Fidelity Go is not a Roth IRA. It is a robo-advisor service that can manage a Roth IRA, along with several other account types, on your behalf. The Roth IRA is the account; Fidelity Go is the automated management sitting on top of it.
The difference matters because the tax benefits people associate with a Roth IRA come from the account itself, which is defined under Section 408A of the Internal Revenue Code.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408A – Roth IRAs Those benefits exist regardless of who picks the investments. Fidelity Go is one way to have the picking done for you.
What Fidelity Go Actually Is
Fidelity Go is an automated investment platform. When you enroll, you answer questions about your goals, time horizon, and comfort with risk, and the platform’s algorithms choose your investments, buy and sell them, and rebalance the portfolio over time.2Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Go Overview You are not opening a new type of tax account when you sign up. You are hiring a manager for an account you already have or are opening alongside the service.
The underlying investments Fidelity Go uses are Fidelity Flex mutual funds, a proprietary lineup that includes both actively managed and index-based options with zero fund-level expense ratios. Your comfort with risk, rated on a 1 to 10 scale during enrollment, determines the mix. The most conservative strategy targets roughly 20% stocks and 80% bonds and short-term investments; the most aggressive targets 100% stocks.2Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Go Overview
What a Roth IRA Is
A Roth IRA is a type of individual retirement arrangement created under federal tax law. You contribute money you have already paid income tax on, and in exchange, your investments grow tax-free. Qualified distributions, meaning those taken after you reach age 59½ and have held the account for at least five tax years, come out entirely free of federal income tax.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408A – Roth IRAs
The tax treatment belongs to the account, not to any manager. A Roth IRA you manage yourself and a Roth IRA managed by Fidelity Go follow the same contribution limits, the same income eligibility rules, and the same distribution rules.
How the Two Fit Together
When you open a Roth IRA through Fidelity Go, you get both things at once: the Roth IRA account structure, with its federal tax advantages, and the Fidelity Go management layer that runs the investments inside it. You do not choose funds or decide when to trade. The platform does that based on the profile you set during enrollment and adjusts it over time. Once a year, Fidelity Go checks in to ask whether anything significant in your life has changed, and you can update your goals or risk profile whenever you want.3Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Go FAQs
Other Accounts Fidelity Go Can Manage
A Roth IRA is one of several account types Fidelity Go supports. The others include:
- Traditional IRA, where contributions may be tax-deductible depending on your income and workplace plan coverage.4Internal Revenue Service. IRA Deduction Limits
- Rollover IRA, used to move money from a former employer’s 401(k) or similar plan into an IRA.
- SEP IRA, a simplified employee pension plan for self-employed individuals and small business owners.
- Health savings account, invested in Fidelity Flex mutual funds with no fund-level expense ratios.3Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Go FAQs
- Taxable individual or joint brokerage accounts, which lack retirement tax advantages but offer more flexibility.
Custodial accounts for minors (UTMA/UGMA) are not eligible for Fidelity Go management. If you hold more than one eligible account, the platform lets you manage them from a single dashboard, though each account keeps its own tax treatment and rules.
What It Costs
Fidelity Go charges no advisory fee while your account balance is under $25,000.2Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Go Overview Once your balance reaches $25,000, a 0.35% annual advisory fee applies.5Fidelity. Straightforward and Transparent Pricing On a $50,000 balance, that works out to about $175 per year, calculated on your daily average balance and deducted periodically.
Because the Flex funds inside the account carry zero expense ratios, the advisory fee is effectively your only cost for the service. Reaching $25,000 also unlocks one-on-one coaching calls and, for taxable brokerage accounts, automated tax-loss harvesting.3Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Go FAQs Tax-loss harvesting is not offered on retirement accounts like a Roth IRA, since those accounts are already tax-advantaged.
What Happens to Your Roth IRA If You Leave Fidelity Go
If you decide later to stop using the managed service and run your Roth IRA yourself, the Flex funds Fidelity Go used cannot simply be transferred into a regular self-directed Fidelity account.6Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Go Client Agreement When you terminate the managed service, your Flex fund holdings are sold and the proceeds placed into a core money market position, unless you move them to another Fidelity fee-based account that accepts Flex funds.
Inside a Roth IRA, that liquidation does not create a taxable event, because sales inside the account do not trigger tax. After the proceeds settle, the account continues as a standard self-directed Roth IRA, and you choose your own investments from then on.6Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Go Client Agreement The Roth IRA itself, and its tax status, stays intact. Only the management arrangement ends.