A newbie asks - how many % of your disposable money have you in BTC?

[Polvos]

  ROFL 

I imagined myself being very rich and playing snooker like the kid in your picture.

[pyra-proxy]

110%! In all the way! 

[Frequency]

I have about 1% and I am a big believer in Bitcoin. I might eventually go higher.

People with 5%, 10%, 50%, or more need to learn how to manage their money better: they are exposing themselves to a lot financial risk, or they don't have nearly enough savings, or both.

If they can't afford to lose it then yes. However, the fiat system currently discourages savings (and encourages consumption and debt). Most people have lots of debt with little to no savings... If you have savings at all, in general, you're doing quite well.

U are so right, if you can end this year and have no dept..paid all of ur bills, have a roof above ur head, got some good food and then still have some money in ur pocket u belong to the only 8% in the world these days..

I have around 10% in BTC

[Haole]

I have a little under 7% of my liquid cash in BTC.  

[Seal]

15% in Bitcoin

The rest is split up between cash and equities (shares)

[Meizirkki]

80% and I can afford to lose all

[greyhawk]

If bitcoin went to da moon tomorrow, those who heavily in BTC would become as rich as the Tsar.

You DO know what they did with him? The Tsar I mean.

[Fjordbit]

What do you define as disposable money. I don't think of savings as disposable. Disposable is what I have to spend on whatever I want beyond my bills gas and groceries. If that's what you mean, right now it's about 50-50.

If you're including savings, I've put away a bit in fiat recently, so while that was 50-50 earlier in the year, it's more like 67-33 in favor of fiat now. Then there's other things like pension plans which tip it more to fiat.

I do feel having at least 5% (1/20) of your retirement savings in Bitcoin is a good idea. The downside is very little, while the upside potential such that it could eclipse all of your other investments by the time you retire.

[bbit]

100 % of my wealth is in bitcoins.

[2GOOD]

More than 100% atm including small bitcoin savings and some asic upgrades... I know it's bad but I can afford to loose them since I'm not a saving guy it's not that much

[Spaceman_Spiff]

The downside is very little.

You are kidding, right?  I agree the upside potential is huge, but if the security of the system was somehow breached, it could become worthless overnight..   While I am no security/technology expert by any means, I think the system still has to prove itself for several years in order to be considered 'safe' (and even then you still have to watch developments like quantum computing).

[2GOOD]

I think the system still has to prove itself for several years in order to be considered 'safe' (and even then you still have to watch developments like quantum computing).

IMO if/when quantum computing becomes reality bitcoin network is the last thing to worry

[Lethn]

for me its about 70% gold, 25% silver, 5% bitcoin

Sounds about right, if you don't mind me asking do you have the money for metals in bullion or futures?

I have the metals as physical bullion. IMO if you don't hold it, you don't own it

LOL I'm someone who's listened to Peter Schiff and Ron Paul, you're preaching to the choir I'm thinking of getting some silver bars maybe if I could ever afford it.

[Fjordbit]

The downside is very little.

You are kidding, right?  I agree the upside potential is huge, but if the security of the system was somehow breached, it could become worthless overnight..   While I am no security/technology expert by any means, I think the system still has to prove itself for several years in order to be considered 'safe' (and even then you still have to watch developments like quantum computing).

No I'm not kidding. I personally feel that if 5% of your savings go to 0, that this will have very little impact on your retirement. At worst, it delays your retirement by 1 year 3 months using a 4% withdrawl rate. In reality, you'll retire at the same age, but get a condo a few exits more north of Miami.

[beckspace]

Reading this thread:

[odolvlobo]

I realize that there is no use in trying to get people here to come to their senses. Anyone that can afford to lose 80% of their money either has no money or is living in their parents' basement, or both. You just aren't being rational.

People are also fooling themselves if they think that the chances of bitcoin failing are low. I think the risk of bitcoin failing is 50-50.

I'm not worried about quantum computing, cracking SHA-256, a 51% attack, or some security flaw. Those are all low probability events and are potentially avoidable.

The second biggest risk is that the government declares bitcoin illegal in some way (probably saying it supports terrorism or some other kind of nonsense). Scoff all you want, but making it illegal in some fashion will scare away all of  the people you are counting on to buy your million dollar bitcoins.

The biggest risk to bitcoin is that the government will try to regulate it. Again, it doesn't matter if it is possible, or successful, or not. The result of regulation will be that most people will avoid bitcoin because it won't be worth the hassle, and your dream of million dollar bitcoins will disappear.

[justusranvier]

The second biggest risk is that the government declares bitcoin illegal in some way (probably saying it supports terrorism or some other kind of nonsense). Scoff all you want, but making it illegal in some fashion will scare away all of  the people you are counting on to buy your million dollar bitcoins.

The biggest risk to bitcoin is that the government will try to regulate it. Again, it doesn't matter if it is possible, or successful, or not. The result of regulation will be that most people will avoid bitcoin because it won't be worth the hassle, and your dream of million dollar bitcoins will disappear.

Not necessarily. It all depends on the circumstances surrounding the regulation.

Today, Argentina is back in a bind. There is a strong possibility of another crack-up within the next year. And then we'll have the same opportunity we had a decade ago. 
 
The signs are all there. The streets of Buenos Aires have recently seen the return of the backstreet currency exchange.
 
According to the official exchange rate, which is subject to capital controls, 4.4 pesos buys you a dollar. But on the street, people are happy to pay up to 6.7. Inflation runs at 25%. The purchasing power of an Argentine's peso savings is going down by one-quarter each year.
 
The government claims inflation is 9.9% and has outlawed calculating or quoting any other inflation rate. Forty percent of dollar deposits have been withdrawn from Argentina since last October. Now there are capital controls. You need special permission to move your dollars overseas.
 
To take a foreign vacation, Argentines have to apply to a bureaucrat for permission and explain where they got the money for the trip. And there are rumours that it will be made illegal to talk about the existence of the shadow market exchange rate for dollars.
 
But a lot of Argentines' dollars and pesos don't reside in bank accounts. Property transactions typically take place in special rooms in lawyers' offices, and they're cash deals. There's that much distrust of banks. They are fine for day-to-day things like paying your electric bill. Not for your savings, though.
 
And these transactions more often than not take place in dollars... If you pay in dollars, you could get 25% off the price of property. The government has outlawed this, making the buying and selling of real estate in dollars illegal. Just one more rule Argentines will find their way around.
 
By some reports, if an Argentine company complied with all the taxes and tariffs it faces, they would eat up more than the company's pretax profits. So the shadow economy thrives... by necessity, it seems, rather than greed to pay less tax. Middle-class day-trippers take the ferry to Uruguay to put their savings in deposit boxes. The rich spend millions on condos in Punta del Este, Uruguay.
 
For Argentines, real estate is their bank. They understand inflation and expropriation from bank and pension accounts. If they have some spare cash, they'll buy an apartment. Or a beach home across the Río de la Plata in Uruguay. Or a condo in Miami.
 
Now, fewer Argentines are using local real estate as a hedge against inflation. New construction and permit applications have fallen off a cliff. They just want their cash out.
 
The government claims that the rate of outflow has slowed. But with every passing week, companies and individuals figure out new ways to get their cash out. For instance, companies buy financial instruments locally in pesos that they immediately resell in New York for dollars.
 
Argentines have seen it all before. When a government and a banking system take your life's work with the stroke of a pen, you don't forget. If you're lucky enough to rebuild your savings, the next time you will be ready. And the harder the Argentine president, Cristina Kirchner, tries to keep assets in the country, the more they'll be siphoned out.

It's not wise to assume this scenario will never happen to the US or Europe, nor to assume the average person will just meekly obey laws when currency devaluation is bleeding them dry.

[Foxpup]

I realize that there is no use in trying to get people here to come to their senses. Anyone that can afford to lose 80% of their money either has no money or is living in their parents' basement, or both. You just aren't being rational.

Say what? Anyone who can't afford to lose 80% of their money doesn't have anywhere near enough savings, and is going to get absolutely slaughtered when (not if) the global economy implodes. If you have a full-time job and no massive debts, and that doesn't add up to an ever-growing mountain of cash that you don't know what to do with and wouldn't cause any inconvenience if it suddenly vanished, then you're doing something horribly wrong.

The second biggest risk is that the government declares bitcoin illegal in some way (probably saying it supports terrorism or some other kind of nonsense). Scoff all you want, but making it illegal in some fashion will scare away all of  the people you are counting on to buy your million dollar bitcoins.

The biggest risk to bitcoin is that the government will try to regulate it. Again, it doesn't matter if it is possible, or successful, or not. The result of regulation will be that most people will avoid bitcoin because it won't be worth the hassle, and your dream of million dollar bitcoins will disappear.

"The" government? I wasn't aware there was only one. Well, that certainly changes things, doesn't it?

[mufa23]

As far as a BTC to USD value ratio goes, mine is 4/1 at current market prices. For every USD I have, I have 4 USD worth of BTC.

[Spaceman_Spiff]

The downside is very little.

You are kidding, right?  I agree the upside potential is huge, but if the security of the system was somehow breached, it could become worthless overnight..   While I am no security/technology expert by any means, I think the system still has to prove itself for several years in order to be considered 'safe' (and even then you still have to watch developments like quantum computing).

No I'm not kidding. I personally feel that if 5% of your savings go to 0, that this will have very little impact on your retirement. At worst, it delays your retirement by 1 year 3 months using a 4% withdrawl rate. In reality, you'll retire at the same age, but get a condo a few exits more north of Miami.

Oh ok, but then you are talking about the downside risk if you only invest 5%, I thought you were talking about the downside risk in bitcoin in general (so also for people who have 100% invested in it).