Are robo-advisors good for beginners?
Because there isn't an advisor's salary to pay, robo-advisors charge a fraction of the management fee of traditional financial advisors. By nature, most robo-advisors are appropriate for beginners.
Robo-advisors don't have an office where a client walks in and talks directly to an advisor. This type of personal contact is relegated to the traditional financial advisory models. Most robo-advisors will not hold your hand and comfort you after a significant market drop.
“The biggest advantage they provide is low cost,” says Max Pashman, a CFP and owner of Pashman Financial. “You can have your portfolio managed for a very low management fee compared to the average rate of an advisor that typically charges 1% or more to invest [your] money,” he says.
Five-year returns from most robo-advisors range from 2%–5% per year. * And the performance of these automated investment services can vary based on asset allocation, market conditions, and other factors.
Robo-advisors, like human advisors, cannot guarantee profits or protect entirely against losses, especially during market downturns—even with well-diversified portfolios. Because most robo-advisors only take long positions, when those assets fall in value, so will the portfolio it has constructed.
High-net-worth investors exited robo-advisor arrangements at the highest rates. Here's how the data broke down along asset levels: $50,000 or less: A drop from 23.6% to 20.6% in 2022, which translates to a decrease of 3 percentage points.
While it's smart to be cautious when trusting others with your money, a robo-advisor may be just as safe as a human financial advisor. But investing always comes with the risk of losing money, and that's true whether you're investing on your own, hiring a financial advisor or using a robo-advisor.
The robo-advisor will invest your money in various funds that also charge fees based on your assets. The fees can vary widely, but across a portfolio they typically range from 0.05 percent to 0.25 percent, costing $5 to $25 annually for every $10,000 invested, though some funds may cost more.
The return on investment will vary by portfolio, and not everyone will have the same investment mix. Most robo-advisors don't have a long track record. But according to the Robo Report, the five-year returns (2017 to 2022) from most robo-advisors range from 2% to 5% per year.
Robo-advisors often build portfolios using a mix of various index funds. But depending on the asset class mix and the particular index funds selected, a robo-advisor may underperform or outperform a broad equity index like the S&P 500.
Which robo-advisor has the best return?
Learn more about how we review products and read our advertiser disclosure for how we make money. According to our research, Wealthfront is the best overall robo-advisor due to its vast customization options, fee-free stock investing, low-interest rate borrowing, dynamic tax-loss harvesting, and other key features.
Target Demographic
For robo-advisors, these include Millennial and Generation Z investors who are technology-savvy and still accumulating their investable assets.
Robo-advisors are much quicker to respond to changes in your assets, but they are not able to predict market outcomes. It is just as possible to lose money using a robo-advisor as it is using a human advisor.
For core investing and planning advice, a robo-advisor is a great solution because it automates much of the work that a human advisor does. And it charges less for doing so – potential savings for you. Plus, the ease of starting and managing the account can't be overstated.
Suppose you're starting from scratch and have no savings. You'd need to invest around $13,000 per month to save a million dollars in five years, assuming a 7% annual rate of return and 3% inflation rate. For a rate of return of 5%, you'd need to save around $14,700 per month.
While robo-advisors offer a hands-off approach and low fees & minimums, human financial advisors provide a personal touch, they are able to accommodate complex financial scenarios with a depth of understanding beyond algorithmic capabilities.
Betterment is a robo-advisor and Robinhood is a stock trading platform at its core, so the fees they charge investors aren't exactly for the same services. With that said, both are notorious for their low fee structures.
Last year, roughly 30 million Americans used robo-advisors to grow their assets. Statista expects another 20 million people in the US to start using their services in the next four years, pushing the total user count to nearly 50 million.
Robo-advisors make money through annual fees, primarily management fees called a wrap fee. The wrap fee covers a percentage of the assets under management (AUM). Compared to a traditional financial advisor, robo-advisors charge lower advisory fees, typically around 0.25%.
- Wealthfront – Best for Goals-Based Investing.
- Betterment – Best for Beginners.
- Empower – Best for Net Worth Tracking.
- Axos Invest – Best for Self-Directed Trading.
Do robo-advisors automatically invest?
The robo‑advisor automatically builds you a diversified portfolio of funds—usually selected by a team of investment professionals. 3. Experts regularly monitor market activity and every underlying investment to ensure your portfolio is rebalanced appropriately by a sophisticated algorithm—all so you don't have to.
- Use a micro-investing app or robo-advisor.
- Invest in a stock index mutual fund or exchange-traded fund.
- Open a brokerage account that offers fractional share investing and invest in your favorite companies.
- Open an IRA.
Schwab doesn't charge management fees but requires you to hold cash in the portfolio. Wealthfront offers greater customization options and excellent digital financial planning tools at a lower account minimum and competitive fee. It really does depend on what you are looking for.
- Betterment. Best Robo-Advisor for Everyday Investors.
- SoFi Automated Investing. Best Robo-Advisor for Low Fees.
- Vanguard Digital Advisor. Best Robo-Advisor for Beginners.
- Vanguard Personal Advisor Services. Best Robo-Advisor for High Balances.
- Wealthfront.
The jury's still out on whether robo-advisors are the future. But as a financial professional, you may need to be able to articulate why and how financial planning requires a human element that robo-advisors may not deliver, as well as why prospective clients should choose you.
