Americans lean on technology for help with so much nowadays–from ordering groceries to arranging transportation to screening potential love interests and so much more.
Sure, that’s all great and making our lives somewhat easier.
But apparently, consumers want to use tech to accomplish more important tasks than shopping at midnight in their pajamas.
A new survey out from Schwab found around one in four Americans say they would rather automate their day-to-day finances with tech tools than get food delivered (22 percent), find a date (18 percent), diagnose a health issue (13 percent) or drive a car (11 percent).
What’s more, U.S. adults want help creating a financial plan–something most respondents consider as difficult as training for a marathon–and are confident access to the appropriate technology could provide it.
“The majority (56 percent) would like the creation of a financial plan to be at least as easy as booking a hotel room,” Schwab noted in its report.
Solutions that are solely digital, however, aren’t what people are after. Almost all survey respondents (86 percent) want technology plus the ability to easily contact a real person for more assistance when needed.
Even among those who are on-board with tech solutions, four in 10 still prefer more human assistance than automation when it comes to money matters, especially those they consider the most important like managing their portfolio or developing a financial plan.
“So many people simply don’t invest for their future because they don’t know where to start,” Tobin McDaniel, senior vice president of digital advice and innovation at Charles Schwab, said in a statement. “Consumers today expect a combination of technology to remove roadblocks and access to a person when they need some extra help, and how they invest should be no different.”
Looking forward, respondents think robo advisors are going to greatly impact the future of finance. Almost six in 10 (58 percent) anticipate using robo advice regularly by 2025. A lesser number felt the same about artificial intelligence (55 percent), virtual reality 54 percent), augmented reality (43 percent) and cryptocurrency (36 percent).
But again, 70 percent also want help from a real, live human about intimidating financial topics.
“As people’s finances get more complex, they increasingly want access to a human advisor,” McDaniel added. “Leveraging technology to automate ongoing tasks means we can lower costs and drive scale to give more people access to financial advice and planning than ever before.”
And data show that’s exactly what investors want. In fact, 64 percent of respondents say they would spend more time investing if they had easy access to a financial advisor when needed.
Additional findings from Schwab’s survey, as broken down by generation, include:
- Not surprisingly, Millennials are fans of using technology for money management: 75 percent say it has given them peace of mind; 71 percent say it has helped them reach financial goals; and 56 percent say it’s helped them get out of debt.
- However, 82 percent of Millennials still prefer brands that make it easy for them to talk to a person; 79 percent prefer to build their financial plan by using a combination of automation and people or by relying almost entirely on human assistance.
- Boomers prove to be surprisingly comfortable with technology: 43 percent of Boomers are more comfortable relying on technology than people to answer questions and solve problems.
- Boomers report that tech has helped them improve their financial lives, as well: 51 percent say technology gives them peace of mind when it comes to finances, and 44 percent say technology has helped them reach financial goals.
Jessa Claeys is a writer, editor and graphic designer.
