Oops! I meant to say Gen Z not Gen Y in that last post. And on an interesting side note, my son who is Gen Z and I were talking about investing a couple of days ago. I explained to him that I view investments and accumulating wealth as if I'm playing a video game. I equate accumulating $ to earning points in a video game like the ones I played as a kid. To break the high score in galaga for instance, I needed to earn around 500,000 points, and it could take weeks or more to beat the high score. I had to be patient, just like with traditional investment. My son said he found that odd and has a different mindset completely because the video games he and most of his friends play are based on completing tasks in the shortest amount of time possible to break records and feel victorious. He is literally being trained with the 'get rich quick mindset." I'm betting he will be more susceptible to high risk, speculative investments as an adult because of this "achieve everything as fast as possible = victory" mindset. Is that part of where financial illiteracy stems from? Are we literally training ourselves for that "I want it fast and now" mindset?
Excellent post. I completely agree with your stance on credit cards. I use them and collect points which gives me a free flight a year so there would be no reason to move away from this system while the benefits are there. But my view on crypto is much different. Specifically when it comes to Bitcoin, I think the use case will be absolutely shown before the end of the decade. The debt just isn't sustainable and the deficits are going to get even bigger. If the deficits don't grow, then the entire economy collapses. There is simply no way to fix this broken system that relies on a Fiat currency that can just be printed. So the case for Bitcoin couldn't be any stronger. I truly believe that there is a very high chance that Bitcoin ends up underpinning a huge chunk of the financial system. We just have to wait for governments to get even more reckless and desperate in order to force the masses into Bitcoin. Then everybody will get it. And I also think this isn't too far away either. When you consider that all the tax receipts in the US are 4.5 trillion dollars, and most of all of this is taken up by defense interest expense and government entitlements, there isn't anything left for all the other stuff the government needs to do and hence why there has to be two trillion dollars in deficit spending. This is absolutely going to blow up and I'm hoping very soon. In the crossfire is going to be I think practically every other asset class as well like real estate and equities. Too many people right now don't see a future, and there is no way to turn this around if we keep using the same system.
You may be right, Bitcoin may replace Fiat currency one day. And I have heard these exact same arguments from a lot of Millenial and Gen Z folks when we have this conversation about Bitcoin and crypto. When you say, "This is absolutely going to blow up and I'm hoping very soon," well, that is where I differ in opinion. And I've heard these statements from crypto supporters over and over, "I want to see it all burn down!" I don't think you would like the results of our financial system blowing up, and our economy being burnt down, regardless of how much Bitcoin you own. And I will be happy tell you why. But first I'd like to know exactly what you and other crypto supporters mean when you make those sorts of statements, so I can be sure about your ideas in this area. Cheers! and great convo we are having btw
Exactly. Maybe a National coin for the USA that has BTC attributes. And the US fiat dollar will slowly be transferred into the new National coin in a controlled fashion. A sudden crash in the US dollar would plunge the world into poverty...we are talking billions of people into poverty. No matter how much BTC you owned, you wouldn't be able to buy anything because there would be nothing to sell. You like to shop at Safeway for food? You like Apple products? You like ordering from Amazon? You like Nike shoes? Forget it...all those companies are gone. But it gets worse...no one will be able to pay taxes...so...public utility companies...gone. No water, no gas, no electricity, no garbage service, no police, no fire. A gradual, controlled shift to a "BTC-like" crypto would be the only way to do it safely. But it would still have to be regulated for it to be stable and trusted, so the US Federal government would not be likely to use BTC.