Would Stashaway or Kristal.AI be better for a Final Year Uni student with about $5k to $10k to invest? Would lump sum or monthly contribution be better?

If you only have $5-10k to invest, i'd say go with DCA monthly. Firstly because in this volatile and uncertain covid-19 economy, no one knows what will happen to stock prices. Surely, it has rebounded back and some economists predict this will be a V-shaped recovery but no one knows for sure. DCA monthly $500 into both Stashaway and Kristal will be a safe move. Also lump-sum strategy may work well if you believe that stock prices will be going up, but take note of brokerage costs. I'm assuming you're wanting to invest in US stocks since u suggest both robos that portfolios globally, take note of brokerage charges. With $5k-10k, make sure you consider your currency conversion fees, platform fees, dividend g=handling fees and so on.

Hi, i'm also starting my final year of uni this Aug. I've used both Stashaway and kristal.AI so here are my 2cents worth.

Firstly, for Stashaway, it's pretty clean & easy, deposit your money and then they'll do the rest. SA will use all the funds and buy fractional shares. I prefer this method so i can put any odd sum of money (eg $515) and it'll all be invested. Just to note, during the month of March when stocks were plunging badly, i DCA $50 weekly all up to 3rd week April. Now, i'm sitting on almost +9.60% return (SGD). SA did re-optimse and sold some US stocks, such as the S&P500 IVV and VGK. Invested into China's KWEB and BNDX instead.

Secondly, for kristal.AI, a good thing it has over Stashaway is that YOU CAN CHOOSE whatever ETFs u want to invest in. Personally, i used it for QQQ (also sitting on +ve return; created acct in March). Only big downside i feel is that they use the unit NAV and u must deposit min 1 unit. So if u have $5k and assume you want to DCA monthly $500 into Kristal, u will only be able to invest 2units, using the unit NAV price of US$239.69.

Personally, if u have $10k, i'd recommend u can try invest 5k into Stashaway and 5k into Kristal, DCA monthly $800, and then see how it works for you the next 6 months.

Meanwhile, u can read up on more investing books/financial blogs, gain some financial knowledge and create a CDP account so u can DIY your own SG stocks, or an overseas brokerage (IG, TD) for US/HK stocks.

Hope it helps!