You don't need to keep up with the Joneses, but comparisons can sometimes be useful. Openfolio tracks your investment portfolio and shows you how you're doing compared to different groups of people.
The idea is to learn from the investment choices of others. They might be experts who want to show what works, or they might be peers who are learning, too. According to the site:
On Openfolio, you're exposed to the wisdom and insights of your network – and your extended network – people you know and trust. Plus you know they're not just selling you information, because you can see what they're actually buying….So everyone learns from everyone. What they bought, why they bought it…and why you should seriously reconsider those 1,000 shares you're about to pull the trigger on.
You can register for the service online or via their iPhone app. Then, you search for other investors who have their profiles set to public. These may be people in your social circle. Or, you can search for high profile investors—like Warren Buffet. You get access to their portfolio, and you can compare their returns to your own. Or, you can set up groups and compare with a certain demographic, like "Women (25-34)."
Of course, actual amounts and net worths aren't shown. You strictly see how users' assets are performing. According to the site:
You show people what you're investing in, but never how much you're investing. Not even Openfolio employees have access to the raw data you want to keep private...If you're one of the top investors on Openfolio, we highlight your success, otherwise no one can see your individual performance – and you can always opt-out and stay completely private.
It's interesting to see how much, by percentage, investors have in different asset classes, and then see how that's going for them. Of course, just because one person invests a certain way doesn't mean you should, too. People have different allocations depending on their goal. It's an interesting look into how everyone else is doing, but you should definitely invest according to your own goals and financial situation.
As for security, they use bank level security, and a read only connection. You can check out more about their security here. And to check out the service itself, use the link below.
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