My brother convinced me to buy a little cryptocurrency. He sank most of his retirement into it - I'm just taking what I would have spent on dining out this year and plopped it in Coinbase. My initial $590 in December is now up to $1,800. It is extremely volatile, it was up to $3000 last week, but is back down today. I think my brother is crazy, but he paid off his mortgage last week and took back all his initial investment, so he is only playing with their $$$ now, so I guess he is doing OK.
"We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain
Investment speculation is nebulous at best and I prefer more tangible assets such as precious metals. My silver and gold holdings have doubled in value since 2011 and will doubtless continue to appreciate as capital-gains taxes are likely to increase if the current administration in Washington has its way. I suppose bit coins may be a way to circumvent such liabilities but the fact of the matter is, they now leave a "money trail" that can easily be tracked. But if you feel comfortable with such investments then by all means give it a try. But bear in mind that diversification is still sound investment policy so don't put all you eggs into a single basket.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
I put $600 into Etherium via Coinbase and then added some Litecoin. For a couple of years I was disappointed and felt like crypto was a fad. Today, my investment is double, at $1,380. Not earthshaking, I know. And given the volatility of investments in general, I'm not likely to go deeper. I have investments in some stocks as well as a retirement fund, so I'd say I have a pretty diverse portfolio. I wouldn't sink everything into crypto.
Striving to be ordinary
Proud to be a TFF Dumbass!
I'd agree with both of you. Most of my retirement is set up in a 403b which is still dependant on the stock market. I'm not a gambler, but a night at a casino could cost this much and I did it for the long haul. I bought a 1000 units of XRP and 1000 of XLM. In five years it will either be worth nothing, or something. I can live with that.
"We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain
That’s the beauty of cryptocurrencies and this market; it’s extremely volatile. That gives you an insane amount of opportunities to manipulate and make money. If you’re afraid of this sort of risk, I recommend taking over the stock market as it’s much more stable. Stocks are more reliable and stable; that’s why so many people go for them and ignore crypto. I’m not the same, as I do both crypto and stocks. I even decided to get the best forex cent account as I want to try Forex as well as I want to develop myself in all these directions.
Last edited by JimmGeis; 05-25-2022 at 01:12 AM.
A little fun money in crypto, but since my retirement horizon is so close most of my non-guaranteed investment is focused on dividends. At my age I'm positioning not to touch the principle.
NFT's mmmm, that's a tough sell. Once the shine wears off of them where you going? At least a crypto was mined so there's an underlying value. As long as Russia stays in the Ukraine crypto will have value as they use it to avoid sanctions.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
No, I simply don't trust it yet.
No, I simply don't trust it yet.
NFTs are going to find their place, I believe. My son just started a job as senior management at an NFT firm, and they have some fantastic things going on that are more than just fad-dish bits. At first, I worried about his career shift. Of course I would, but after what he's told me, I'd be surprised if NFTs didn't become a common investment tool.Originally Posted by Offshore Angler
If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison
+1
Crypto is just too volatile for my investment goals. And the Dow is now underwater relative to 20 January 2021. Most of my portfolio consists of FDIC-insured jumbo CD's issued by commercial banks. They're currently averaging an APY of 3.25% so despite the overall souring of the economy I remain on the sunny side of the astroturf.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
It certainly is volatile! My $600 was up over $2000, but is now worth $600. I did it with the goal of not even looking at it for 5 years and it's been just over a year so I'm not concerned, but if I invested real money I'd be concerned.
"We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain
If it reaches that REI again, you might consider bailing and putting the money elsewhere, or at least redeeming your initial stake.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
I can totally relate to your experience with cryptocurrency. It can be pretty wild and unpredictable at times, but it sounds like you've made a smart move by only investing what you can afford to lose. Your brother's success with crypto is impressive, but it's important to remember that everyone's situation is different. I actually came across a great resource for financial advice recently - stephenswmg.com. With their guidance, you might be able to navigate the volatility of cryptocurrency more confidently and potentially see even better returns.
Last edited by ndiagacol; 03-19-2023 at 02:37 PM.
Since then my brother moved his money to foreign currency - claims that is the next big thing... (?) Meanwhile, a very long and painfull story cut short, I got scammed out of most of my crypto. All I own now is about $150 worth - the rest got stolen. Soemday, whern I feel chatty, I'll explain in more detail. Meanwhile, my advice - if you are interested in Crypto - stay away from Coinbase.
"We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain
I feel for you, GJ. Coinbase strikes me as a variation on a theme. The song sung by FTX. Once a darling of the financial "geniuses," FTX turned out to be a modern day Bernie Madoff at the hands of Sam Bankman-Fried. Coinbase is also shaky, having been under scrutiny of late. My holdings (some Etherium and Litecoin) are slightly up, but I rarely check them, and I'm not inclined to dive deeper.
Striving to be ordinary
Proud to be a TFF Dumbass!
Crypto is doomed to fail, and it will. Look at the NFT craziness. If I was young and had years of earning in front of me it would be fun, but really risky. At my age it's more about dividends than growing wealth. And maybe buying a few bursts. Old Gibsons make money faster than crypto lately - and you have a hard asset that you can actually enjoy. The market is getting so strong that the guitar companies are buying back their old products!
Precious metals are slow moving upwards, but when they crash they crash hard. I remember the 70's and 80's. I would be extremely wary of them as a long-term strategy. Currency is for day-traders.
Been thinking about starting a guitar company. Something to do that can grow and then sell it off to capital company.
Chuck
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
I don’t trust it.
+1!
Preservation of capital is paramount.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
One thing I learned was not to trust keeping your "stash" in the crypto company 's hands. I had purchased one of these (Crypto hardware wallet) to store my coins, but Coinbase screwed up the transfer process bigtime!
Two weeks from the day I bought it, the value went from $600 to $3000 and I should have sold then, but my original strategy was to take a long-term look at this, so I never saw any of that money... and never will... oh well, that was the money we didn't spend going out to dinner during the COVID years.
"We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain
Funny to look back on tis thread now that some crypto CEOS are in big trouble. Appears that crypto is basically a big Ponzi scheme.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Some folks knew that from the git......a variation of buying a pig in a poke.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
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