Retirement: Saving With Cryptocurrency Could Be a Good Idea

With cryptocurrencies becoming more mainstream as institutional adoption and knowledge about them grow, experts are increasingly recommending incorporating them into retirement plans. A survey by Capitalize noted that 56% of Gen Zers and 54% of millennials include cryptocurrencies and other digital assets in their retirement strategy, compared to only 20% of Gen Xers and 14% of baby boomers. While betting your retirement savings on a digital currency can result in major losses, at the same time, experts claim that diversifying your retirement portfolio helps improve financial security for your future, Entrepreneur noted. Entrepreneur estimated that to comfortably retire, Americans will need more than $1.8 million in retirement savings, on average, adding that “while some feel this might not be enough to help carry them through their golden years, sentiment around digital coins and crypto is a bit more bearish for older workers” than it is for younger generations. Reflecting the increasing interest, the 2021 Trends in Investing Survey by the Journal of Financial Planning and the Financial Planning Association found that 14% of advisors said they currently use or recommend cryptocurrencies with their clients, up from less than 1% in 2020, and 26% said they plan to increase their use or recommendation of cryptocurrencies in the next year. In addition, the survey notes that 49% of respondents said their clients have asked about cryptocurrencies in the past six months. In June for example, retirement investment platform ForUsAll partnered with Coinbase to offer employees exposure to cryptos in what the company said was the first program of its kind. “For too long, too many Americans haven’t had the same access to alternative investments that wealthy and professional investors have had. Our mission is to provide every American with the tools necessary to build a brighter financial future, and making these alternatives more readily available is a key step towards that,” Jeff Schulte, CEO of ForUsAll, said in a statement at the time. “By introducing the Alt 401(k), we are democratizing access to what drives wealth for the wealthy — alternative investment options, combined with our original core offering of low-cost index funds, and personalized help.” Other options include bitcoin individual retirement accounts or crypto IRAs, which are sprouting up everywhere, but The Motley Fool warns investors to make sure they consider the hefty fees of investing in a bitcoin IRA against the tax advantages. “Many charge setup fees, maintenance fees, and transaction fees, plus they often have significant account minimums,” according to the report.