You're taking a smart step towards financial discipline by automating your investments! Fidelity offers excellent tools to help you set up and manage recurring contributions, making it easier to stick to your goals. Let's dive in and see exactly how you can track and manage these automatic investments.
How to See Your Automatic Investments in Fidelity: A Comprehensive Guide
Are you ready to gain full visibility into your automated wealth-building strategy with Fidelity? Whether you've set up recurring investments for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, or even Fidelity Basket Portfolios, knowing where to find and manage them is key to staying on top of your financial plan. This step-by-step guide will walk you through the process on both the Fidelity website and the mobile app.
Step 1: Let's Get Started - Logging In!
First things first, you'll need to access your Fidelity account. Have your username and password ready. This is the gateway to all your financial information, including your diligently set-up automatic investments.
On the Fidelity Website:
Open your web browser and navigate to Fidelity.com.
Look for the "Log In" button, usually located in the top right corner of the page.
Enter your username and password in the designated fields.
Click "Log In" to proceed.
On the Fidelity Mobile App:
Open the Fidelity Investments app on your smartphone or tablet.
Enter your username and password.
If you have biometric authentication (fingerprint, face ID) set up, you may be prompted to use that for quicker access.
Step 2: Navigating to Your Recurring Activity Dashboard
Once you're logged in, the next step is to find the section dedicated to managing your recurring investments and transfers. Fidelity centralizes this information to give you a clear overview.
On the Fidelity Website:
After logging in, hover over "Accounts & Trade" in the top navigation bar.
From the dropdown menu, select "Account Features".
On the "Account Features" page, look for a section or link titled "Recurring Transfers" or "Manage Recurring Transfers & Investments". You might see a "Manage" button next to it. Click on it.
Pro Tip: Fidelity frequently updates its website, so the exact wording might vary slightly. Look for terms like "Recurring Activity," "Automatic Investments," or "Scheduled Transfers."
On the Fidelity Mobile App:
From the main dashboard, tap the "Transact" icon (often represented by an arrow or dollar sign).
Scroll down and look for "Recurring Transfers & Investments".
Tap on this option to access your recurring activity.
Step 3: Viewing Your Automatic Investment Plans
You've made it to the hub of your automated investing! Here, you'll see a summary of all your active recurring investment plans.
Overview of Your Plans: On this page, you should see a list of your existing automatic investment plans. Each entry will typically show:
Account Name: The specific Fidelity account where the investment is happening (e.g., "Brokerage Account," "Roth IRA," "IRA").
Investment Type: Whether it's a stock, ETF, mutual fund, or Fidelity Basket Portfolio.
Security/Ticker Symbol: The specific investment being purchased (e.g., "FZROX" for a Fidelity ZERO Total Market Index Fund, "AAPL" for Apple stock).
Amount: The dollar amount of each recurring investment.
Frequency: How often the investment occurs (e.g., weekly, bi-weekly, monthly).
Next Investment Date: The date the next automatic investment is scheduled to take place.
Funding Source: Where the money is coming from (e.g., your Fidelity core cash position or a linked bank account).
Drilling Down for Details:
To get more detailed information about a specific automatic investment, you'll usually be able to click on the entry (on the website) or tap on it (in the app). This will open up a detailed view, showing you more granular information about that particular plan.
You might see options to edit the plan, pause it, or cancel it from this detailed view.
Step 4: Reviewing Your Investment History
While the "Recurring Activity" section shows your scheduled investments, you'll likely want to see the history of past automatic investments. This is crucial for tracking your progress and understanding your cumulative contributions.
On the Fidelity Website:
Go back to "Accounts & Trade" in the top navigation.
Select "Portfolio".
On your portfolio page, choose the specific account for which you want to see the history.
Look for a tab or link typically labeled "Activity & Orders" or "History".
You can often filter the transactions by type (e.g., "Purchases," "Money Movements") and by date range to easily find your recurring investments. Look for entries with the description of your automatic investment.
On the Fidelity Mobile App:
From the main dashboard, tap on the account you wish to view.
Look for a section or tab called "Activity" or "History".
Similar to the website, you can usually apply filters to narrow down your search and easily spot your automatic investment transactions.
Step 5: Understanding Statements and Confirmations
Fidelity provides official documents that confirm your automatic investments and provide a comprehensive record. These are important for your personal records and for tax purposes.
Trade Confirmations: Each time an automatic investment executes, Fidelity generates a trade confirmation.
Online: You can typically find these under "Accounts & Trade" > "Statements" or "Documents" on the website. Look for documents labeled "Trade Confirmation" for the relevant dates.
Email: If you've opted for electronic delivery, you'll often receive email notifications when a trade confirmation is available.
Account Statements: Your monthly or quarterly account statements will also list all transactions, including your automatic investments.
Online: Access these under "Accounts & Trade" > "Statements" on the Fidelity website. You can download PDF versions for easy storage.
Mail: If you prefer paper statements, they will be mailed to your address on file.
Step 6: Making Changes to Your Automatic Investments
Life changes, and so might your investment strategy. Fidelity makes it easy to adjust your automatic contributions.
Editing an Existing Plan:
Go to the "Recurring Transfers & Investments" section (as described in Step 2).
Click or tap on the specific plan you wish to modify.
You'll typically see options to "Edit," "Change Amount," "Change Frequency," or "Change Funding Source." Follow the prompts to make your desired adjustments.
Important Note: Be aware of cutoff times. If you're funding from an external bank, changes might need to be made two business days before the investment date. If funded from your Fidelity core position, it's usually one business day before.
Pausing or Canceling a Plan:
From the "Recurring Transfers & Investments" section, select the plan you want to pause or cancel.
You'll find clear options to "Pause" or "Cancel" the recurring investment.
Confirm your decision when prompted.
Setting Up New Automatic Investments:
If you're looking to add more automated contributions, the "Recurring Transfers & Investments" section also provides an option to "Create New" or "Set Up a Recurring Investment."
You'll then be guided through selecting the account, investment, amount, frequency, and funding source.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Fidelity Automatic Investments
Here are 10 common questions about managing your automatic investments with Fidelity:
How to find my Fidelity account number? You can find your Fidelity account numbers listed below the corresponding account name in your Portfolio Summary on Fidelity.com after you log in. They are 9 characters long and can include letters.
How to change the funding source for my automatic investments? Log in to Fidelity.com, navigate to "Accounts & Trade" > "Account Features" > "Manage Recurring Transfers." Select the specific recurring investment plan, and you should see an option to "Change Funding Source."
How to stop an automatic investment in Fidelity? Go to the "Recurring Transfers & Investments" section on Fidelity.com or the mobile app, select the specific plan you want to stop, and choose the "Cancel" option.
How to view past automatic investment transactions? On Fidelity.com, log in and go to "Accounts & Trade" > "Portfolio," then select the account and navigate to the "Activity & Orders" or "History" tab. You can filter by date and transaction type.
How to set up a new automatic investment in Fidelity? After logging in, go to "Accounts & Trade" > "Account Features" > "Manage Recurring Transfers," and look for a "Create New" or "Set Up a Recurring Investment" option.
How to get a confirmation of my automatic investment? Trade confirmations are available online under "Accounts & Trade" > "Statements" (or "Documents") the business day following the execution of the order. You may also receive email notifications.
How to know if my automatic investment went through? Check your "Activity & Orders" or "History" section for the relevant account on Fidelity.com or the mobile app. The transaction should appear there, indicating a successful purchase.
How to adjust the amount of my automatic investment? Access your recurring investment plans via "Accounts & Trade" > "Account Features" > "Manage Recurring Transfers," select the plan, and you'll find an option to "Edit" or "Change Amount."
How to find out if there are fees for automatic investments with Fidelity? Generally, Fidelity does not charge fees for setting up or managing automatic investment plans. However, normal commission fees for stock/ETF trades (which are often commission-free online) or mutual fund expense ratios still apply to the underlying investments.
How to view automatic investments in Fidelity Go accounts? For Fidelity Go accounts (their robo-advisor service), your automatic investments are managed as part of the overall strategy. You can typically see your contributions and portfolio activity within the Fidelity Go section of your account, often under a "Contributions" or "Activity" tab specific to Fidelity Go.
