Learning NVC is much like learning a new language. Reading books and watching videos of people speaking a language can be helpful, but until you speak the language or have it spoken to you, the experience is limited. I believe NVC is a critical component in the process of supporting human flourishing and it has the potential to dramatically improve our relations with our families, our neighbors, our children and even our perceived enemies. If that is of interest to you I encourage you to pursue a deeper understanding of this topic.
Retirement Planning
Many organizations outsource this function to third parties. However, in the bitcoin space this process is integral to the use of the technology. Over the last twenty years stock investments have become increasingly uncertain, inflation has often surpassed bond yields, housing costs have excluded huge portions of the population from home ownership, and the cost of many basic goods has increased continuously . This paints a grim picture for most of the working world and it’s increasingly eating into the livelihoods of those who have retired on fixed income.
The retirement planning support in bitcoin is very simple. In short, buy and hold! However, the nuance around that process is important. The volatility of bitcoin has definitely frightened off a lot of potential investors. However, in any four year time frame the price has historically performed very well. Since January 1 of 2013 (four years after inception) the price has increased from $13.28 to around $20,000 today. That represents an increase of 150,400% and that is measured at a price which is down approximately 60% from its peak last year. For those who fear volatility, I certainly understand that the dramatic price swings are heart wrenching, but that volatility has consistently been beneficial to the upside. There is a good reason for this. Bitcoin is designed to go up .
As many Bitcoiners have discovered, dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is the most consistent method for accumulating bitcoin. Buying in lump sums can be an emotionally challenging experience, especially if the price declines after a large purchase. Waiting for a lower dip to buy has historically been a bad strategy as well. However, if you are buying a set amount of bitcoin each week, or each day, then the price action becomes a lot less frightening. If the price goes up, that’s great because you already own some bitcoin. If the price goes down, that’s also great because you can purchase more bitcoin for less fiat and reduce your average cost. When the timing is out of your hands the experience is much less stressful. This is a typical approach to investing in retirement accounts and, as adoption increases, I anticipate it will become a standard approach to purchasing bitcoin as well.
The benefit of considering bitcoin as a retirement vehicle extends beyond the incredible gains. There are also no requirements or stipulations about how and when you use your bitcoin. There are no penalties for selling before retirement age. Additionally, bitcoin cannot be garnished or frozen and it is not tied to any institution or country. It is truly a global sovereign asset which stands on its own merits.
In order to fulfill the entire spectrum of the aforementioned sovereignty it is important to learn how to manage your own private keys. When you first purchase bitcoin it is stored with the institution you purchased it from. In this way, it is basically the same as any other asset you keep with a bank. You own it on paper, but in order to secure bitcoin fully you will want to learn how to self-custody your coins. This can be done with a number of different hardware wallets, my favorite of which is the Coinkite Coldcard .
This last step represents the largest leap forward in understanding bitcoin . To see for yourself that your bitcoin can be secured using a small device which fits in the palm of your hand and can be transported anywhere on the globe is truly revolutionary. If this device is lost, your private key can be recovered using a recovery seed — a list of 12 to 24 words, which is provided to you by the device when you set it up. If you manage to lose the device and the recovery seed you will lose your bitcoin permanently, so it is important to treat this process with the respect it deserves. It is also wise to learn how to do this yourself. If you trust someone else to do it for you the strength of your security is only as strong as your trust in that individual.
Conclusion
The ethos of bitcoin is about taking responsibility for yourself and not relying on external systems to take care of you. However, as each one of us becomes strong enough to stand on our own, we can also use that strength to lift others up.
I hope this article was helpful in portraying the vision I have of what this impending movement could represent. Contrary to the popular phrase , I will go out on a limb and say that Bitcoin doesn’t fix anything. It merely gives us the tools, incentive structure and autonomy to make the changes we want to see in the world. If Bitcoin can support even a fraction of the changes that I believe it can, we are in for a wild ride to an extraordinary human experience. Who’s with me?
This is a guest post by Maxx Mannheimer. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
