I just wanna post...Why does it have to be so complicated?!?!

I get it, I really do. You were all excited to get going here on Steemit...made some posts and even earned a little money. You even started figuring out that half your post earnings go into Steem Power with the other half being spendable as Steem Dollars. Comfort has started to creep in... feeling like you have an idea of how everything works and BAM!! You try to figure out how this power down thing works.

Well...you're in luck! Because it's really not that hard once it's laid out for you.

Q: Ok, Ms. Smartypants...Explain to me how Powering Down works?!?!

Short Answer: When you start a power down, you will "unlock" 1/13th of your total Steem Power (at the time of starting the power down), changing it into Steem. This continues for 13 weeks until it's all converted to (liquid/spendable) Steem.

As many of you know, while Steem Power gives you influence on the site (allowing you votes to give more money as well as earn greater curation rewards), you aren't able to spend or trade it in that form. To be able to this, your Steem Power has to be "unlocked" by converting it to Steem, which is what Powering Down does.

To completely Power Down an account, it takes 13 weeks, getting you 1/13th of what you had (at the start of the Power Down) into Steem per week.

As an example: Say you have 1,300 Steem Power and you find you need to spend a little of this. You start the Power Down (instructions provided below) and 7 days later you will receive your first "payment" of 100 Steem. Seven days later, you get another 100 Steem converted. Now if you let this go for all 13 weekly payments, you will have made all 1,300 Steem Power into Steem.

• NOTE: You do NOT have to Power Down for the entire 13 weeks. You can for example take two payments and then cancel the process.

Q: How do I Start or Stop a Power Down?

• To start powering down, simply go to your wallet, click the down arrow next to your Steem Power and click Power Down.

• You will then see an entry in your wallet saying that you started a powerdown for an amount of Steem Power.

• If you want to cancel the Power Down (which you can do at ANY time), simply click the down arrow next to Steem Power (in your wallet) like before, but this time select Cancel Power Down.

Q: If I have a Power Down going and I earn new Steem Power...is that included in the next weeks "payment"?

Anything you earned as SP after you started the powering down WILL NOT be a part of this. It ONLY effects the SP you had when it was begun. If you want to have newly acquired Steem Power be a part of the power down, simply cancel and restart it.

Q: Do I have to Power Down everything once I start the process?

No. You can stop it at any point. Just click the down arrow next to Steem Power in your wallet and hit Cancel Power Down.

Congratulations!! You are now all Power Down MASTERS!! Muuaahahaha!

---

Remember that ALL of my guide posts are eligible to be added as entries to the Steem Center Wiki or Operation Translation.

Click here to find out how these can earn you Steem!!

Feel free to ask me anything. I'm here to Help!

I've had slow response times lately, but I try to get a response to every question.

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Power Down