[n72]

Really the only thing you have to do is rebalance. I do it every half year, but some people even do it every two years. And it takes all of, maybe, 20 minutes. Of course, you need to grasp the principles, which takes reading a book or two, so that's, say, 10 more hours. With compounding over the next forty of fifty years, saving those 25 basis points or whatever it is that betterment charges over Vanguard's fees is not insignificant. It's not a ton, but totally worth an hour a year to me.

[n72]

Oh, and I tax loss harvest at the end of the year if any funds are down for the year by the end of December. Again, this is maybe 10 minutes per fund. 5 minutes for selling a fund, 5 minutes for buying a similar fund (and making sure I don't get into a wash sale situation.) So, that's at most, say, 20 minutes a year.

[astrange]

The end of the year isn't the best time to capture tax losses. And where do you go to get trades with fractional shares for less than 0.25% in trade fees?