This is a new installment in an ongoing series where Marc Bautis, Wealth Manager and Founder of Bautis Financial, comments on hot topics in the financial industry.
The Pain of Missing Out
One of my all time favorite investment charts is the one below, from Fidelity. It shows that if you try to time the market, but end up missing out on some of the best performing days of all time, it can have an enormous impact on your returns.
Do You Know Where Your Cryptocurrency Is?
There are different ways to invest in Cryptocurrency:
- Passively, by investing in an ETF that tracks the price of Bitcoin, or a basket of cryptocurrency that you are into.
- Using a wallet, like Coinbase, to purchase and store your Cryptocurrency digitally.
- Taking your cryptocurrency offline, essentially storing it on a hard drive.
While taking the cryptocurrency offline has some security advantages — it can’t be hacked — you have to be certain not to lose the portable hard drive it’s stored on.
The New Yorker featured a gentleman, James Howells, who mistakenly threw out his hard drive with $500 million of cryptocurrency stored on it. He even attempted to dig it up from the landfill.
Earnings Do Matter
GameStop’s price percentage change graph, see below, is one of the most incredible I’ve ever seen. The company had six years of a slow and steady decline and then, December 2020 into February 2021 prices went berserk. Really, for no valid reason besides some posts on Reddit boards.
GameStop stock is now down over 10%, and it looks like reality may have finally set in.
Stocks usually trade up and down based on earnings and future projections. Just yesterday, GameStop reported, and they were dismal.
While a startup can have some quarters with poor performance, it’s not really feasible for a mature company. It looks like investors are finally taking notice, no matter what be said on Reddit.
Are You Really On Track For Retirement?
Transamerica’s recent study on retirement readiness concluded that most Americans are confident they have enough saved for retirement, despite many being found not adequately prepared. Retirement readiness is a tricky topic, because there are so many variables at play, including:
- Changing Taxes
- Market Volatility
- Rising Health Care Expenses
- Inflation
- Longevity
I remember reading a study from Schwab that found most people spend more time planning for a trip than planning for retirement… What?! Having a successful retirement is too important to leave up to chance.
By going through our three step Discover How process, you’ll discover if you’re really prepared for retirement. If not, we’ll give you suggestions for what you can do now to improve your situation.
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