Source – moneycontrol.com
Does “Numerophobia” sound familiar? In case you have missed out on this word before, let me enlighten you. This represents the fear of numbers. If you were anything like me with sheer hatred towards mathematics or one of those back-benchers that dreaded the math lecture, appearing for the final exam must have been frightful. With numbers, signs, theorems and calculations doing a well-choreographed dance around your head, I bet your senses spun a complete 360 degrees and left you bamboozled.
Coming back to the present! Today, numbers form the bases of our lives. Be it simple grocery shopping in the mart, buying your favorite Forever21 dress or making “the” down payment of your “dream” car – digits are everywhere. For people like me who have constantly hated the very idea of arithmetic could find these financial transactions stressful and anxiety causing.
(May the Ultimate Power of the Universe shower the choicest blessings on Blaise Pascal who invented the first calculator. Means a lot to people like me who cannot count beyond their fingers you know!)
Jargon Trauma? Robo-advisory to the rescue:
The trending hot table topic today is “financial advisory”. Everything about and around this word has started to become full of financial jargon and spine-chilling questions that are carelessly thrown towards non-financial people. Sad as it may sound, not many investment planners have been able to combine the philosophy of wealth and life whilst creating an investment plan for their clients.
This leaves the client confused with pages after pages of pie-charts and excel sheets as they desperately doodle their way to escape the jargon and follow their investment plan. All this makes us wonder is if financial advisory can ever be comprehensive and to the point at the same time. Can it, for crying out loud, use words that are easy to understand, strategies that are easy to follow and a vision that clearly lights up a direct pathway to building wealth?
Hold on to something since this is going to be ground-breaking. The answer is yes, it can! With basic artificial intelligence flooding the market like wild fire, finance too has been touched by these humble hands. Making advisory easy, accessible, convenient and customized, “robo-advisory” has indeed been an amazing input to the financial world. (The savior has arrived!)
Bring your razor-sharp focus into play and read some quick benefits of robo-advisory carefully: –
Minimal fees: Finally, a platform that will not rob you of your hard-earned money. With human intervention sliding off the picture, labor cost reduces significantly making the services extremely affordable to common man.
Excellent efficiency and bias free advisory: Devoid of human errors, the platform is highly efficient helping your plan your numbers to the smallest digit. The robots provide error free and bias free advisory. With no agenda of personal gains, it is the best bet to thumb upon.
Interactive platform… even on the go: Free of human jargon and non-essential yaps, the robo-advisory platform is interactive just to the right amount. Knowing that there is a robo on the other end, interacting becomes easier and comfortable along with eliminating the part where you have to meet “anyone” personally. (phew!! Finally, some space.)
Who does not like real time? Robo-advisory keeps you in loop of your investments and budgeting, REAL TIME, with 24/7 accessibility.
Dieting is easier if you don’t have a half-eaten cake staring at you when you open the refrigerator door. And avoiding unnecessary expenditure is easier; too, if you can see your daily finances “real time”.
Types of Robo advisors in India: –
Budget managing robo–advisory: These advisors are competent at providing complete hand-holding in terms of your monthly budget. Managing your monthly finances becomes easier. This is one of the most popular robo-advisors that attracts the millennials who find it difficult to regulate their monthly funds.
Automated investment robo-advisor: The clients are offered various packages to choose from as per their individual investment requirements. They virtually handle every aspect of investing. Once money is transferred to a new account and a stock/bond allocation chosen, the service handles everything from rebalancing to bonus reinvestment to even tax loss harvesting.
Goal based robo-advisor: The investment selection under this is based on the information you provide. You get basic advisory services or some additional services from such robo-advisors. They help you buy the funds you want and are based on structured asset allocation. As per your desired target goal, investments are carried out in order to help you reach your destination.
Yet, before you dive blind folded into robo-advisory, having a bit of self-awareness is advisable.
Spend time to know Thyself: The first step before determining on where to invest your money and how much, is to know your viewpoint towards money. For instance, by nature, most Indians are risk averse or against taking high level of risk. The word “GUARANTEED RETURNS” immediately appeals us and we prefer to invest in avenues where the principal amount is safe. It may not be wise, but that’s our immediate reaction when asked about investing. (Get your risk profiling done if you haven’t already)
With robo-advisors transforming the face of conventional investment and budgeting methods, for the good, they still lack the ability to give you a holistic approach to your finances. In terms of multiple goal achievement analysis, robo-advisory still lags. The next generation of financial robots that can evolve the financial world would be robo-planners that would not only ace in providing unbiased financial planning advice but impart a comprehensive and customized financial plan to achieve all your long-term and short-term goals. A platform that shall deal with finances beyond the array of mere financial investments. ROBO-PLANNERS – the future of finance.