14 Jan What the Tortoise and Bitcoin can Teach Us About Retirement Investing

Here at Reliance retirement we always promote our philosophy of strategic, purposeful investing over time. Time and time again we see that those who take the narrower, winding road towards retirement investing almost always reach or exceed their goals over time. We never promote getting rich quick or attempting to “play the market” for turn-key profits.

One of the biggest examples of how get-rich, trend investing can bite back hard was experienced just this past year in 2014 (and is currently still happening) was the sudden rise and fall of a new type of currency called Bitcoin.

Go after what’s hot and you’ll get burned

So what’s Bitcoin? Bitcoin is a new type of currency known as cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a digital denomination that can be used to pay for goods and services, whose main advantage is its untraceability. This means that buyers and sellers can remain anonymous. Another benefit of Bitcoin is that it lets individuals instantly transfer money to one another without having to pay traditionally high transaction fees to third parties.

When bitcoin first hit the market its value was less than $10/coin. Few people saw it as a viable investment. However, in late 2013 it began to gain traction as higher profile companies began accepting it as a method payment. In early 2014 Bitcoin exploded – its value going from $100/coin to nearly $1200/coin just a few months.

Many people who had begun early in their adoption were made wealthy overnight. It seemed that Bitcoin was poised to take the market by storm – it had. It was the new oil, the new gold, and those same people who were skeptical now found themselves trying jump on the bandwagon in order to ride the wave to riches. It was rumored the price could go as high as $10,000/coin.

Then something happened.

It’s known in the market as a bubble burst. The price had been inflated due to demand and perceived value. Bitcoin began to fall rapidly, losing every day, every month as 2014 progressed. It finally hit a yearly low at $265/coin the first week of 2015. Bitcoin was officially named the worst investment of the year. Oh how things change.

Remember the Tortoise

All those fables you were told as kid? Well, their lessons are true. Remember the Tortoise and the Hare? The hare was quick, fast, eager, confident and cocky. To him, the race to finish line was no more than a short sprint to victory and the prize. The Tortoise on the other hand knew it wasn’t about who could go the fastest in the shortest amount of time – he knew that a steady, measured approach would win out in the end. By staying within his means and never stopping he eventually crossed the finish line first.

This is the same attitude that those who are serious at retirement investing have. They aren’t looking to get rich overnight. They know the prize will come in time and according to the careful plans they’ve created.

What’s better than Reliance?

At Reliance Retirement we believe the measured approach to growing your money over time is best. We also know that protecting that investment is paramount o its overall success. We offer services that will ensure that no matter how volatile the market becomes, your principal and gains will remain steady and sure – just like the Tortoise.

cointelegraph.com/news/113195/bitcoin-review-2014-part-i-price-and-commerical-activity

www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-22/the-best-and-worst-investments-of-2014.html

https://www.coinbase.com/charts