You Do Look Old.. The Fad Sweeping the Nation
In 1893 there was a young lady who came to the Chicago World Fair with just her tablecloth entry in hand. She arrived after a strenuous, six-week boat ride from Europe, and I can only imagine how dark and large the ocean must have seemed for my great-grandma.
I picture her sitting on the boat during the long voyage, looking up at the stars in the complete dark. What if I could sit next to her, point to the moon, and tell her that within her lifetime we’d walk on it? I don't know what my great-grandmother would have said to that kind of crazy talk, but in only a few generations we went from traveling by boat across the ocean to flying a man to the moon.
You might be thinking this post is inspired by the 50th anniversary of the moon landing (and you would be partially correct). But the real focus of the internet right now is the amazing opportunity to look 50 years into the future with a simple app that gives you a glimpse of what you might look like (give or take a few wrinkles).
It’s really easy to download the app, take a picture and see what you’ll look like when you’re running around with your grandchildren. It takes less than 5 minutes to get your photo, another few minutes to post it to Facebook, and then 30 seconds of peace before all of your friends start poking fun at the wrinkles and grey hair of your “future self.”
Those pictures will still exist in 50 years and it will be so fun to go back and see how accurate they were in predicting our future. Wouldn't it be nice to do the same thing with your finances?
What if there was an app that could log into your accounts, track your money habits, and project where you might be 50 years from now? You could see your bank balances, your investment balances -- your total net worth! It doesn't take much artificial intelligence to get a pretty good guess of where you are headed. If you tell me your savings rate and your allocations we can get a good picture of what your financial future might look like.
It's too bad we can't get as excited about posting our financial future on the internet as we do our old selfies. Just as our appearance can be improved by using sunscreen, eating healthy and making good life decisions, our financial world can also be improved by just a few small adjustments.
We just partnered with a company by the name of Riskalyze to review how risky your investments are and provide your Risk number with expectations of returns moving forward. It will look at how your portfolio would have reacted if the 2008 housing crisis happened again and can compare your current portfolio to what you are comfortable with and we can make adjustments, if necessary.
We’ll admit that it's not near as much fun to post pictures of your risk number from 1-99 as it is pictures of your old self, but at least you can see where you fit in (no Facebook post required).
Let's see how close you are to where you should be.
Waddell & Reed is not affiliated with any other entities referenced. 07/19