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Lively discussion about cryptocurrencies as investments, review of last week’s MidAtlantic Camp FI, and several exciting contributions and questions from the ChooseFI community.
What you'll hear in today's roundup:
- Brad’s brother is visiting from Santiago, Chile – how is he managing his path to financial independence as an international teacher?
- Review of Monday’s episode discussing Bitcoin with Myles Wakeham
- What are drawbacks of cryptocurrency?
- Is Bitcoin a good investment, or is it just a gamble?
- How much energy is expended in the global mining of Bitcoin?
- Michelle, from the ChooseFi community, wonders if Bitcoin’s apparently lax regulations (compared to companies like PayPal) opens it up to be used for terrorism and other illegal activities?
- William suggests to Jonathan that regulation of Bitcoin is nearly inevitable, exposing investors to potentially difficult scenarios in regards to both taxes, and simply converting money back into tangible currency.
- Brad and Jonathan attended the MidAtlantic CampFI event last week.
- Tickets for SouthWest and South region CampFIs are still available here: CampFI
- Steve tells listeners how he nearly eliminated a $1,900 tax bill by contributing to his Health Savings Account, prior to the April 17 deadline.
- Brad talks about Camel Camel Camel, an Amazon product price tracker.
- Brad is shocked about how much prices fluctuate on Amazon.com.
- From Kelly: What 5 bullet points would ChooseFi give to college-bound students?
- Save at least 50% of your income (avoid large housing and auto payments).
- Consider “opportunity costs”: Every dollar you earn in your teens and 20s is worth more than later in life.
- Long-term, low-cost investing: ride the market through decades.
- Your career is a tool to get you to financial independence, but don’t just rely on your career as a sole source of income.
- Think about life a little bit differently: think at things through the lens of FI
- Voicemail from Jim listing two careers that provide a great path to financial independence
- Firefighting – government pension, two 24-hr shifts a week
- Emergency room nurse – takes local “travel” assignments for double pay with 3 shifts a week
- Jonathan is excited about the Giant Ocean Clean Up Machine, which will soon set sail to begin collecting plastic from the ocean, and is expected to collect 5,000kgs per month.
Links mentioned in the show:
It’s Like Summer Camp for Money Nerds: My CampFI Review
The Revolutionary Giant Ocean Cleanup Machine Is About To Set Sail
4 thoughts on “072R | The Five Most Important Financial Conversations you need to have with your Child”
Thanks for breaking down the Bitcoin hype. I too get asked a lot what I think and I say basically what was mentioned here, it is too risky at this point unless you are very comfortable with a lot of risk. Now I can tell them to just go listen to this podcast and get all the info they need to make their own decision and not base it on anything I say.
When it comes to choosing where to put your hard earned money as an investment, I prefer the Warren Buffet definition of “investing”, in that you invest in something you believe is tangible, does something good, makes money and is real. Bitcoin is none of these things. Therefore it can never be considered an investment. A gamble? Sure. A speculation? Maybe. A lottery ticket that might pay off? Possibly. But not an investment. If you go by that simple ruleset, then you and your friends have a clear definition for this.
If the world changes the way it treats money and moves to a digital version of it, then Bitcoin or any of the other crypto currencies *might* have a chance, but the fact is that governments produce currency – not some nerd with a computer & GPU in his/her basement. They might invent something but then the govt will seize it and it will become “Fedcoin” or something. But it won’t be some anarcho money. We already have that – its called diamonds or laundered cash. Its seized and then has $0 in value.
So your position that it is too risky is 100% correct. Anyone who wants to ignore this does so at their peril. The bitcoin evangelism out there is naive at best. Anyone who believes that it represents the next currency is a fool and we know what happens with fools and their money.
RE the HSA deduction: that is awesome your new FIrewalker realized the option to save a ton on (federal and state) taxes. You guys should circle back to this and highlight the fact this method is not the best going forward, however. When you contribute to an HSA outside of payroll deductions you lose the ability to save the FICA taxes (6.2% Social Security + 1.45% Medicare = 7.65% you still pay). So, he made a great choice given his circumstances, but going forward for him, and any one that can do it (who has HSA through w2 employer)…, one should try to make all contributions through payroll to get that extra boost! I’ve spent many phone calls and possibly hours with my HR department trying to get them to understand this (which, btw, I finally convinced to change their ridiculous process this year… not so easy to do with a company of 144,000 people – 20k in USA)
Brad and Jonathan, your podcast is by far one of my most listened to and most liked. I truly appreciate the consistent value that you guys provide every week.
Something that I (somehow) COMPLETELY forgot about until listeneing to this epidode where you talk about Scott coming home from Chile to visit, is that I actually found out about the FI community, concepts and your podcast from your brother Scott while traveling in San Andres Island, Colombia! We were staying at the same hostel and I happened to ask about his Mad FIentist t-Shirt and the rest is history.
So, a special thanks to Scott for sharing is intriguing story which has now changed my outlook on my finances/life. I hope you guys have him on soon to talk about his journey.
Cheers from Kansas City, Missouri!