Should I buy ETFs (on tiger brokers) now at age 25 using the DCA theory or should I just put all my money to a robo-advisor?

There is a fundamental difference between buying ETFs and Robo-advisor and that is the level of participation and knowledge.

If you have slight knowledge of how stock investing works, going through the ETF by DCA way will help you learn faster and adapt to the market. The US ETFs like VOO (passive) and ARKK (active) are my preferred choices as you can see what are you really buying into (the constituents).

Robo is more for "I'm not sure what I am doing, leave it to the experts", which comes at a slight higher management fee (Quite negligible). Good thing is that it can be automated so you could get on with daily life and buy & forget.

Before you start investing, also make sure your foundation is strong. I made a video for beginners who are diving into investing and the tips they could use on my Youtube Channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLjGVnoQcdU&t

Take a look and great if it works out for you!

Zac pretty much sums up the basics of investing and planning. However, to better value add, you can go down into the details of how to invest and what to invest.

For protection-wise, you will need to know how much to protect and what to protect.

For accumulation, keeping approximately about 6 months of your income is a rule of thumb unless you have very specific circumstances that require you to deviate from it.

For investing, going with an ETF gives you exposure to hedge against inflation and potentially grow your money. Slowly. However, if you want to grow your money a little faster, you can explore style-based investing or factor investing. Knowing how to do a proper asset allocation will not only reduce your risk but increase your overall returns.

As you gain in experience, what you want to do is to perhaps get more alpha in your portfolio.​​​

It's good that you have no loans and debts.

If you haven't already, factor in emergency funds and insurance as part of holistic financial planning when you're budgeting your 20k savings. Protection before accumulation. Walk before you run.

Robo-advisor or ETF really depends on your investment goals, knowledge and experience. Since you're young, I suggest keeping your underlying holdings as mostly equities. Take on more volatility to get potentially higher returns. Diversification is important too. Try finding a global ETF. If you find it hard or don't know where to start, put it in a robo-advisor while you give yourself some time to learn.

20k as a student is no mean feat. Keep it up!​​​

Whether you are going by the first or the second option, my view is that for any investment decisions we make, the first step is always to first understand what is our investment goals, expectations and risk profile/tolerance.

Roboadvisors are definitely great investment tools that made our lives easier and more convenient. My only fear is that we all gradually get overly reliant on the roboadvisors for our investment decisions and choices. It is also definitely essential to equip ourselves with some basic knowledge on the financial or investment-related terms. Not knowing what we are buying exposes ourselves to self-induced risk that can actually be avoided.

That's my two cents' worth, hope it helps! :)