I was at or near retirement age, with very little savings and investments. I believe the Bitcoin price was at about $3000 per coin, a rather hefty amount, for my personal situation…
Many things have been written on Bitcoin by many eloquent writers, PhD’s, other supporters, economic forecasters, critics and people who have so much more knowledge in this field, than I can attest to, or hope to have.
So, what can I say that hasn’t already been said, or printed? Furthermore, why should I even think that I could or should add my 2 Satoshi’s to the seemingly unlimited litany of articles already published? I do not have a very simple answer to this question. But here is my story.
I found Bitcoin in June of 2017, at the ripe age of 67 years young, or should I say that Bitcoin found me. My background does not provide any hints or clues, no financial background per se, that would one day lead me to the door of the world of Bitcoin, or as oft referred to as “down the rabbit hole”.
So, what happened? I was at or near retirement age, with very little savings and investments. I had for most of my adult life, lived in foreign countries, as an educator, and worked in humanitarian, social community based, volunteer projects, where the emphasis was very much on service and volunteering, and not on earning and investing. All well and good when you are just out of university, or just starting out on life’s journey, but not very lucrative as a full time, or lifelong profession. Except of course, for the years of experience which, in my book, was well worth it. One thing, however, that I did not have, was any debt. So that was a net positive.
But there I was, at a time in my life when I began to think about my financial options and future. Rather drab if I can be honest.
I choose not to ramble on about my situation but want to focus on my journey to the world of Bitcoin.
By 2017, I believe the Bitcoin price was at about $3000 per coin, a rather hefty amount, for my personal situation. So I bought a portion of a Bitcoin as my very first purchase. I understood very little about the history and the ‘hype’ around Bitcoin, but I was intrigued. My teenage and young adult years were spent in what many would call the ‘Woodstock generation’, and as a side note, I did attend that cosmic event on Max Yasgur’s farm, in Bethel, New York in 1969. Those were turbulent years, and times of social change, and a lot of social unrest as well. Well documented elsewhere.
I did not get much of a financial education through those years, but did get a proper education, up front and personal, on the evils of war, the power balances, or rather the imbalances of big banks, and their double standards that seemed to pervade all aspects of society, and the seemingly impotent power of the masses (young and old) to change things for the better. I am by my very nature a proponent of peace, and I, 100% abhor war in all forms.
So, when I came upon a few YouTube podcasts, in 2017, about a new form of ‘sound money”, on an open ledger, that is governed by a mathematical immutable algorithm, that is not controlled by anyone, let alone the banking systems of our present economic systems, this ‘internet money’ called Bitcoin, intrigued me. I was intrigued that it was outside the control of the big banks. I was intrigued by its creation by a person or persons, that was, and is still anonymous, the infamous Satoshi Nakamoto. I was intrigued by the fact I could own my own money and send my own money to anyone I desired to, at any time, and completely by an autonomous decision, made by me, and me alone. So many intriguing aspects of this “Bitcoin”. Five years on, and I continue still to be intrigued, and my journey to financial freedom goes on.
So I made my very first purchase, my first step down the ‘rabbit hole’, and of course immediately began to learn more, research more, study more, and continue my path down that ‘rabbit hole’, a rather interesting attribute of Bitcoin, and what Bitcoin does to so many! I became more and more convinced that this amazing invention of internet money, that is called Bitcoin, would soon change the course of the financial world, and maybe change more than that. Perhaps it might even usher in an era of individual freedoms and individual sovereignty, that I had been looking for my entire life.
Since that eventful day in June of 2017, I have never regretted my purchase, my initial investment of Bitcoin. I have continued to buy more over these 5 years, as per my personal financial situation would allow, with small and regular purchases, known as DCA, or Dollar Cost Averaging. And to be candid and honest, Bitcoin has helped me achieve a level of financial freedom, I could not have imagined back in 2017, and even more than that, has given me a PLAN B, to work towards having the status of “Individual Sovereignty.” It is my humble opinion now at the age of 71, that if you do not own any Bitcoin yet, that now is the time to start your own journey. It has been the said that the best time to buy Bitcoin was 13 years ago. The second-best time to buy Bitcoin is right now! I do NOT think you’ll regret it!
