My main form of income up until this year was my 5 retail game stores a Pawn Shop and a restaurant(not mine, consultant). The last 12 months have had so much going on in my life and my families life I don't know how I survived. Starting last year we closed all 5 of my video game stores for various reasons but mostly the digitization of gaming. The restaurant was sold(thanks to us) and we are closing the pawn store. We sold both investment houses netting 900 dollars after 8 years. We sold our homestead, moved into an apartment then our new house. My mom passed in April and my dog of 13 years passed yesterday. Like I said, crazy year!
So because of the great recession and some poor financial choices, ie we never saved any money, financed cars, credit card payments etc...well that all changed in 2014 when I discovered Bitcoin. Since I am self employed I have no 401k, no pension plan(not that anybody does these days), no rich parents, and any extra money was reinvested in the businesses, I had to figure out a way to squirrel away some money on a weekly basis. I signed up for Coinbase and setup a weekly withdrawal for a small amount. Well as you can guess Bitcoin had its ups and downs but overall it increased in value over 3 years and as a result I am feeling a lot less financial pressure these days. It feels good to have something in your corner that can help you if you need it. Like a security blanket. Since January this year I bought a hard wallet(KeepKey) and diversified my bitcoins into 6 cryptos. I generally don't trade but have tried a few times with no luck. I just buy and hold, that works best. I also do not keep any significant amounts on a hosted wallet.
So these days I am working with my brother doing carpentry work to pay the bills while crypto keeps making gains. I finally know what its like to have my money work for me! Financial independence in this economy is pretty rare considering half of Americans couldn't come up with $500 in an emergency...and I was one of them 5 years ago. And who knows where this Steemit community could go??? Thanks for reading and if you have any questions, hit me up!!
I like that you diversified your crypto. I'm just getting my toes wet a bit in them. I also like to have a little precious metals as a hard asset as well, silver the most since I think it's the best undervalued asset around, so like to keep my little nest egg in lots of spots. I don't have a lot in regards to financial independence, but one thing I've learned is that a little bit, think dollar cost averaging, over time really does begin to add up. Great story, keep up the great work. Glad to hear a real story from a real person! Best...
thanks! Since I don't make a lot of money all I can do is $50 here $100 there but over time it works. That is the secret. Time!
Great story. It's nice to hear that crypto is helping to improve peoples lives. I think that's what its supposed to do. Instead of the bank drawing interest from your money, you do. Welcome to Steemit!
Thanks!
Awesome story! Would be cool if you got into detail of why/what led you to invest in Bitcoin to begin with! As a lot of people did not even acknowledge it 3 years ago!
The biggest factor was listening to Andreas Antonopoulos on the Joe Rogan Podcast, believe it or not! Then it snowballed from there, reading the white paper and devouring any info I could get my hands on.