dashboard account syncing that broke or slowed after the Personal Capital rebrand
- Repeated sales calls after linking large balances
- Advisory fees high next to robo advisors and index funds
- Slow rollovers, transfers and paperwork on retirement accounts
What Personal Capital costs now
The tools are free. Paid advice under Personal Strategy costs 0.89% a year from $100,000 to $999,999. Above $1 million, Private Client tiers run 0.79% on the first $3 million, 0.69% on the next $2 million, 0.59% on the next $5 million and 0.49% above $10 million. Personal Strategy+ for advice on your workplace 401(k) is 0.49%. ETF expenses are extra.
On $250,000, that’s about $2,225 a year, against $625 at Betterment’s 0.25% or $750 at Vanguard Personal Advisor Select’s 0.30% (which needs $500,000).
Complaints since the switch to Empower
The most common complaints from former Personal Capital users are dashboard accounts that stop syncing or update slowly, repeated sales calls after linking large balances, and slow rollovers or transfers out of Empower retirement accounts. If an Empower representative recommends rolling your 401(k) into an Empower IRA or managed account, ask in writing what you’ll pay each year, how the representative is paid, and whether they act as a broker or an adviser. You can check any representative on FINRA BrokerCheck and the SEC’s adviser database.
How to stop advice or close your account
You can use the dashboard without any paid service. To end Personal Strategy, contact your Empower advisor or support; you can keep the investments in a self-directed account or transfer them to another firm, which may trigger taxes in a taxable account if positions are sold. To stop calls, ask Empower to add you to its do-not-call list, and unlink accounts you no longer want tracked.
Alternatives to Personal Capital
- Empower Personal Dashboard only Use the free tools and skip Personal Strategy; you lose nothing by declining the advice pitch. Read review
- Vanguard Much cheaper managed advice if you want someone to run a simple index portfolio. Vanguard sold its Individual 401(k) business to Ascensus in 2024 and now offers only the SEP-IRA for small businesses. Read review
- Betterment A low-cost robo advisor with retirement goal planning and no account minimum. Read review
- A spreadsheet and Investor.gov calculators Free and private: the SEC's Investor.gov has retirement calculators, and you never link accounts or get sales calls.
Personal Capital reviews
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Frequently asked questions
Does Personal Capital still exist?
Not as a separate brand. Empower bought Personal Capital in August 2020 and renamed its products, and Personal Capital Advisors Corporation's SEC registration is now inactive.
Is Personal Capital the same as Empower?
Yes. The free Personal Capital dashboard is now the Empower Personal Dashboard, and its wealth management service is now Empower Personal Strategy.
How much did Empower pay for Personal Capital?
$825 million at closing, with up to $175 million more tied to planned growth, for a total of up to $1 billion in enterprise value.
Is the Personal Capital retirement planner still free?
Yes. The Retirement Planner is free inside the Empower Personal Dashboard. Empower makes money if you later sign up for paid advice.
How do I log in to my old Personal Capital account?
The old personalcapital.com sign-in now opens the Empower Personal Dashboard. You can also sign in at empower.com or through the Empower app.
What does Empower Personal Strategy cost?
0.89% a year from $100,000 to $999,999, with lower tiered rates above $1 million. ETF expenses are extra.
Is Empower safe?
Empower is a large retirement company, its advice arm is an SEC-registered adviser, and Personal Strategy investments are held in your name at Pershing, a BNY company. No firm protects you from market losses.
Why does Empower keep calling me?
Linking larger balances to the free dashboard flags you for its advisory service. You can decline and ask to be placed on its do-not-call list.
Why was Empower fined by the SEC?
In August 2025 the SEC found Empower affiliates didn't properly disclose incentives paid to advisors who enrolled people in its managed account service. They paid about $6 million without admitting or denying the findings.
What is a free alternative to Personal Capital?
The Empower Personal Dashboard itself is still free. If you'd rather not link accounts, a spreadsheet plus the SEC's free Investor.gov retirement calculators does the job.
Sources (13)
Facts on this page come from company websites, government agencies and regulators, checked on the dates shown. Editorial standards
- Empower: Empower Retirement closes acquisition of Personal Capital (Aug 18, 2020) (accessed October 13, 2026)
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure: Personal Capital Advisors Corporation (inactive) (accessed October 13, 2026)
- Empower: Retirement Planner and tools (accessed October 13, 2026)
- Empower Advisory Group: Form ADV Part 2A, Personal Strategies (May 18, 2026) (accessed October 12, 2026)
- Empower: Wealth management and Personal Strategy (accessed October 13, 2026)
- Empower: Personal Cash account (accessed October 13, 2026)
- SEC: Order in the Matter of Empower Advisory Group, LLC and Empower Financial Services, Inc. (August 29, 2025) (accessed October 12, 2026)
- BBB: Empower Retirement business profile (accessed October 12, 2026)
- Empower: About us (accessed October 13, 2026)
- Personal Capital: legacy home page and sign-in (accessed October 13, 2026)
- Apple App Store: Empower (accessed October 13, 2026)
- FINRA BrokerCheck: Empower Financial Services, Inc. (CRD 13109) (accessed October 12, 2026)
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure: Empower Advisory Group, LLC (accessed October 12, 2026)
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