Used to check my 401k every few weeks. Sometimes more when the market was crazy. Always made me feel like garbage.

Down 8% this month. Up 12% last month. Down 15% in 2022. Up 20% in 2021. The roller coaster never stopped. And I had zero control over any of it.

My money was trapped in funds I didn't understand, managed by people I'd never meet, following strategies I couldn't explain to my kids.

"Dad, what's a 401k?" my daughter Mia asked me last year.

"It's where grown-ups put money so they can stop working when they're old," I said.

"But why can't you use it now if you need it?"

Good question, kid.

That conversation stuck with me. Why WAS my money locked up for 30 years? Why was I trusting some fund manager in Manhattan to make decisions about my future?

I still contribute to the 401k. I'm not crazy. But I stopped thinking of it as my retirement plan. Now it's just one piece.

The bigger piece? Bitcoin.

Here's what changed for me: I went from saving in something I don't control to saving in something nobody controls.

My 401k is subject to whatever the Federal Reserve decides. Whatever Congress decides. Whatever my employer decides about their matching policy. Whatever Vanguard or BlackRock decides about their fees.

Bitcoin is subject to math and code. That's it.

Sarah thinks I'm being dramatic. "It's just retirement planning," she says.

But it's not. It's about who controls your future.

My dad worked for the same company for 35 years. His pension got cut twice. His healthcare costs ate half his savings. He did everything "right" and still struggles to pay for groceries.

That system is broken. I'm not counting on it to save me.

Every two weeks, I take some of what would have gone into extra 401k contributions and buy Bitcoin instead. Not because I think it's going to make me rich quick. Because I think it's going to preserve my purchasing power over the next 30 years.

My 11-year-old son Jake gets it. "So you own the money directly," he said when I explained it.

Exactly.

I don't check the Bitcoin price every day either. But when I do, I'm not seeing gains and losses. I'm seeing how many sats I've accumulated. How much of this finite asset I own.

The 401k makes me feel powerless. Bitcoin makes me feel like I'm taking responsibility.

Sarah still logs into her 401k account and shows me the charts. "Look, we're up this quarter!"

"That's great," I tell her. And I mean it. Diversification matters.

But I don't get excited about it anymore. Because I know that money isn't really mine until I retire. And even then, it's subject to whatever rules they change between now and when I'm 65.

My Bitcoin? That's mine right now.

I sleep better knowing part of my future is in my hands instead of theirs.

The 401k will do what it does. But my real retirement plan is orange.