Educating Family About Money : Part 2 - Cryptocurrency
If you’ve tried educating your family about the historical importance of Gold and Silver as money you probably already know how hard it can be to teach people about money - and that was the easy part! When it comes to educating people about Cryptocurrency it is so much harder. As I mentioned in Part 1 – Gold and Silver it is important to understand the history of money and the problem that Cryptocurrency is trying to solve. So many people these days just think Crypto is the latest get-rich-quick scheme and they are investing in it for all the wrong reasons. This uninformed investment is one of the main causes of so much volatility (due to fear and greed) in the market today.
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Chances are that if you’re educating younger members of the family, they are at least a little bit tech-savvy so the actual process and logistics of buying and storing Cryptocurrency is not the challenge here. The challenge is in making sure they understand how we got to this point in history. Maybe they weren’t born when Nixon killed the gold standard in 1971, or maybe they were too young to remember the GFC in 2008. This history gives really important context and you could throw a lot of material at them and they’ll just get bored. But there is one movie that goes a long way to explaining the GFC at least in a very accessible story format called “The Big Short”.
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This movie is actually quite entertaining as well as educational. Its edutainment – a genre of movie that might appeal to the younger generation and help you crack through that apathy and short attention span. It’s a good movie for oldies too and watching it with family has helped give me some context to talk to them about money. It also is a great starting place to talk about Bitcoin because it was in 2009 in the aftermath of the GFC in 2008 that Bitcoin was invented. The proof that this is related is in the genesis block itself (the very first block of the Bitcoin blockchain)
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There are some older documentaries about the hyperinflation of the Weimar Republic in the 1920s and you could look at the more recent example of Zimbabwe, but some of the historical stuff can be a bit boring and you don’t want to lose your audience. If you have a few old banknotes denominated as trillions of dollars that can be a great gimmick to drive your point home about fiat currencies and inflation, but if you need a real-world and CURRENT example then look no further than Venezuela. Here we have an example of just how bad things can be when government fiat currency is managed badly. People are starving, eating their pets, the fabric of society is being torn apart and the price of Precious Metals and Cryptocurrencies are skyrocketing in Venezuelan currency as a desperate population are looking for real alternatives to use as money. It can happen anywhere!
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When it comes to educating the older generation about Cryptocurrencies though, it is infinitely harder. Unless you’ve broken through and they are on board with Gold and Silver you probably have very little chance of making an impact explaining Cryptocurrencies. For the purposes of this post I am going to assume that you have at least convinced them of the value of Gold and Silver and they understand the history side of things. From there, another great movie (also available on Netflix) is “Banking On Bitcoin” which is a documentary about the formative years of Cryptocurrency post-GFC.
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It’s not too technical so if you can get through that documentary you are probably almost there. The biggest challenge with the older generation is the actual process and logistics of buying and storing Cryptocurrency safely. This is the point where they will need lots of help and if it is close family you might even be better off doing it for them, or even doing it in front of them. It is a lot easier to just set up an exchange account to buy and store Cryptos there, but I’d strongly recommend getting a hardware wallet for them (KeepKey, Trezor, Nano Ledger) and setting it up for them to store Cryptos that they can HODL until it all becomes a bit more user friendly.
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It’s a bit of a constant battle to try and educate your family about money, but it is a battle that is worth fighting and persisting with. If you genuinely care about them then they will see that you’re trying to help them and even if they don’t listen they will appreciate it. I’m personally confident we’ll be vindicated in the long run but having the “I tried to warn you” conversation down the road will feel hollow so I hope that we can collectively step up our game. If you have any tips or suggestions I am always looking for new ideas and material to try and make my case. Always remember :-
http://educateinspirechange.org
https://due.com
https://www.zerohedge.com
http://joepie.org
https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com
https://www.pri.org
I agree we have to educate our values about the future great values of crypto and precious metals and denounce fiat currencies. Great post. Keep it up.
Thanks. At the risk of sounding like a broken record I'll do my best :)
I think government fiat currencies could work ok if they didn't get inflated. Too much socialism will not work even if we all switched to crypto.
Hahaha, loved it. I felt so identified with this, just had that conversation the last week with my parents... Is sad that I didn't read this before, but well, I think I made a progress :) Greetings from Venezuela! Upvoted!
Great to hear and I hope you keep making progress. I really feel for all those people living through this in Venezuela.
Hi @buggedout!
I'm happy to include this article for my “CARE TO READ” CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 15.
Thank you for creating such awesome content!
Thanks. Really appreciate the extra exposure!
I spent some of my time, in the making of "The Big Short"... You mentioned how hard it is to teach people about The Crypto's... Try teaching people about my Pocket Change Theory and watch for the Look of Disbelief on their Faces... My idea for a New Trade Dollar seems to get more attention than my U.S. Coinage Reset...
COIN MAN by @pocketechange ...A penny may cost a dollar...
Great post again @buggedout! I try to speak to people about alternative investments a lot,be it gold and silver or crypto. I always tell people if they're scared of crypto, to get into PM's for now. And learn cryptos as they stack metals. I'm new to cryptos so I know how scary it can be at first to get into!
Thanks man. That's good advice and it's why I made this 2 part post to be about Gold and Silver first and then Crypto second. To me it is a logical progression and it is the same order that worked for me personally.
Thanks for the insight man, I read part 1 and 2, It is definitely hard for older generations to get Crypto, just as it is hard to talk to the next man over about Gold vs Fiat currency, they just do not get it or do not care to. It is like this, unless it affects them on a personal basis then they will take action otherwise they remain sheeple and by then when they do not heed the warnings, it is already to late.
Yes, it can be very hard to get through to people. That's why I mention Venezuela because it's happening now and it's in the news now so it is harder to ignore.
About cryptocurrencies I am the old man that has to be educated. I will watch both movies, thanks for the reference. You told us about the need of a hardware wallet. Is it necessary to keep Steem/SBD in one of these ?
I told myself this year was my year to stop ignoring the technology that is coming at us. In the last month I have learned so much and am constantly absorbing information. The times are getting exciting and I even have my parents invested (only a little) and hopefully it works out for them.
Great move. It's a hell of a learning curve but super exciting too. I got heavily involved in crypto back in early 2017 and still am learning lots with still a lot more in front of me!
Great post. Talking about money with family I think is one of the hardest things to do. Especially older family members. They think they know more than the younger generation but unfortunately the world and finance are no where near to what they used to be. Great advice in this post. Thank you for taking the time to post it.
Thanks man. There is always the tendency for the oldies to treat the younger generation like kids or like the younger sibling. I still get it from my immediate family and I'm 45!
Thanks i didnt know about that show on netflix. Im always trying to explain crypto to my family and friends.