Looking into the new decade

BY FAZAAD BACCHUS

It’s the year 2020, the beginning of a new decade and like me, I am sure you are wondering what changes this decade might bring about. I’d like to take you back to the year 2000; I was driving from Miami to Orlando with four of my friends to attend a management conference. We had rented a car which had a computer type thing called NeverLost, we had no idea how to use it, so we like always bought a map of Florida and we navigated our way to Orlando, with much stress accompanied.

We didn’t use the NeverLost because we didn’t know too much about it and we were also afraid that it might cause us to run off the road. Well by now you must be aware that I am talking about the GPS navigator system. Before heading back to Miami we decided to spend some time to understand this little gadget, and what a difference it made, we were able to get back with very little stress. Today it is a common practice to use Google maps, to navigate your journey with real time traffic directions. Who stops to buy a map at the gas station anymore?

In this new decade we will need to embrace technology and its uses in our everyday lives. Our smart phones will tell us the weather, traffic, news updates, remind us of meetings, and almost everything will be done from the palm of our hands. Enter the era of the robot, if you have been watching these developments you will notice that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will now play a big part in our daily lives. Already there is the use of automation, but there is so much more. Diagnostic tools will change, self driving cars, electric vehicles and it may not fully resemble the Jetsons show, but it is quickly getting there.

Enter the Robo advisor also for the new decade. As I mentioned earlier, almost no one used the GPS navigator in 2000, while today it is the norm. The Robo advisor will play a significant role going forward, more so perhaps for the generation that it most applies to, the millennial generation. This generation will find themselves depending on AI far more than human touch, something my generation cherishes. Many years ago when you visited a doctor he would literally seem to be holding your hand when talking to you, today he holds the tablet instead.

The cost of doing business will be less in this new decade, already companies are reducing their fees while finding more models to reduce cost. Less housing of employees, less overhead cost resulting in less cost to you. Commission for investment sales will be looked at more stringently; all provinces will implement a ban on DSC fees with Ontario being the exception for now. All of these changes in the interest of you the consumer, protecting you the customer. If you have an advisor that has your interest at heart, coupled with these technological benefits, then you just might be in the right hands.