HODLing is not a financial plan. Simply buying and holding Bitcoin is not the answer to every financial question you should be asking yourself. If it somehow is your answer for everything, then you are jeopardizing your family’s financial future.
I don’t care if you are young and single or older, married with kids. It doesn’t matter if you are retired or still working. No matter what your current circumstances are, every question isn’t answered with “buy Bitcoin and never sell.”
As a Test, Can You Answer These?
How much do you need to quit working forever, drop to part-time, or work on a passion project that may never be lucrative?
How much life insurance do you need just in case you don’t have time to stack enough cheap sats to retire your family? If you passed tomorrow, would your family be covered?
Should you utilize qualified accounts like Roth IRAs, Solo 401(k)s, or HSAs? What about a cash balance plan for your business?
Should you fund a 529 for your children’s education?
Are you on track to retire when you want?
Do you have enough to accomplish multiple goals occurring at different points in life like paying for your child’s school, buying that lake house to make summer memories, or giving your daughter her dream wedding?
Should you own any other assets besides Bitcoin? What are the pros and cons? If you should, what other assets will you invest in and what will your allocation be?
What would you do if Bitcoin didn’t skyrocket to the prices thrown around on social media as soon as you would like or may need it to?
How should you secure your Bitcoin? Self-custody? Collaborative custody? Multi-institutional? Single-sig? Multi-sig? What about proper backups or physical security protocols?
Should you establish a revocable living trust to avoid probate and pass assets efficiently?
Will your Bitcoin and other assets become public information when you pass?
Should you establish an irrevocable trust? Which one? How much and of what assets should you fund it with? If you put Bitcoin in it, how will you custody the Bitcoin so that the courts and IRS actually acknowledge the trust’s existence?
Should you maintain a fiat emergency fund?
Can your spouse stop working to be a stay-at-home parent and raise your young kids?
How should you manage your capital gains tax bill or lower it when you do sell your Bitcoin?
Will you owe 40% in estate taxes when you pass? How can you avoid them? Even if you don’t sell, the IRS still comes after their money.
Can you gift Bitcoin to children, parents, or loved ones without it being taxable?
Should you allocate to Bitcoin miners to create cash flow or “sats” flow? What if buying the miners and taking depreciation could offset other income or capital gains, allowing you to have a profitable investment and realize tax-free Bitcoin gains?
Should you sell that old real estate property now that you’re orange-pilled? What if you could do a cost segregation and avoid six figures in taxes?
What should you do with the stock compensation you receive at work?
Should you add Bitcoin to your business balance sheet? How much? What are the accounting implications? Why would you do that versus buying Bitcoin personally?
Should you try to “get on zero”? If so, how will you manage your cash flow?
Are you properly managing your UTXOs?
Will your heirs be able to access your Bitcoin? Will they owe tax on it? Do they know what Bitcoin is and how to manage it?
Are you maximizing your business tax deduction strategies to save and stack more sats?
Do you have sufficient insurance coverages to prevent someone from suing you and causing catastrophic consequences for your family?
What if you lost your Bitcoin in a boating accident?
How much can you afford to spend in retirement? What if Bitcoin drops by 50 to 90 percent, should you try not to spend any of it?
How can you tax-efficiently sell other assets to allocate more to Bitcoin?
How can you get your pre-tax Bitcoin out of the 401(k) or IRA now that it has grown substantially?
Do you have a detailed succession plan in place to ensure your Bitcoin is passed down smoothly without legal or tax complications?
What if the government does try to fight Bitcoin? How can you ensure the privacy or anonymity of your holdings?
How will you handle healthcare in retirement, especially if you don’t qualify for Medicare yet?
Do you have a tax-loss harvesting strategy to offset capital gains taxes when Bitcoin’s price dips? Are you tracking your numbers well enough to report the losses correctly?
If Social Security is still around, when should you take it?
How will you handle financial obligations if you are forced to sell Bitcoin at an unfavorable time?
What happens if Bitcoin fails and the world we expect doesn’t come to fruition?
What if you retired with 100% Bitcoin and a 70% drop followed?
Do you have a contingency plan if you or your spouse need to stop working earlier than expected due to health issues or job loss?
Should you leverage your Bitcoin instead of selling? If so, how much of your stack? How much leverage should you take?
Should you utilize low-interest fiat debt when Bitcoin is down instead of spending? If so, how much?
Should you refinance or take out a HELOC on your house to buy other assets?
Do you have a succession plan for your business? If you passed, do you have a buy-sell agreement with liquidity for a partner buyout?
How much tax will you owe this year? Do you have liquidity to cover it without selling Bitcoin?
Are there tax-saving strategies you don’t know about that could lower your tax bill this year?
Are you aware of and keeping up with all the rule changes on the horizon?
Are you confident in your plan?
Do you have questions or concerns you’ve pushed to the back of your mind?
Will you be able to provide your children with the opportunities you never had?
Do you spend too much time managing your wealth that could be spent with family?
Should you sell assets to pay off debt? Is the peace of mind worth it?
Are you interested in buying a business with your Bitcoin wealth? How would you structure the deal?
Do you plan to sell your business? How should you structure it? How much will you pay in taxes? Can you reduce that?
Do you have any financial blind spots?
All That to Say...
That’s only a fraction of the questions that could come up along your financial journey.
I’m not trying to be a jerk. I genuinely want the best outcome for you and your family. The goal is to shine a light on potential blind spots and help you sleep peacefully at night, confident you’re making the right decisions.
Don’t dismiss financial planning principles just because you believe in a future Bitcoin standard where complexity is reduced. We are not there yet, and likely won’t be for decades.
Bitcoin may be the greatest asset in history, but it still requires intentional, strategic planning. Your family’s financial future deserves that level of thought.
If any of these questions sparked doubt or stress, or made you think of others you don’t have answers to, schedule a call with us to learn more about how we can help.
We are financial planners for Bitcoiners, because we are Bitcoiners ourselves.
Don’t procrastinate. Schedule a call today and get the clarity you’re looking for.