Hold on tight for the Roaring 20s

Picture a positive future to help grow your money

How would you feel if I were to ask you about the future? Optimistic, excited, worried or simply unsure?

In the annual letter that I sent to my clients in December, I expressed how optimistic and excited I am for the future and investing.

Many have struggled financially during the pandemic, and they will need to bring their financial affairs back in line.

Others have thrived on working from home and may never return to the office, saving thousands each year in travel, food and smart clothing.

At the same time, none of us have been able to spend as we would have otherwise done. Holidays have been cancelled or postponed, socialising has been put on ice and some have delayed their home-improvement plans.

But all that spending has not gone away – it has simply been delayed, and it’s beginning to come back.

I appreciate we can’t take last year’s holiday along with this year’s (fingers crossed), but we’re all longing to get away, see the sun and meet up with friends and family.

That’s a lot of pent-up demand for life as we knew it.

And in our economic wheel, one person’s spending is another person’s income, so I believe our future purchasing power will make the next decade the ‘Roaring 20s’.

I also believe the revival will be driven by tech. My 80-year-old mother uses FaceTime. My 95-year-old father loved trying out Oculus VR, where he took a virtual reality trip over the Alps.

This is just the start of what we can expect to make our future brighter, easier and healthier.

Electric cars, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality… the tech that’s in development now makes me excited about what we’re likely to see happen over the next decade. And that’s before you consider the global green revolution which will bring us a more sustainable future.

Tech companies have been winning in the past 24 months.

From Ocado to Netflix et al, the forced move to life online has meant firms such as these are booming.

But how can you benefit from this boost in the economy and ride the wave into the next decade?

Well, it’s never been easier for investors to participate in the growth of the world economy. When I started investing in 1995, my account was handled over the phone and I had no online access. Today, for less than 1% a year in fees, you can own a slice of some of the world’s best-known companies, such as Apple and Google.

These are just some of the giants that make up the MSCI World index, which includes stocks from almost 1,600 companies across the developed world’s economies.

So if you’re thinking long-term ( five years or more) and are looking for a straight-forward investment strategy, don’t bet on Bitcoin, NFTs or any single one company, bet on the world. It’s all we’ve got.

For more money-planning ideas, search for The Money Planner podcast and YouTube Channel.