Most of you have money invested in the stock market either directly or indirectly. For some, they engage a financial advisor or certified financial planner to assist them when deciding where to invest their money for saving or retirement purposes. For others, they invest through their places of employment, retirement or savings options. Irrespective of your engagement, current market volatility due to tariff uncertainty, trade wars, bond market concerns and even changes in the federal reserve leadership should cause financial concern. According to a recent Forbes article, since January, the stock market has lost an estimated 9.6 trillion in value. Given the current market chaos, should you seek advice from a Robo Adviser?
Get Your People?
Before you consider obtaining financial advice in this climate let’s understand a few terms and identifiers.
Financial advisors generally focus on managing an individual’s investment portfolios, while financial planners take a look at the entire financial picture and an individual’s long-term goals. It is important for you to understand the distinction because in this climate you could seek advice from the wrong professional expecting a different result. These terms and handles are used interchangeably and therefore the distinction is important.
Next you should know the distinction between Bond Market versus Stock Market.
The stock market is essentially a platform where investors trade assets such as securities or shares for a profit. If investors are uncertain about the impact of economic policy on consumers, companies and global markets, that can cause the stock market to lose confidence and value in those assets. The platforms on which stocks are traded are primarily the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ .
On the other hand the Bond Market is where debt is traded or sold. The bond market is where you lend your money to the government or to an organization for a period of time in return for a guaranteed rate of interest on the loaned amount. Here, when market volatility shakes confidence, lenders (investors in the Bond Market such as you or me) can sometimes lose faith in the United States economy. It becomes becomes problematic when those lenders want their money back before it is due.
Humans versus Robots
As you watch your investments rise or fall in this economy and you feel the need to seek advice, can you choose a Robo Adviser? Today Robo advisors manage more than $500 billion in investment assets. Therefore, they are worth consideration after being introduced in the marketplace some 15 years ago. Another reason to consider Robo advisers besides cost is because they take emotions out of the analysis. With a human as your advisor, emotions will be in play as opposed to a set of programmed algorithms set to achieve a specific outcome or goal. Another factor to consider is your interaction with your investment advisor. Are you planning to actively engage now that the stock market has your attention? Are you going to reconsider your retirement and become aggressive or consider deferring retirement?
Here are some Robos to consider:
- Ellevest Digital Investing. If this means anything to you or is a factor, the company’s robo services are only woman focused. The robo investment services are designed specifically for women, taking into consideration critical factors such as how women sometimes earn less than men in the workplace and that women’s lifespans are usually longer than men. There is no basic investment requirement amount and the monthly fee is $12.00.
- Fidelity Go. There is no cost for this robo advisor if your investment is less than $25,000. Should your investment exceed that base amount, your charge will be 0.35% each year. However, you will get access to a financial coach. This means you would have hybrid services, both robo and human advisors. With this robo advisor portfolio, your investment is split 60% into stocks and 40% into bonds. Of the 60% stocks investment; 30% of them are in foreign companies. Fidelity Go provided an above average return in 2024 of 11.6% and an annualized return over the last five years of 7.2%.
- Vanguard Digital Advisor is another robo advisor offering low hybrid services, along with Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. You can consider these and other robo advisors options as you address your financial anxiety during this current period.
Stock Market Reality: While many may lose sleep at night worrying about their retirement accounts, some things still remain true. Significantly less than forty percent of African American have investments or assets in the stock market according to a Federal Reserve survey. The number is even less when it comes to Hispanic families or communities. The median value of stocks held by African Americans is $16,500 according to a Pew Research Report dated March 2024. Accessing tools to help build wealth is critical to the future success of all Americans in this digital economy.
WHAT’S UP! Today’s What’s Up is about summer travel. Air fares are not expected to fall so here are two things you can do. If you see a reasonable fare, book it since you have 24 hours to change your mind. Prices are not coming down! Don’t focus so much on the fare but on the additional fees such as carry on luggage and seat selections. It might now be time to consider that airline credit card for the perks especially if it is backed or sponsored by a commercial bank. For example, American Airlines credit cards are backed by CitiBank. Getting such a card might be worth it despite the annual fee if you travel a few times each year.
And that’s what’s up!
Ruthven R. Phillip, Esq., is a tax attorney, Stewardship and Philanthropy Ministry Assistant, and CEO of Give2Getrich, LLC. Give2Get Rich, LLC 2025 All Rights Reserved. Any distribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited.
