Top 5 2021 Predictions from Investment Science

Financial strategist, business wizard, and founder of Investment Science Michael Kelly has saved banks billions of dollars and upended sinking organizations. In 2019, when many individuals were feeling optimistic about the economy, Michael Kelly predicted the economy would crash and decided to go to school for his master’s degree. In the wake of the most disruptive year of the millennium, Michael Kelly is making more predictions for 2021 and beyond.

1. The Gig Economy Is Here to Stay

We’re going to see a continuation of consultants and fewer full-time employees. A trend I’ve been advocating for more than 10 years is an increase in remote workers. The workforce won’t be 100%, but I predict that people will only go to the office once or twice a week. We’ll see more migrations from high-cost centers to low-cost centers in cities like New York and San Francisco, where most of the real estate has dropped 30%.

2. Interest Rates Will Remain Low for the Next Decade

Technically speaking, inflation doesn’t exist in regards to some measurements. Due to the introduction of Amazon, many people are purchasing goods and services online, rather than in person. This allows inflation to go down on top of the global economy where many goods are produced outside of America. On top of that, millennials aren’t having children at the same rate as the Boomer generation. The overall impact will be similar to Japan in the time period from 1991–2001—the lost decade, where Japan had perpetual negative interest rates, which was partially because of population levels. We’re basically printing trillions of dollars right now, which is making the stock market go up, even though unemployment is so high. One can obtain a 2.5% loan for 30 years. It’s like getting money for free. The difficulty is getting approved. 

3. In the Next Five Years, 50% of All Vehicles Will Be Electric or Hybrid

Elon Musk has opened up his patents to make the technology innovative. He wants to be acquired by larger companies, and they’re going to catch up to him pretty quickly. Oil and gas have had their heyday. They are on the way out, and electric is on the way up. One will still need oil to create electricity, but big oil and gas are moving sideways to downwards. 

4. Machine Learning and Automation Will Increase Exponentially

The future of the world is going to revolve around machine learning. Today’s user interface designers are going to become graphic designers. There’s a plugin called GPT-3 for Figma that’s going to be a game-changer. When I started Investment Science, my goal was to make money by just pushing a button. Individuals will be able to leverage existing toolsets like Weebly, and additionally some automation with tools like Zapier that don’t require one to know much in regards to coding. These automation tools are relatively inexpensive and will allow many non-technically oriented individuals to develop interesting products. Every crisis pushes the economy towards a trend rapidly.

5. COVID-19 Will Continue into 2021

Based on the 1918 flu data, this pandemic is going to last two years from the inception of the disease (i.e., 2019), even though the current technology today is better, and the vaccine is here. Unfortunately, many individuals are still going to be nervous about taking the vaccine. Based on corporate budgets and individual migration patterns, it’s going to have a long lasting impact. The overall economic impact will last longer than two years, just like the financial crisis did in 2008. Interestingly enough, many individuals are stating that New York City may not come back, but how can it not? New York is a major economic hub. If one has the money or can obtain the financing, then New York City and San Francisco may have some nice opportunities in regards to real estate from a long-term investment perspective.