I'm a lazy person.

I can't spend more than an hour a day studying different indexes, stocks or other financial instruments. I just don't have the time, with family and a day job. But that's a huge problem, because you've really got to understand the things that you're buying or investing in.

So, I use roboadvisors and so far, their returns are under average (underperforming if compared to QQQ or SPY) but still positive - for now.

The concept is simple, schedule recurring transfers to different portfolios (usually defined by risk levels or asset classes) and let them do their job.

For example, I've got an Income portfolio with Stashaway (use my link for a a sign-up bonus), and it consistently pays me passive income from dividends (from different assets like high yield bonds) on a quarterly/bi-annual/annual basis. I'm also using other roboadvisors to expose my funds to other assets like REITs and equity markets too.

But how long can I continue using them?

Here are a my 3 reasons to consider before using roboadvisors for the long term..

Investment experience

This is the first thing I evaluate when I sign up for different roboadvisors.

How user friendly is the app? How easy is it understand the products or portfolios available?

Because this is where my money will stay for the long term (investing has to be long term), it has to be easy to check everytime I open the app.

I'm in Singapore so there are only a few roboadvisors that I can go with - Stashaway, Syfe and Endowus.

So far, my favourite is Stashaway because of how usable the app is - no surprise as their CEO is Michel Ferrario; ex-CEO of Zalora Group, a giant ecommerce site.

It's really hard to 'show' user friendliness with screenshots - download and sign up to experience your roboadvisor's UX

Personally, if the user friendliness and usability of the app is bad, that says a lot about the roboadvisor whose job is to make investing fuss-free and simple.

Besides app UX, the timeliness of getting your queries replies is another reason. If you have issues withdrawing/depositing money or maybe getting a dividend report, how fast can their customer service team help you is something worth considering.

I digress. So how does this affect me when I'm retired?

A lot.

When I'm retired, I'm probably doing the things that I love to do - such as traveling or just spending time with my family. If I have to spend a lot of time in a day to sort/manage my investments, why pay for a service? I could just do it myself.

Investment principles

Before you sign up and deposit money into a roboadvisor (they're basically fund managers), understand their investment principles. For example, Stashaway has their proprietary framework

and so does Syfe;

Different roboadvisors call it differently - investment approach, investment methodology but they all usually mean the same - how are they going to manage your money.

Try to understand the respective principles so in the event of market crashes or black swan events, you won't be spooked as you've already understood their investment principles.

As a retiree, it can be very scary as you will probably not want to get back into the workforce for income in the event of market crashes or recessions. This way, I don't have to study different instruments (REITs, stocks, crypto), just have to study and understand their principles.

Liquidity events

Liquidity events are when the company has to shut down - due to acquisitions, mergers, or more commonly - financial problems.

What happens to your funds in these cases? Will you lose all of your money?

Chances are that you'll probably not, but you also do not want to go through the hassle of sorting legal and other paperwork when if it happens - and when you're retired.

So, what should you do?

Find, or ask.

Using Stashaway again as an example, their FAQ page states that money will be kept in separate accounts and will be protected in such events.

Other roboadvisors/companies often use the same approach, but if in doubt, ask via any of their many support channels (you can verify or test their responsiveness this way, too.)

Death and inheritance

I've got money in different places. Saving accounts, insurance, and also roboadvisors. When I eventually die, I want to make it easy for my next of kin to inherit my money.

Rather than invest in various trading platforms or exchanges, roboadvisors can be a good place to aggregate your funds to ensure a smooth process of withdrawing your money when you pass away.

You may have multiple portfolios of different asset classes and risks but ultimately, they're under the purview of just one company - the roboadvisor.

This will simplify things a lot.

The undergrowth perspective

Just in case you didn't notice, I did not mention a single thing about fees or even returns because like everyone else, roboadvisors are subject to the volatility of the market.

Sure, some roboadvisors perform better but past performance is no guarantee of future value. Which is why it's important to diversity roboadvisors (not only funds) as their approach may vary slightly.

Back to the question of whether you can retire with a roboadvisor?

You can but..

Before you go all-in, make sure you are clear on your expected returns (don't forget management fees) and what do you really want out of this 'partnership'.

Personally, I value my time and mental health a lot so, I do not mind cutting into my profit/gains for my funds to be managed passively.

I'm using Stashaway for this example as I've used them the longest (since 2019) and familiar with their products. I am in no way affiliated with the company nor is this article sponsored.