Every dollar counts when it comes to retirement savings. So, why not provide a mechanism to younger investors that ensures transparency, control, and smart investment decisions in the long run? That mechanism is a platform which understands how to aggregate all of your investment portfolios in one location, on the blockchain.
As of July 2017, the National Retirement Risk Index determined that more than half of working-age households were at risk of being unable to maintain their current standard of living in retirement. What’s troublesome is the lack of control over portfolios and the lack of transparency available to investors. For millennials, the time is now to get a hold of their finances, let alone their financial future. But how do they go about doing this?
Putting Control Back Into The Hands of The Younger Investor
With a traditional retirement plan comes a lack of engagement and the inability to control the structure of how the plan is set up. Many times, younger investors have had others set them up for them, whether it’s mom and dad, a planner, or even a broker. Nevertheless, there is still one major problem: the investor is left out, until it comes time to retire. This is not a realistic approach in ensuring financial strength, independence, and wealth, at least in today’s digital age. So, what can an investor do in order to meet their realistic retirement goals?
Aggregate Your Portfolios
Raphael Vantroost, CEO of Auctus, believes that proper retirement or goal-based saving thrives on a holistic portfolio construction. “It’s all about approaching investments as a whole, not in parts,” said Vantroost. He emphasized the importance of having a single location, (i.e., a blockchain) where all of one’s portfolios can be placed and analyzed with all the numbers, figures, and risk factors. This allows for a better connection between the two parties that really matter – the investor and the entities holding his or her funds.
Most importantly, it addresses the lack of transparency and centralization, as platforms like Auctus, which utilize blockchains for specific needs, want to bring individuals closer to services and their funds. The idea is to bring them together, not keep them apart.
Allocating Assets
In my conversation with Vantroost, he indicated it may be smart to allocate assets to certain accounts, but maybe to allocate a smaller portion towards investing in cryptocurrency. “With the volatility of the market, it’s never a good idea to invest everything you have, but when you allocate a smaller portion, you never know what you’re going to find,” he explained. We’ve always been taught about the ultimate battle strategy: divide and conquer. Same concept here. Diversify your funds.
Risk Management
With the emergence of smart contracts and automated/robotic risk advisors, the chances of jeopardizing your portfolio or making potentially harmful financial decisions are reduced. Having tailored analytics based on one’s individual portfolio could provide significant value to the investor when it comes to making informed decisions on risk/return.
Digital History
By placing your portfolio on a blockchain, there’s a digital trail. You now have an encrypted, well-guarded history of the life of the portfolio, from beginning to end. There’s very little chance of fund manipulation or head-scratching in an effort to understand why a portfolio is returning the dollar amount that it is.
It’s all there. On the blockchain. The clock is ticking on your retirement. Start early.