We (think we) know how to grow wealth…but do we know how to preserve it? As counterintuitive as it may seem the way to preserve wealth isn’t to eliminate risk but to (smartly) take some.

Consider that successful wealth preservation requires a strategy that:

1) preserves purchasing power (i.e. inflation-adjusted value)
2) sustains wealth over a long time horizon
3) performs in a manner consistent with the selected timeframe
4) offers stability so that withdrawals (planned or otherwise) don’t have a material negative impact

Why is risk necessary?

On one end of the spectrum are so-called ‘safe’ investments. For example CDs fail to keep pace with inflation so purchasing power is eroded.

On the other end of the spectrum so-called ‘aggressive growth’ investments are much too volatile. Withdrawals during an artificially depressed pricing environment (e.g. 2008/2009) can put people in a hole they from which they may never dig out. The sad irony is these are the very people who will argue they need to be even more aggressive to make up for what they lost.

The solution comes not by being too conservative or aggressive but by being smart. The ‘right’ level of risk, therefore, balances assets in a way that provides liquidity, consistency, inflation hedges and growth opportunities. Success is achieved by building on the strengths of asset classes while minimizing the impacts where each falls short. The typical failures (too little overall risk or too much concentrated risk) are eliminated.