I find myself...especially in these turbulent market times...seriously thinking about cashing out...taking my money and "going home"....
It would disappoint me greatly to see my current value dissipate into vapor due to technological glitches...government interference or some scandal that rocks the crypto world into extinction....after all...I've invested a lot of time and worry into this...I'd like to have something to show for it....
But...I hit the mental pause button and begin to think it through...
If I cash out all or most...as it stands now...the way this gets taxed... I would lose a good chunk to the government...which means two things...I am giving money away that I don't feel good about...and I have a lot less than I'd like in my pocket...
Secondly...and perhaps more important...what do I do with the money? Truth be told...while its a nice chunk...it isn't a life changing amount...would buy some nice vacations...allow a nice upgrade to my television...do some charitable giving or any number of other things that aren't necessities...
Then again...I could do the practical thing and pay off remaining balance of my mortgage...however...I'm at an age where the balance isn't extreme and the interest rate I locked in is low enough to tolerate....
Okay...so invest in something else....but what?
Over my life time I've seen multiple stock market highs and lows...I attempted a few years back to chase high yielding energy LLP's only to have 20% of my portfolio wiped out when oil tanked from $150 to $40 per barrel...here I was investing in something I thought was real...oil in the ground...only to still get rocked...
And I never thought the large natural gas company I invested in would go bad...after all...I truly believed natural gas was a better alternative than oil...so what could go wrong? Simple...they over leveraged...new technologies create an over supply....and the company teeters on bankruptcy....
Gong back in time...I invested in "emerging markets" before they emerged...(hard to believe at one time China was considered in that category)....only to have them go into hiding...who knew actual countries could go bankrupt!
So how about the good ol safety of banks...well...I 've seen CD bank rates go as high as 18% down to the current 1% levels...the current rates...and that's only good if you are willing to tie up your money for at least a year...hardly keeps up with what I spend on coffee for the year....
At one time I dabbled in real estate only to realize two hard lessons...I am not a landlord or handy man type...and even real estate has bubbles where I ended up losing $60,000 in equity when the market crashed back in the late 1980's....
Therefore...why not stay in something that I truly believe is revolutionary...has potential large gain possibilities...in some cases may provide some inflation proof protection...has a world wide market...and frankly...despite the heart flutters every time some news hits that causes prices to tank...is a lot of fun to be part of...
There I convinced myself...well not entirely...I did place some orders to sell a few things should they hit close to their old highs...after all...I would like that new t.v....