Something About Money

Around last Christmas I purchased the board game, “The Game of Life”. The game mimics’ real life in terms of income, expenses, education, marriage, babies and the type of job you earn wages. As in real life, it throws monkey wrenches at you along the way plus nice surprises. We used to play it when I was growing up. It gave me pause at my young age highlighting how I view life or better yet, what I should do with my life given my goals at that time. Truthfully, I later dismissed some of the prudent teachings of the game, much to my regret.

The game made it abundantly clear that money was at the center of our very corporeal existence beyond the borders of the game. The simple fact, the more you had in your possession the better off you would be. The accumulation of money meant the building of true wealth which if handled correctly provided opportunities that you could not receive otherwise. Unfortunately, I was not alone in rebuking the wise counsel in this Game of Life. They say misery loves company. Well, I had a lot of company.

This game remarkably throws all kinds of omens and warnings to head for the open receiver and participant of the game. It should be mandatory from middle school to high school. It’s one thing to make life mistakes playing a board game rather than blowing up your real life. I wish I could go back and make changes to the path I have taken. Too late for I would’ve, should’ve and could’ve. That reminds me of the classic slow self-destructive debate which you will win and lose at the same time, “what if?”

Don’t get me wrong I love my life and I am truly grateful for the learning experiences and the blessings along the way. However, it would have been nice to avoid certain traps of life. Traps such as overspending on homes I couldn’t afford, purchasing cars that quickly depreciated, not continuing with academic opportunities, not saving or investing sufficiently upon graduating high school and during those formative years. The largest trap was marrying and trusting the wrong person.

You will go crazy overthinking the past, a past you cannot change no matter how many what if and would’ve, should’ve, could’ve scenarios you dare to playout in your mind. Yes, it’s time to move on. I recommend re-reading my chapter Mirror, Mirror. In terms of money, what has the previously mentioned have to do with my current state of financial well-being or your view of money in your life?

The point is you can only start from where you are now. It comes down to making good decisions moving forward. Despite the mistakes of the past the sun shall rise tomorrow, giving way to future endless possibilities. In essence today is the best place to start building your financial independence. Although, I am not finished with my own accumulation of money and journey, I am closer than ever in realizing more of my goals.

Will winning in a board game such as the Game of Life result in prosperity or guarantee success? Or losing that same game spell eternal financial ruin?

Not hardly, like Rocky Balboa, in the highly successful boxing franchise, where the famed boxer was periodically knocked down. Starring Sylvester Stallone, the Italian Stallion as he was affectionately called, popped right back up despite the fierce opponents pummeling him. He was no mere mortal, demonstrating what you can do if you go the distance and persevere. If life throws you a hard uppercut (unexpected expenses) and then a jab to the ribs (life altering event), the same holds true for you by getting right back up continuing to fight for what you want and believe as well. By moving forward and pushing through you can restart your journey to financial freedom. This chapter was not meant to be a full course on personal finance or investments, but I will cover the basics.

Budget

In order to get your financial house together, it is vitally important to know where your money is going. This is easily accomplished by tracking your monetary inflows and outflows. Once you gather this information, then it’s the matter of assigning the numbers that represent living within your means. If you earn $20 dollars, the goal is not to spend $20 or leverage over that and spend $25.

Prior to this point, your money has been sucked through a black hole. Knowing that fact, you must change your behavior to accommodate the future prosperous you where your financial freedom lies. There are various apps out there that will help you track your income and expenses. Every Dollar by Dave Ramsey and Mint are the first that comes to mind.

Emergency Fund

In your money journey you need to establish six months to one year savings for an emergency fund. The emergency fund will provide for your essential needs. This account is for any surprises that come your way such as job loss, car repair or home maintenance, hospital bill etc. It is vitally important your family’s needs are met, i.e., water, food, clothes, shelter and so forth.

Actually, these essential needs are outlined in Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs paper. Maslow was a psychologist by trade. His hierarchy of needs was published in his 1943 paper” A theory of Human Motivation” in the journal Psychological Review.

You may have learned this in school. At the bottom it states the most basic needs are physiological needs. This includes air, water, food, shelter, sleep and clothing. The next level is Safety needs which includes personal security, employment, resources, and health. Now the top three levels do not directly come with a price tag or allow saving money, but they might impact your ability to earn money and provide for yourself and family. Love and belonging are on the next level. It involves friendship, intimacy, family, and sense of connection. The second to the top level is esteem. This it tied to respect, self-esteem, status, recognition, and strength.

Hopefully, you have or will attain the highest level of self-actualization. This final step is powerful and speaks volumes to your dreams becoming true as it relates to your desire to become the most that one can be. Most of everything I mentioned above comes from Abraham Maslow not me. Although for the doubters, there may be no scientific basis for his theory, one could hardly argue that these elements are important and necessary for your survival and potential opportunity to prosper. I take it seriously and encourage you to do the same so that you may experience all that life has to offer.

Needless to say, this fund should be untouchable unless an urgent need arises stated in the examples above. The goal is also not to tap into your retirement account or college fund for your children.

Debt

Whatever your situation, you must rid your life of that nasty four-letter word called debt. I know you hear from some experts that some debt is good debt and others bad. Good debt has been called home purchasing or college tuition, akin to an investment versus liability. Although without a doubt buying a home or college attendance are good causes given your choices are within your income limits and doesn’t violate living within your means. However, debt is debt is debt. Bad debt is typically credit card debt involving spending sprees for purchases of products and services that you want and do not need. Bad debt is buying an immediate depreciating car that you cannot afford but you bought it because you deserve it – really?

Bad debt is most anything you did not save for in cash, and it is not an essential part of living. Being heavy in debt or having money problems and not being on the same page with your significant other is the number one cause of divorce and domestic issues. The popular song by Tina Turner, what’s love got to do with it will replace your most listened tune. Money issues destroy marriages, friendships, peace, the quality of life and possibly the length of life as well. Unbearable stress on the mind, body and spirit can take its toll. Unfortunately, I speak from much experience in this area. Take the red pill of knowledge and rebuke the blue pill of ignorance. I used the Matrix before in this book because nothing beats that analogy.

If you don’t head this warning, you will lose years of your life in nightmares and possibly divorce and/or bankruptcy court. Also, your dreams of living a prosperous life will be dramatically delayed or destroyed. Eliminating debt from your life should be your top interest as soon as possible. Don’t fall in this trap of extending this or any debt.

Savings Fund

To have a stable life you must adopt or create the habit of saving a percentage of your income on a regular basis. As debt adds up so will your savings accounts if met with the same or superior level of enthusiasm. There is no one size fits all magic number. I recommend saving as much as possible. That can mean, 5%, 10% or more. Just be honest with yourself and save, save and save not giving in to any excuses.

Of course, this sounds simpler than it is, but it is not impossible to do. If you have to start with $5 dollars, then do it. Get in the habit and then watch your money grow. As your income increases then save even more, not spending those raises or bonuses or side hustle money. I suggest you name your savings goals even in separate accounts if possible. For instance, I have a vacation fund, a car repair fund, a gift fund and so forth.

Investments

Now that you secured your basic economic foundation, it is time to invest some of that hard-earned money. As previously explicitly stated, your basic needs must be met first. I cannot overstate this fact as some people have violated the hierarchy of needs and put all their eggs in one basket or the wrong baskets and the basket blew up where all was lost. Don’t be foolish or overoptimistic with your day to day living your life money.

My purpose is to inform you of the different types of investments. It’s up to you to take it one step further and investigate what is right for you. I am merely opening the door to future opportunities. I am not giving financial advice just my opinion and sharing my experience.

I encourage you to have a wealthy mindset and eliminate poor and poverty thinking and embrace a better way for you and your family to not only survive but to thrive. Notice I said eliminate poor thinking and I never mentioned the word broke. My point is poor and broke are not the same thing.

You see broke is a temporary state of existence while poor is a losing state of mind. When you’re broke is just means you have no money at this time. Broke equals light at the end of the tunnel because you have a plan to change your situation. Alternatively, when you’re poor you are in a prolonged situation where there is no way out of being poor with no money. Many people in the poor category usually lost hope or may have been put in this situation involving forces out of their control and succumbed to the notion that they are helpless. In the end the mind is very powerful. It directs you as you think and believe.

Stocks

A great investment is in individual public stocks. If you are new to investing let me, explain. Stock is ownership of a company. You trade your money for a piece of the company pie. Now, as an owner of McDonalds does that mean you can walk into a McDonalds and start telling the managers and staff what to do? No, owning its stock does not give you hamburger flipping privileges.

By owning stocks, you hope that the price appreciates over time making your shares in the company more valuable than the day your purchased them. For many investors, the ultimate goal is to buy low and sell high. For other investors like me the goal is to buy and hold progressively building wealth by holding on for the long term. The public stock of a company is bought and sold on a stock exchange. There are various exchanges in not only the United States but the world. Let’s take the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as an example. The NYSE is a platform where companies can sell their stock to the general public which is you and me.

Buying stocks come with a price which fluctuates for a variety of reasons. These reasons can be pure supply and demand based on good or bad news such as a new product or invention, or confidence in the leadership of the company, or a scandal breaks loose causing the stock price to spiral. The price can even go up or down for reasons that have nothing to do with the company. The fact is the price may fluctuate for all kinds of reasons.

Buying stocks is how many of the millionaires and billionaires of the world became wealthy. It is time to take calculated and researched risks by investing a percentage of your hard-earned money for growth. Please notice the term risk. If you want to grow your money you cannot get around experiencing some percentage of risk. There is no investment that does not have some measure of losing your money or a level of devaluation.

You must get educated about what you are investing. There are thousands of books on the subject of stock investing and other possible categories of investments. There are hundreds of YouTube channels dedicated to the subject as well. However, your focus should be to put learning as the top priority.

The 401k or pre-tax equivalent vehicle at your job is one of the best places to start because the invested money is pre-tax. This means your taxes owed will be reduced and you will probably earn more money because you have more money working for you. Check with your human resource department on signing up.

Outside of a job-based investment program, I recommend choosing a low-cost provider such as Fidelity, Vanguard, or Acorn. There are many to choose from so do your homework. Investing in index or exchange traded funds or even plain vanilla mutual funds would be a good place to initiate your wealth building program as they will save you a lot of money from paying excessive fees.

I would be remiss in not covering the concept of time. The earlier you start investing, then the more time you have for your money to grow. There is a phenomenon called compounding interest. Overtime your money will exponentially grow beyond your initial investment. There can be a huge difference in returns between a twenty-something investor and someone in their forties given all things equal. You cannot buy time or grow time. Now, that doesn’t mean all hope is lost for us middle-aged to senior investors. We may have to put larger amounts in to catch up but never say it’s too late. You can only start where you start. The point is to act sooner versus than later. The dragon of procrastination is alive and well. Do your best to eliminate this creature from your life as soon as possible as it is robbing you and your family of time, energy and money.

Bonds

A more conservative and less risky type of investment vehicle is bonds. The bond is an instrument of indebtedness. A bond is when a company or government entity borrows money from you and me who are called the lender or investor. The two most common types include municipal bonds and corporate bonds. Like many loans, bonds are a contract that have maturity dates. That means the borrower must repay the money to the investor.

Why would you lend money to a bond issuer? Great question. From the point you lend the money to the time your capital is returned; you will receive interest. In other words, you hope to receive a reliable stream of income. In most cases investors with modest investment amounts buy bonds via the more affordable mutual funds. If you are beyond modest means, you may invest directly with the entity or through a broker dealer serving as a liaison.

The biggest problem with bonds is inflation and opportunity cost of investing in an asset class that will beat inflation. At present, bonds are dying on the vine. Case in point, let’s say your bond is paying 5%. Consider you have to pay taxes and inflation eroding your interest earned. There is much debate on the real rate of inflation. First, let’s define inflation. According to Wikipedia, “In economics, inflation refers to a general progressive increase in prices of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduction in the purchasing power of money.”

There is the official rate of 6.2% through October 2021 that many argue leaves much out of what should be considered or measured. That argument is beyond the scope of this book. Some critics peg the actual rate of inflation at 14%. Wow! In any many people are losing money in bonds because they are not keeping up with the real cost of goods. Something to keep in mind.

Mutual Fund, Index and Exchange Traded Funds

I am going to touch briefly on investing in these three vehicles, regular mutual funds, index, and exchange traded funds. For those investors that don’t have the time, stomach, or talent for investing in individual stocks these three alternatives may be what the wealth doctor ordered.

Mutual Funds

A mutual fund pools money from many investors to buy stocks, bonds, or other securities. They are professionally managed and sell to retail investors like you or me and institutional investors such as large corporations, endowments, or family offices. The traditional mutual fund is usually the most expensive charging fees for their services. There are a large variety of funds that focus on general investments and others that are tightly focused on a certain sector, i.e., utilities or technology companies.

Index Funds

Now, an index fund is a mutual fund created to track a specific basket of underlying investments. There are many types of index funds to choose. For example, a fund can track the S&P 500 which is made up of the largest companies. Basically, you are investing in the market itself. Others can track the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a smaller benchmark of thirty companies or reach abroad to international investing and so forth. Index funds can focus on any type of investment. Popular companies to purchase index funds are Fidelity and Vanguard. Exchange Traded Funds or ETF for short, are essentially index funds with a positive twist. ETFs can be traded throughout the day equivalent to stocks. In contrast to index funds which can only be bought and sold at the end of the trading day. Therefore, there is a delay for index funds.

Real Estate

The subject of real estate is beyond the scope of this book. This is only a primer to help kick start your investing into the various opportunities that await you. Like with stocks there are various methods or strategies to invest. The most basic that comes to mind is single family homes. To clear something up. The house you live in is not an investment it is a liability and a safe haven for a place to live.

Now this very same house can turn into an investment if you move out and rent it to someone. It would be prudent to not mix or confuse the two interpretations of your home. Also, be cautious not to leverage where you live with debt. If something goes wrong, you can lose your home and become homeless not a good place to be. So don’t get tied up in get rich quick schemes that are designed by definition to depart your hard-earned money from your pockets. What makes me so smart or experienced in this matter. Well, been there and done that. I was in foreclosure before being overleveraged, i.e., too much debt than I could financially afford or handle. So, let’s move on.

Single Family Homes (SFH)

SFHs can be an excellent choice as long as you don’t overbuy where the numbers don’t make sense. The money is in the buy and not the sell. I’m not going to cover flipping houses, but investors can make a decent living on buying, fixing up and reselling direct to the homeowners or wholesale investors.

But let’s say you want to be a long-term landlord and have no interest in buying. That’s fine, however, plan your budget and determine what is viable so you make money every month in order to pay the bills. There will always be expenses that come with real estate investing. A danger here if you don’t sufficient resources. For example, in an SFH you only have one tenant and if something happens to that one tenant and you have a mortgage then you will have to tap into your reserves. If you but it free and clear, then you have much more flexibility.

I know an investor who has several homes. This is great because she has sensible mortgages on all her properties, and she did her due diligence and have good tenants with a work ethic and sense of morality that helps her take care of the properties. That leads to a point. It is vital that you screen your prospective tenants with all your strength and might.

This is personal and business, you must ensure you have renters that will view your relationship as a partnership. In turn, the rent is rarely raised beyond a certain percentage, and she adds upgrades where feasible resulting in pride of ownership without them being owners. Other forms of investing can be in manufactured housing or mobile homes, townhomes, or condos. I will add duplexes, triplexes and four-plexes, in the realm of residential type investments. The main point with the plexes is that you can live in one of the units while renters will pay for the whole property resulting in you paying minimal to zero payments out of your pocket for a place to live. These are viable alternative to stand alone SFHs.

Multi family

These typically are apartments ranging from five and more units. These properties are called commercial property versus SFH residential. There are various types of styles to types which I won’t cover. The bottom-line is this form of investing can accelerate your wealth if you buy right and have the right kind of tenants. Also, you may need partners with apartment investments as they don’t come cheap. They may require some degrees of rehab and definitely ongoing maintenance as with every real estate investment. However, this is multiplied by the number of units.

Non-Direct Ownership

This entails not actually owning the direct properties. There is a way to not get your hands dirty by investing in tax liens. In this type of investing, you are buying the paper on taxes owed to a government entity. Many states provide auctions or over the counter selling of tax liens. When you purchase the lien, you can get 5% to over 30%. And after a certain period if the delinquent homeowner does not pay it off you may be able to actually receive the property after due diligence.

Tax Deed

This is contrast with tax deed investing. In this type of investing if you enter an auction against other bidders, you may end up with a property at the auction if you are the winning bidder. This is still under direct ownership.

Real Estate Investment Trusts

The last topic on the subject of real estate investing. There is a way to participate in real estate investing bypassing the potential headaches of buying and renting property. Real Estate Investment Trusts or REITS for short are an excellent method of being in the real estate game. I personally own several with my wife and through our company. Wit REIT investing these companies pay regular dividends along with possible price appreciation. Many companies like McDonalds will pay you five dollars per share or more and some less.

There are three types of REITS:

1. Equity – direct ownership, operating property, and renting.

2. Mortgage – lend money to real estate investors.

3. Hybrid – investing, managing property and lending.

REITS invests in all types of real estate. Most specialize in certain sectors of the economy. Here is a list of investment types:

• Apartments

• Single Family Homes

• Shopping Centers

• Hotels

• Motels

• Manufacturing

• Warehouses

• Office buildings

• Data Centers

• Cell Towers

• Agriculture

Cryptocurrency (crypto)

What is crypto?

Succinctly, a digital asset designed as a medium of exchange. More comprehensively, per Wikipedia,

“A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a collection of binary data which is designed to work as a medium of exchange. Individual coin ownership records are stored in a ledger, which is a computerized database using strong cryptography to secure transaction records, to control the creation of additional coins, and to verify the transfer of coin ownership. Cryptocurrencies are generally fiat currencies, as they are not backed by or convertible into a commodity. Some crypto schemes use validators to maintain the cryptocurrency. In a proof-of-stake model, owners put up their tokens as collateral. In return, they get authority over the token in proportion to the amount they stake. Generally, these token stakers get additional ownership in the token over time via network fees, newly minted tokens or other such reward mechanisms.”

Crypto’s utilize a blockchain in order to operate. What is a Blockchain? In summary, a digital database.

Per Wikipedia, it’s longform definition is the following:

“A blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, that are linked together using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data. The timestamp proves that the transaction data existed when the block was published in order to get into its hash. As blocks each contain information about the block previous to it, they form a chain, with each additional block reinforcing the ones before it. Therefore, blockchains are resistant to modification of their data because once recorded, the data in any given block cannot be altered retroactively without altering all subsequent blocks.”

Those who are creating their versions or vision of currency utopia hope to enable a system free of any governmental or private control. Some are anarchist others just wanting to be independent of fiat rule. Not to get too deep into the topic of economics, the U.S. dollar and other world currencies are steadily losing their value as many world governments continue to print money without abandonment and no regard of future valuations and diminished purchasing power. Moreover, many world currencies are pegged to the dollar. So, wherever we go they go, good or bad. Crypto may be the answer to freedom from the debasement of the various currencies.

Asset Class

Regardless, if accepted as a currency alternative, crypto is presently tagged an asset class such as a stock. That said, like a stock if you buy one share at $10 and sell it at $20 then that will trigger a capital gains tax assessed on the $10 difference. Just replace share with token or coin. There are many types of crypto that hope to be of utilitarian value to make things better and faster and most accurate, transparent as can be.

Currently Bitcoin is the elephant in the room. Others include, Ethereum, ADA, Chainlink, XRP, and XLM to name a few. Tokens are identified in categories such as gaming. An example is Mana which is linked to the crypto Decentraland, Sands is tied to Sandbox, the token Matic which is attached to Polygon and Gala (crypto and token) where their native token is paid or earned in their specific ecosystem. There are thousands of crypto and tokens. You must do your homework for sure.

Crypto Exchanges

To purchase cryptocurrencies, you must join a crypto exchange. This is like buying a McDonalds’s stock via a broker on the New York Stock Exchange. There are many exchanges to choose depending on your intentions. Not to endorse any specific exchange, I personally use Coinbase and Binance USA. I like each companies’ platforms, fees, payment methods, reputation, and customer service.

Non-Fungible Tokens have caught on fire over the last few months. To remain hip and cool, they are called NFTs for short.

What are NFTs?

They are digital content that are connected to a blockchain. The digital content could represent ownership in collectibles, music, artwork, videos, images, or virtual real estate. NFTs are unique and cannot be exchanged like money trading hands. NFTs are currently blowing up especially in the artwork and virtual real estate. Investors are spending thousands to millions on virtual real estate. I am neither here to persuade or dissuade if this is prudent or otherwise. I recommend you do serious research and invests as you are able to do without jeopardizing your financial future. This realm of investing is highly speculative so only spend what you can afford to lose which is the case with all investments.

Metaverse

One thing for sure that has been capturing the attention of the crypto community, investors, the public and the general media has been our future new way of life which is the metaverse. This will be where we live, sleep, work and have fun if you believe the news or the hype. It will be a place we gather to commune with our co-workers, friends, and family. The business community at large is hoping the metaverse will be a place to advertise, market, promote as people shop for products and services and to transact various business activities. The music industry has already tested the waters for concerts.

Per Wikipedia, “the metaverse is a hypothesized iteration of the Internet, supporting persistent online 3-D virtual environments through conventional personal computing, as well as virtual and augmented reality headsets. Metaverses, in some limited form, have already been implemented in video games such as Second Life. Some iterations of the metaverse involve integration between virtual and physical spaces and virtual economies. Current metaverse development is centered on addressing the technological limitations with virtual and augmented reality devices. The term "metaverse" has its origins in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash as a portmanteau of "meta" and "universe." It has since gained notoriety as a buzzword for promotion, and as a way to generate hype for public relations purposes by making vague claims for future projects. Information privacy and user addiction are concerns within the metaverse, stemming from challenges facing the social media and video game industries as a whole.”

An excellent example of the metaverse is seen in the 2018 film, “Ready Player One”. It was directed by Steven Spielberg which lends instant credibility from a theatrical point of view. I believe the films has merits from a prophetic standing as to a glimpse to our possible future, at least portions of it. Basically, the film was about a man creating his virtual reality called the Oasis. This creator established a posthumous contest for contestants or shall I say combatants competing to find his Easter egg. The victor will win the man’s fortune and control of his virtual reality world, making the winner nearly omnipotent and very powerful.

The contest brings out the good guys as well as the devils. In some cases, it was a thin line between who’s good or bad as when absolute power is at stake people can turn into something they ordinarily would not become. A sub-lesson as to human nature if there’s an opportunity to essentially rule the world. I do recommend watching the movie to help define what our metaverse should look like and things we probably should avoid.

In terms of investing in the metaverse, there are companies that are building or plan to build their metaverses. You can invest in the gaming companies directly through the crypto exchanges. There are many companies in this space. They include Sandbox, Decentraland, Gala, Axie Infinity, Enjin and others. There are public companies that are providing their expertise or contributing to the building of this third iteration of the Internet. Big companies such as Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook), Nvidia, Unity Software, Inc., Autodesk and over hundred other companies. You can buy them individually or via the Roundhill Ball Metaverse Exchange Traded Fund.

I invested in this exchange in the fall of 2021as I viewed it more efficient buying through a fund versus an individual basis which is much costlier as well. Again, this is my opinion and sharing information and to financial advice as you need to conduct your own research and make your own prudent decisions. In any case, check it out and determine if you want to participate as an investor or creator in the future makeup of how we live, both play and work. Sci- Fi for sure.

Old School

Let’s take a brief blast to the past for a moment to reflect, please indulge me.

In the early days of the technological revolution of the twentieth century, analogue was the king. Tape, ribbon, vinyl records, stereo players, VHS and paper were its ambassadors. Cables, transistors, and rabbit ears were the close cousins. A bit before my time the radio was the giant which was supplanted by the black and white television and then color took over. Pre-Internet you had to walk, drive and snail mail everything over to your intended recipient. Back then we can still buy products cash on delivery. That was when payment was delayed until they knocked on your door to deliver your order.

Walkie Talkies were popular. So were board games and other assorted games that promoted in person activities designed to bring family, friends and even strangers together. Then there came pagers or beepers as they were called that allowed us to stop what we were doing and find a telephone booth; you know the thing that Superman changed his clothes from Clark Kent to his superhero outfit.

Back in the day we had to keep a lot of quarters and dimes in our pockets if we wanted to call someone away from the home. There were no cellphones, but the beepers at least notified us that someone wanted to speak with us. Then innovation starting to unfold and accelerate displacing things we once knew as sacred. The early cellphone arrived on the scene, big and bulky at first followed by the flip phone small to place in your pocket.

VHS tapes come to mind watching your favorite movie that you recorded on these players. Before then your only choice was to physically go to the theater which was a great thing to do.

But that third choice popped up called Blockbuster Video. A destination that enabled you to rent or buy your favorite movie or to take a gamble on a movie you wouldn’t pay to go see in the theater. I almost applied to be a franchisee of Blockbuster. I did become an investor. You know how that turned out. Anyone say Netflix?

The telephone booths started to disappear not before the private pay phones were ripping us off before the cellphones gained in popularity. Computers had already existed but not for the common person or home. Then personal computers hit the scene along with word processors which replaced the typewriter. As time move on all sorts of gadgets came like the Sony Walkman, CDs, DVDs and among other fancy things we couldn’t live without. Bookstores were proliferating, remember those places that had lot of books? Super Crown, Waldens, Borders and the last of the majors Barnes N’ Noble has a lifeline remaining. Too stubborn to die which I am more than overjoyed.

Oh, do I miss walking into a music store, wow! What an experience. Sam Goody, Virgin, Tower Records, Warners, and many others. These places were destination events where friends gathered and they were an expected place to take a date, browsing through books or records. We spent hours and hours.

Then the Internet caught on and finally a full blast of digitization in the form of software, digital video, gaming, digital images, social media, a proliferation of websites and online retail made analogue but a memory. For an in-depth analysis or commentary on the subject I recommend buying books or viewing YouTube as there is no shortage of pundits or advocates discussing it.

Actually, I just started heavily investing in crypto early this year. I waited on the side lines for this fairly new type of investing. I believe it’s been around for about ten years more or less.

There has been much debate on if it is a scam or a legitimate investment. Truthfully, when I first heard about crypto years ago, I didn’t know what to think or who to believe. I know one thing I was scared of losing my money.

I am not advocating or dissuading you from investing in crypto. Just do your homework and make up your own mind. I believe it is here to stay and may turn out to be a viable option of growing wealth. That said, investing in a book or two about investments is very prudent. There are numerous books on investing in stocks and real estate and other investments. Read books from Dave Ramsey, David Bach or Suzie Orman are great reads and will definitely put you in the right directions. They face criticisms for their styles and philosophies, but they saved me from more pain and misery. I am on my way for sure.

I also recommend a good read, “Crypto Revolution” by Bryce Paul, and Aaron Malone. This book provided good insight and helped me have the confidence to jump into the world of crypto. Another excellent book is “Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency” by Nicholas Scott. This book accelerated my knowledge and expanded my involvement in this space. It is a 3 - books in 1 resource, tripling your investment in your crypto knowledge for the price of purchasing one book.

In closing, don’t wait for your fear to go away before starting your financial freedom journey. Press through the fear and keep moving forward. Take care.

Happy investing!