Im European so I don't know much about the retirement plans, but as I see it, the costs are the biggest issue here. Mutual funds rarely outperform index funds, so why not just stick with the passive index funds that have substantially lower costs & can be traded like stocks on the market (anyone can buy them)?
In the US system, money which goes in certain sorts of retirement plans (like a "401k") is not subject to income tax (at least not in the same way as the rest of your income). But the definition of a "401k" plan requires that you can NOT control the money and make the investments yourself. Instead, you must pay someone else (the "401k plan provider") to control the money for you (typically they offer a small selection of investments and let you pick how to allocate your money among those, then they invest it according to your instructions).
These 401k plan providers charge fees. Typically fairly substantial fees (like 1%) and typically the fees are well-hidden. By "well-hidden" I mean that it probably takes a knowledgeable researcher months to find out what the fees are -- I've certainly never known the fees for any plan I've ever had.
This startup purports to compete by charging fewer fees 401k plan provider fees.
