BUSINESS & INNOVATION 3 UNUSUAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES THAT ARE OFF THE MAP 01 INVEST IN TIME In Switzerland, investing in your future has just taken on a new meaning. People are saving up time so they can spend it later. The Swiss government has launched a “time bank” to help provide care for older people. Here’s how it works. Younger people volunteer to care for older people and “deposit” the time they spend volunteering into their social security accounts. When the volunteers are older and need assistance themselves, they can spend the time they’ve saved up on younger volunteer caregivers. A similar scheme is being launched in Beijing. Volunteers earn 1 “coin” for every hour they spend caring for an older person and can either redeem these when they turn 60 or donate them to older relatives or friends. Saving 10,000 coins (the equivalent of 416 full days) earns you a spot in a state-run care home. Around the world, populations are getting older; today, one in ten people are over 65. By 2050, one in six people will be over 65. This means we’ll need more caregivers for older people. Time banks could be one way to help pay for them. Would you save time now to spend in the future? These three investment strategies turn traditional thinking on its head and show how huge value can be generated by incentivizing lifestyle choices and trading assets that go beyond hard cash. 60 REAL-LEADERS.COM / WINTER 2022
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