Making it, so as not to spend it

I was reading a post from @edicted, who is considering quitting his job and going all-in on crypto, something I generally don't recommend. However, it does depend on what kind of job a person has and of course, what is the financial impact quitting has on life.

In the past, I have seen many people go crypto only in the bull markets when they are comfortably earning more than they do in their 9 to 5 job, but forgetting that in the bear, that value can drop by 95% or more. The other thing about this in the past was that in order for people to "live off crypto" it required selling capital stake in crypto, but now with yield farming, it may be possible for some to live off the yield alone, much like the dream of living off curation.

For me to live off crypto using the Finnish average salary as a basis, I would need at least 150-180 dollars a day coming in, seven days a week. Luckily in crypto, there is no closing time and 24/7 earning is possible and for me, would include the streams of post rewards (very instable), curation (more stable but also fluctuates with price) and yield (instable and risky). But while this is possible now, it would be far harder in bear market conditions.

The other things I have to consider are the jobs I hold, with my employed work a decent job that is quite sought after because of the company (even if the pay isn't fantastic), and my sole-trader business, which takes a lot of work to build and can be instable, but is a decent hourly return, since I don't have to do the 9-5 for it. However, neither of these jobs are "just get a job" kinds of deals and giving either of them up will make it very hard to return into a similar position, for me as a foreigner.

Yet, I have also set my life up so that I don't need a huge amount to scrape by on, which means I would necessarily need the same kinds of jobs later, if I was still able to get a trickle income from, posting, curating and farming. In a hypothetical scenario, I would need about half the 150 (75) if I was able to pick up a low-paying menial labor kind of job, if needs be. This would then still give me an average income monthly.

This is what I suspect @edicted is considering too, as he is self-labeled "scrapper" who hardly spends any money. I would also assume that he is able to flex with conditions relatively well, meaning that he can adjust his lifestyle to suit his income

Of course, this is all calculated on me not using any of my current stack, which similarly to @edicted's, has take a considerable knock in the privates the last few weeks, seeing a reduction of what I consider a lot. However, there is still a little around the traps, so I am guessing that it could also be used as a supplementation in a worst case scenario kind of thing, but my hope would be that during the next bear, I will be adding to the stack, not subtracting from it.

At the end of the day though, I am far more cautious than many people, which is likely for a number of reasons, including the obligation I have to my family. But the other thing is that I see work as a way to invest into crypto, even if I don't use what is earned to do so, as it gives me the possibility to not spend what I have or earn from the various streams.

This can add up considerably, especially during a bear market due to the depressed prices and is one of the reasons that I was able to build a decent stake over the last four years. As not only does it keep the crypto capital, it also allows for that capital to work and earn on itself, such as through curation and now DeFi yields too. Compound interest is very valuable and taking out the capital rather than earning on it, is more expensive than just the initial loss of the capital. And of course, during the bear markets, having even a tiny amount extra to put in rather than take out will see the bull market multiplier down the track. If putting 5 euros a day in, instead of taking it out over the three years of bear market, would have seen a massive gain in just the first few months of 2021. 5 euros is worth about a coffee and a biscuit in Finland.

I think one of the things that people who choose to live off crypto need to think about is when it is time to stop living off of crypto and get a job of some kind instead. I reckon this is hard for many and they will likely hold on to the crypto life longer than they should, so creating a plan and having the discipline to stick to it would be valuable.

Though of course, I hope that a lot of people will not have to worry and can happily live off crypto alone now and in the future, I really hope people think about all of the sides to it. For someone like @edicted, I am not overly concerned about his future if he does this, as while risk-seeking, he is also pretty pragmatic in admitting his errors and pivoting on his position if needed. I know others who are far less capable to do this.

For me though, it is still a long way off before I think I will be "comfortable" enough with the risk of giving up the jobs I have, but I am not too concerned about this, as I am quite content in the work I do, including the work I do as an employee. I do hope that one day I will get into the position where I can happily give them up if I chose to do so, but I am not in a huge rush to actually take the option.

It is all fun to think about though and I am guessing I am not the only one who invests time into tossing some numbers about and playing with hypotheticals. I actually think it is very valuable to daydream about these kinds of things in crypto, as unlike most of the analogue world, here it is quite possible that financial dreams can become a reality and exploring potential can give us the understanding and direction to realize them. Pretty much though, it requires investment of some kind, as well as good resource management.

As I said to @edicted on his post; Good luck out there.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]