Bitcoin and my kids - A perspective from a father \ stacker news ~bitcoin

pull down to refresh

Bitcoin and my kids - A perspective from a father

6067 sats \ 20 comments \ @kepford 24 Apr 2023 bitcoin

This post was inspired by a post by @grayruby.

As a father and bitcoiner I often think about bitcoin in relation to my family. @Odell often says "Stay humble, stack stats". Not only is this great advice, it is a dense statement full of deeper meaning. While it may mean different things to different people this is why I repeat it.

Stay humble, stack sats. I believe we need to stay humble. So first off, relationship and knowledge are far more important than bitcoin and especially in relation to our kids. Any of us can die at any moment so don't kid yourself about your own mortality. Teach your kids about bitcoin and how to use it. Help them set up wallets. Send them bitcoin. Pay them in bitcoin for chores. Share your passion with them. Prepare them for living in a world in financial and social decline. You need more than bitcoin to be prepared for this.

Stay humble:

Don't be dumb. Don't over extend yourself and get into debt. Stack sats on a regular basis. Don't gamble and try to play the markets. Stay humble. Learn to grow food. Learn to be prepared for the most likely disasters (ie not nuclear holocaust). What are the most likely events that would impact you and your family where you live? Use your brain and seek out resources on preparedness. Teach your kids to be self reliant. Don't raise kids, raise adults.

Stack sats:

Focus on building wealth for your family. I don't stack sats primarily for myself. I do it for my family. I don't know when bitcoin will win but I know it will be at some point in the future so I'm focused on stacking as much as I can while I can. My goal isn't to give my children a certain amount. My goal is to get them to value bitcoin and learn skills to allow them to stack sats for themselves. Yes, I have given them bitcoin but the bigger goal is to give them knowledge and skills and help them realize their full potential. If you aren't balanced in your perspective with your family you can end up with offspring that have bitcoin but don't know why it is important. If you don't have a healthy and positive relationship with your family they will not listen to you either so remember those are the most important things.

view all related items

986 sats \ 0 replies \ @gnilma 25 Apr 2023

I'm a father of 3 and my family is of Chinese descent. In Chinese tradition, children get red envelopes containing cash from elders. Over the years, I have saved up all my children's red envelope cash. When I got orange pilled, I went ahead and converted all these cash savings into bitcoin. My little one is only 5, and I'm having custody over his coins. The older 2 (10 and 11), however, have Nunchuk installed on their phones and are holding their own coins in a 2 of 2 multi-sig, where I hold 1 key and they hold 1 key. I told them I will give them full custody of their coins when they become adults. I also emphasize to them all the time that they should always save money in bitcoin and only keep a small portion of spending money in fiat. Each time they earn additional money, I always ask them to save a portion of the money in bitcoin. Just trying to instill the habit of saving money into them. I didn't bother going to the bank to open a bank account with them, which many of my friends did. They can open a bank account themselves if they ever need one in the future, but now, they already have the best, most secure bank account ever, right on their phone.

When it comes to bitcoin, I think education is key. There is so much to learn and it's never too early to start learning about bitcoin and its related topics. Ultimately, all I want for my kids is for them to grow up into responsible, reliable, and resilient adults; and I believe the ethos of bitcoin is a good tool to guide them into what I want for them.

Just my 2 sats. Keep working and keep it real.

733 sats \ 3 replies \ @0fje0 24 Apr 2023

My own children sold all of their bitcoin when they experienced the first bull run. Since they bought it from me with their own money and made a handsome profit, I didn't try too hard to talk them out of it. Relationships are more important.

However, on my grandchildren's 1st birthdays, I buy them each a couple of solar cells in a project that pays a monthly rental income for every kWh produced by their solar cells - in bitcoin. It's a 20-year contract and the rental income is adjusted annually by CPI+2%. Provided the solar management company survives (which I don't take as a given, btw), it effectively means my grandchildren are dollar-cost-averaging into bitcoin for 20 years.

Yes, unfortunately it's both custodial and KYC. The solar management company and I are the custodians, but I withdraw earnings regularly to cold storage on behalf of the kids, in case the company disappears.

It's been running for few years now so the earnings are still modest, but eventually I'll have to ensure that the kids know how to take custody of their own solar generated bitcoin. They're still toddlers...

286 sats \ 2 replies \ @Turdinthepunchbowl 24 Apr 2023

This is pretty interesting, do you mind sharing the company name? Thing that scares me about this however is it seems kind of like the business model Cloud Mining services use, but I dont really know much about it so this is my initial impression and maybe not justified. Do you CoinJoin upon withdrawal to your own wallet or anything to create some privacy? Funny thing is that we need to make wallet management easy enough that toddlers can do it :), at least that is where many normies skill levels are at haha

79 sats \ 1 reply \ @0fje0 24 Apr 2023

Sure, https://www.thesunexchange.com/

There's no mining involved.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @nymatix 17 Jun 2023

deleted by author

338 sats \ 5 replies \ @Turdinthepunchbowl 24 Apr 2023

Gave you some more Sats to keep stacking! I think one thing that hangs me up the most is estate planning. How to properly set up a contingency plan should I pass unexpectedly. How do I enable/educate those left behind to access my coins in a way that doesn't expose me to risk while I am alive. I have my recovery phrase and hardware wallets set up in a secure fashion (I believe, won't get into it). But for someone else to be able to access it when I am gone is another thing. Far fetched, but it would be interesting to educate your family on how to access/recover funds, then set up a service that upon a death notice (say an obituary) mails or emails an encrypted message like a scavenger hunt to find the phrase (important that the phrase itself wouldn't be in the message just the clues on how to find it, and you'd need a decoder to understand). All the family would receive is an encrypted message and you can give them the key to unscramble the clues while you are alive. Only thought of this in the past 20 seconds, have you given it any thoughts on how to prepare?

15 sats \ 0 replies \ @criptopanas 25 Apr 2023

Mini scripts in Bitcoin will solve it. You will be able to programe your coins, for example, move to my son address IF I have not moved any SATS for X time.

Now days, you can also use Block time, but this involve blocking your funds for X period, neither you can't access your funds.

This video could be a good start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3XADagE6P8

15 sats \ 1 reply \ @BbeastyBbuffalo 24 Apr 2023

I have three adult sons. I trust them. I told them where my seed is hidden.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Turdinthepunchbowl 24 Apr 2023

Thats wonderful, but do they trust each other? I am just messing around. There still needs to be some solution for estate planning. People taking their sats to the grave is not good long term for Bitcoin. Sure it makes all other sats more valuable, but there may come a tipping point where that becomes more detrimental than beneficial. I still think estate planning for Bitcoin is an area that needs improvement.

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @kepford OP 24 Apr 2023

Thanks! I am still learning about how to best handle estate planning. I don't have advice there but there are plenty of people that do. My current approach is teach my family how to use the tools. I realize that isn't possible for everyone. Curious how other people are handling this. I've heard a lot of advice.

15 sats \ 0 replies \ @duvel 25 Apr 2023

Yes true. I found this course very interesting and helped me a lot: https://aantonop.com/workshops/crypto-inheritance-planning/

I think starting with the most simple solution first is important. Write everything down in simple and plain terms without very little jargon so that your spouse can access your bitcoin. Also adding links to people they can use for help. E.g. BTC Sessions, Ministry of Nodes and more can be added. They can contact them for help so they don't make any mistakes.

111 sats \ 2 replies \ @fm 5 Mar

Don't raise kids, raise adults.

great point

100 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford OP 5 Mar

Ha, reading my old posts. Fun!

Forget where I first heard that phrase but like many things I think and say it is mostly a reminder to myself.

33 sats \ 0 replies \ @fm 5 Mar

clicked on your bio and since im living fatherwood for the last 4 years, it caugth my eye..

16 sats \ 0 replies \ @TwoLargePizzas 25 Apr 2023

Bitcoin definitely changed me to think long term. I have a much lower time preference now than I did a few years ago. I think about my kids and their future a lot.

Our children and children's children will be a super important part of Bitcoin adoption. They will inherit our wealth and be the next generation of earners, business owners, leaders and politicians. Whatever that might look like in the future, what we teach our children today will influence how they shape the world.

On the flip side, many of the people that hate Bitcoin today will be dead. I mean, look at the age of most US politicians.

It's our responsibility to stack sats for our family. But we should also be teaching our kids how it works and why it matters. Teaching them about money (and the differences between fiat and Bitcoin) seems to be the way.

My hope is that they'll be the generation starting businesses and paying their employees in sats creating a truly circular economy.

44 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei 7 Apr

What you wrote is timeless, so ofc Stackers, including me, don’t mind zapping it when they stumble upon it. I love how you prioritise relationships n skills. Bitcoin is just a tool, a means to an end. 👍

You are also the second Stacker who mentioned about equipping himself/his children with useful skills. @DesertDave made the same point yesterday to me!