After March inflation data sent stocks plunging, retirement accounts may have also taken a hit. Maconomics founder Ross Mac joins Yahoo Finance's Wealth! to discuss how to inflation-proof your retirement accounts.

Mac stresses that Americans should not deviate from their long-term investment plans: over the course of history, the market has always recovered from shocks. Over the long term, however, Mac suggests that investors should question whether they are getting exposure to asset classes that provide a "good inflation hedge." To that end, Mac recommends long-term exposure to bitcoin (BTC-USD).

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!

Editor's note: This article was written by Gabriel Roy

Video Transcript

BRAD SMITH: Your retirement accounts may have taken a little bit of a hit today after March inflation data came in hotter-than-expected, sending stocks plunging in early market trading.

But before you scramble to reallocate all your investments, we're bringing in Yahoo Finance's contributor, Ross Mac. Ross, good to have you here in studio with us. Do people need to inflation-proof their retirement accounts?

ROSS MAC: I always look at this two ways, right. There's a short answer and a long answer. Short answer is, please, people. Don't get scared. Don't deviate from your long-term investment plans, right, because over the course of history, right, anytime there's a shock to the market, sure, but the market always recovers and goes on to make new highs, right?

I have my aunt call me during the COVID crisis, oh, my God. What should I do with my retirement account? Auntie, you good. And later on that year, she thanked me. Right.

But the long answer is, it's always good to assess what you're invested in. And the question can be, am I getting-- from a risk-adjusted standpoint, am I getting exposure to some of those asset classes that, in this instance, are giving a good inflation hedge. And I think over the course of history, we've seen that one of the best inflation hedges is Bitcoin.

Now, if you fell victim to saying, I don't want to own Bitcoin because XYZ CEO said it's a pet rock it's a tulip, then that's the question you have. But now you see the writing on the wall. And it is an asset class, that some top asset managers are actually going pretty heavy into.

So now from a risk-adjusted standpoint, you can say, from an asset allocation, it's OK to actually start getting long-term exposure into different asset classes that, in this instance, can provide some inflation hedging.

BRAD SMITH: There are a lot of people that are looking for actionable advice today as well, especially with their retirement accounts. And even if they have-- even if they have a retirement account, and perhaps a different account, that they trade a little bit more actively in as well.

And they're trying to figure out, OK, I've seen a run up. I've seen new highs for companies like Nvidia. That all catch headlines. But what should I do right now? I mean, what would the advice or the reminder to them be?

ROSS MAC: Well, I think it's important to one, understand what your overall long-term strategy is. And once again, we're not deviating. However, in this instance, you're going to be dollar-cost averaging, right. Like, it's hard to say as Nvidia, or Bitcoin, or Apple going to be high up higher or lower over the course of the next few months or weeks.

But over the long course, you're saying, OK, I want to get exposure, and I don't want to actually have to think about it. So dollar-cost averaging is always going to be your best friend.