Opening an investment account with an online brokerage doesn’t suit everybody. It can take time, a fair amount of financial awareness and requires the investor to have an active interest in their financial future. Many who find that it doesn’t suit them may want to turn elsewhere to get the help they need. Robo-advisors and tranditional financial advisors are compelling alternatives to online brokerages. Robo-advisors are nice for beginners as they automatically manage your money and investments by making investment decisions based on data that you provide when creating an account. They are a software system powered by algorithms and the automated process requires minimum input from the online broker and yourself. As your investments are taken care of on your behalf, robo-advisors do come with management fees; however, these fees are usually quite low. Financial advisors are great if you want a human touch. You'll get a personal coach to guide you in financial matters. Traditional financial advisors are always more expensive than discount online brokers or robo-advisors as they include a human counterpart. The annual charges of a traditional brokerage firm are usually higher than management fees of online brokerage firms, and sometimes they can charge commissions on trades that they execute on your behalf.