"Well planned" seems a stretch here. lol.

But seriously OP, no one is going to trade with you. Just set up an account at an exchange and fund it like a pro. Most other systems end in a scam of some kind. Satoshi gave us "trust-less money" so don't use it with a system that requires trust. The anonymity of an exchange is what you want.

First off, there is no person on Earth who knows what the future price will be. This is a social experiment and stating that the price will be this or that is just guessing. However I do think bitcoin is growing so rapidly because many of us see the huge improvement in money that bitcoin represents.

The problems with traditional money systems are many. Especially when you try using them in a digital world. Consider how awkward a credit card transaction is. After waiting for weeks and handing over all your personal banking and tax information to a bunch of people you do not know you can get a card. When using this card you must hand over everything that is needed to steal from you to whoever you are paying. This information, which includes your identity, is passed on to the payment processor and passes through... I don't know how many servers. It will then take days or even months for the paperwork to be completed and for the business to be paid. Of course when the website you bought from is inevitably broken into all your information goes on sale at some Dweb TOR site.

Because of all these problems the card issuer must charge a whopping 3% on transactions. If you think you do not have to pay for using your credit card then you don't understand economics. MasterCard is not a public service, it is a for profit business and someone MUST pay. Therefore businesses that accept credit cards pass on their fees to you.  For example, when I buy something for bitcoin I often pay 3% less. Notice in the screen shot that cash (bitcoin, checks, bankwire) are less than the normal price. In this example the buyer saves hundreds of dollars. If you used say a bankwire you would save some but still have to pay for that, another $25.

Bitcoin is also far more secure than credit cards or PayPal. If you broke into my Overstock.com account you could see my name and address and even what I have bought. But you would find no credit card information and nothing that leads to any of my money. In contrast someone getting your Amazon account would also get your card and could use it to buy stuff. It's safer for all parties involved to use BTC.

There are many other reasons and use cases that make BTC superior for one user or another. A big one for me is the universality of bitcoin. I travel a lot and love the idea of a global money that I can bring with me anywhere. Money that is beyond the control of any government or financial institution worldwide.

We have years and decades of growth ahead of us, but my guess is that bitcoin is still an infant in terms of growth in value. But, we'll see.

Unless you have complete and sole access to your private keys then you actually do not own any bitcoins. I'm not sure, but that site may use a shared access system. If so i would strongly advise you to move them to a wallet under your control.

You need to read up on why paypal and bitcoin is a very bad idea. Best of luck though.

I'm going to order some food at the place near me in the U.S. then when I go to pay with bitcoin I'll be all surprised and incensed at their refusal, and walk out. 

My reasons are:

Security- No other payment system is even close to the security of bitcoin. Only you control your coins and there is no need to associate them with your identity. It is this association that makes credit cards so vulnerable. Each time you use one you are sending all the information needed to rob you. And you send it to dozens of people you don't even know.

Price- You may think credit cards are free, but that is just not true. Someone has to pay the 3% and it will be passed on to you, the buyer. Go to a place like overstock.com and you will notice that if you pay with bitcoin the price is 3% lower. That could be quite a bit of money over time.

Speed- Credit cards may seem fast but in reality it takes days or months for a charge to clear. With bitcoin I can buy something and the seller can ship or provide services within minuets or hours. The seller has the money, not just a promise of money.

Unassailable universal wealth- With other payment systems you are a visitor and subject to whatever rules the processor feels like imposing. These systems are backed by currency that is also beyond your control. You can use it when, where, and if you are permitted. It is not your money.
With bitcoin I decide who I want to pay, regardless of where they are. I decide the terms with the only other party involved. It is truly a free market and no one can do anything to coerce or dissuade me from doing what I want. 

What is the problem? Here in the U.S. we have every right to buy a gun with bitcoin. And I don't mean a toy gun like the AK bb gun. Not sure what you think happens when you buy, but there are background checks, and face-to face requirements. This "gun show loophole" stuff is extremely exaggerated in the press. It is, in fact, a grandpa loophole. When grandpa dies are you going to expect a person to pay hundreds of dollars to receive the guns he gave to his grandson? Do you seriously think grandpa has to become a licensed firearms dealer?

There is nothing weird in America about buying a gun online. The last four guns I bought I bought online. Why? Why do we buy toasters online?

This place has a lot of cool stuff. Thanks for posting!

Unfortunately some see that as a problem. What the government is pushing for is a world without privacy. One in which the government would be able to read all encryption. Of course this foolish idea would immediately be compromised. With in a year or two information would be free for the taking by foreign governments and every kind of criminal. Your private conversations, your medical records, your money; you and I would live in a glass box. 

I am not the least bit afraid of terrorists but the idea of losing the only real protection on the internet is a fear. And I can't see how bitcoin would be spared. The same tactics will be used to argue the need for a backdoor in bitcoin. Which can not stand.

I buy all my guns with bitcoin. 

http://shop.centraltexasgunworks.com/

But this is a new one. I have an AK and clearly that is an AK that has been modified into a bb gun. Wow!

It is FUD. There is the actual issue of blocks filling up and the inability of the community to migrate to larger block size. I think as the backlog becomes problematic and mining profits suffer they will be desperate to fork. However the protocol does not care about that and the network will not collapse. It will just keep going as long as someone somewhere is using it.

Obviously weed. lol
But seriously... musical instruments, like steel drums, might be cool.

The Bible says that you must give your bitcoins to me or risk eternal damnation. It's somewhere in the middle. 
 

I would not even consider "investing" unless:

The business is registered and licensed to operate in my country.
The business has a formal written business plan that spells out the exact terms.
The contract is notarized.

If these things are not in place then you are not really investing. You are simply handing over money to people who have no obligation to do anything. They may be legit, but if not then you have lost your money and there is almost zero chance of doing anything about it.

I think I was paying about $0.70 at first. Of course they were just hacker toys at the time.

You may be surprised at how common fast internet is in less developed countries. It is not as easy here in the U.S. when you get outside of cities, but I travel a lot to very remote places, and while you you won't find a landline, you will have access via cell towers. It really is more common than in remote parts of the U.S.

For example on a trip to the Darien Gap I was shocked to find a cell tower in Jaque. The Darien is so remote that more people climb mount Everest each year than cross the gap. Yet even in a town with no connecting roads (you must fly there) you could get some internet service. Another example I saw last year in the Jordanian desert was when a guy I rented camels from whipped out his phone and had bitcoins!! In the middle of the desert?!

It does not matter what bitcoin is worth to me. However, taken in aggregate we can show that bitcoin is worth $438 at the moment. Opinions are worth nothing in a market, what you are willing to pay means everything. 

Oh it's quite real and quite stupid. The first order of business is to create a commission with the authority to take away your digital rights. Taking away your rights will be presented as a good thing, because, well... Terrorists and pedophiles will get you if you have rights.   

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2724061/McCaul-Warner-Commission-Sec-by-Sec-1-1.pdf

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2724063/Commission-Xml-1.pdf

That is an interesting case. I'm not sure? I would think that you could argue that you have not realized any gain yet. You, me, and the IRS are going to need years to figure all this out.
The good news is that capitol gains tax is a lot less than the tax on the money you worked your ass off to get. Capitol gains are a rich persons tax, and as such is low.

NOTE: You can also claim a loss if the price drops below what you paid and you "cash out". 

And these are the people fighting encryption for our own good.