Examined Sep 25, 2026 Paid as interest Boost, not a payment Wealthfront's referral is extra interest, not a bonus. On $10,000 it is about $19.
Keep $10,000 there across the three months and the boost is worth about $19; about $4 on $2,000, and at the $150,000 ceiling roughly $281. The rate itself is advertised as 4.30% APY, which is its base rate of 3.55% plus the boost. Wealthfront's own page dates those figures September 18, 2026; when we first read it in July the same page said 4.05% on a 3.30% base. It is explicitly a variable rate, and it has now moved once while we watched, so treat both numbers as dated rather than fixed.
- On a $2,000 balanceAbout $4
- On $10,000About $19
- At the $150,000 ceiling, where the boost stops applyingAbout $281
What the boost is worth in dollars across its three months, on our own arithmetic.
What pays what
| You, as a first-time Wealthfront client arriving through an invite link | +0.75% APY, 3 months |
|---|---|
| What the boost is worth on a $10,000 balance | About $19 |
| What it is worth on the $150,000 ceiling | About $281 |
| Every dollar you hold above $150,000 | Base rate only |
| Anyone who has ever opened or held a Wealthfront account | Not eligible |
| Opening cold, with no invite link | +0.65% APY, 3 months |
| Closing the account before the 3 months end | Rest of the boost forfeited |
Do this, in this order
- Know what the invite link is really worth: 0.10 points. Wealthfront's New Client terms give a first-time client who opens and funds a Cash Account and “does not utilize a referral link or other promotional program” a “one-time 0.65% APY increase over the then-applicable standard APY” for three months on up to $150,000. The link gets you 0.75% instead, which on $10,000 is about $2.50 more. You get one or the other, not both.
- Check that you are genuinely new. Wealthfront's wording is strict: the boost is for people who have never opened or held a Wealthfront account before.
- Work out the dollar value on your own balance before you move a cent. Three quarters of a point for three months is 0.1875% of what you actually hold. On $5,000 that is about nine dollars. The account opens from $1.
- Respect the $150,000 aggregate ceiling. It is the cap on the boost, not on the account: everything past $150,000 earns the ordinary rate.
- Put the end of the three months in your calendar. The rate then reverts to the base rate, and the terms say “Boost Periods and Deposit Match Periods cannot be postponed or extended.”
- Re-check the base rate on the day you decide. Wealthfront now stamps the rate with a date, “Base APY is 3.55% as of 09/18/2026 and subject to change”, which tells you what it was on that day and nothing about whether it has moved since. Between our July and September readings it went from 3.30% to 3.55%.
The fine print, including two extras
There is a second arm for investment accounts. The same promotion also offers a 0.50% match on up to $100,000 of eligible net deposits moved into an eligible Wealthfront investment account over a three month period, after you make or receive a qualifying referral. The terms cap it plainly: “The maximum value of the potential Promotional Boost is $281.25 and Deposit Match is $500”. The match is slow money. It is paid “in four (4) equal quarterly installments” starting after the three months, each is credited as cash and then automatically invested, and the investing account must stay funded until all four arrive. Only an individual taxable investing account counts; joint, trust, IRA and 529 accounts do not.
There is also an advisory fee waiver, and it is small. Anyone who gets the boost automatically qualifies for three concurrent months of Wealthfront's fee waiver program, waiving the standard investment advisory fee on up to $5,000 of balance. The fee is 0.25% a year, so on $5,000 for three months the waiver is worth about $3.
The base rate is variable and the boost sits on top of it. You are promised a rate increase, not a rate. If the base falls during your three months, 4.30% falls with it and nobody has broken a word of the terms.
The promotion has no published end date, which cuts both ways. Eligibility runs from October 21, 2025 to a future date Wealthfront has not announced and decides at its own discretion, and it reserves the right to modify or terminate the promotion at any time without notice. There is no deadline pressure, and equally no guarantee it survives the month.
Close early and you lose the rest, and paid interest can be taken back. The terms say “If you close an account earning Rewards prior to the end of your Boost Period or Deposit Match Period, you will forfeit the remaining portion of your applicable Reward or Rewards.” If Wealthfront disqualifies a boost for suspected fraud or a breach of the terms after interest has started, it keeps the right to recapture that interest.
It arrives as interest, so it is taxed as interest. No cash bonus lands, so there is no separate windfall to declare, just more interest income than you would otherwise have had, taxed accordingly.
Is it worth your time?
If a friend sends you a link and you were already looking for somewhere to keep cash, take it: a higher rate for three months costs you nothing and the Cash Account is a reasonable home for savings either way. What it is not is a signup bonus. Nothing is deposited, nothing arrives, and on the balance most people actually keep it is worth less than a takeout dinner. The version worth having is the one where you already have real cash to park and you use the $150,000 ceiling as your planning number.
Once you have an account, sending your own invite link out works the same way: each successful referral you make adds another three months of the boost, up to six months of boosted rate stacked at a time. Once those six months run out, referring again starts the clock over.
