Topic: I have my mother almost convinced. (Read 1490 times)

I wouldn't credit a math teacher with knowing about free market economies, etc. I am sure she is smart and good at what she does, and this at all is not me trying to rank on anyone's mom, but through life I have learned there is risk associated with giving advice. For people without disposable income and a high risk-tolerance for investing my going advice is stay away from BTC. Sure I'm in BTC, and yes that usually confuses most people when I tell them don't bother, but I've been trading stocks for over 15 years and have no problem with uncertainty and losses, most teachers aren't quite as comfortable with those risks. If I make a lot of money on BTC that is great, but if I recommend a friend (or family) to buy and they lose a lot of money then I will be associated with the loss, or at the very least will lose credibility with them. Back in retail financial services I saw this a lot, broker picked a loser and the client blamed him/her, broker picked a winner and client would convince themselves it was their own idea, all the blame and no credit comes to the one who provides advice. I also know this from my own youth taking bad advice on tech stocks, various friends and family had 'tips' and 'info', being young and dumb I'd act on these things and even 15 years later I have myself convinced the people I took advice from are untrustworthy. To each their own, but if your mom blows her retirement savings speculating on BTC she'll have to live off your college savings, assuming that exists. Also keep in mind, while we have all been watching BTC move sideways the S&P500 has been moving up all year, meaning the benchmark is not 0% gain and hodling has implications as opportunity cost. So far in 2014 BTC is one of my least fruitful investments, and for that reason alone I would be very hesitant to pump up the expectations of an unsuspecting newbie, let alone a parent. BTC is cool and I have high hopes, but for someone on a teachers salary and unaware of the complexities with cryptocurrency (and associated taxation) I'd say it's not appropriate for them to invest in.

I tried to convince my grandmother to adopt bitcoins and I found that she likes the Trezor wallets.

Did you post that in the wrong thread or something? I don't see how it pertains to this thread.

I think you can starting trading with Bitcoin. I suggest you to learn and collect information about Bitcoin. It is really important to have good knowledge and update information about Bitcoin market.

You did really great job, because, from my experience, it's very hard old people convince that bitcoin is the ''real thing''
but, as match teacher, I guess she had a very good foundation to understand Bitcoin concept.

I couldn't even imagine where to begin in telling my mother about bitcoin. I think even telling her it's a 'digital currency' would confuse her. I'm sure she could probably get a hang of a blockchain.info wallet though. I don't think using such a wallet is that much different than using online banking, though I'm not sure I'd trust her to keep her coins fully secure.

The barrier is kind of two fold. Their is the math that average people generally don't grasp and even more hard to get a handle on is the philosophy behind it. You have to unlearn a lot of what society has taught you in order to understand why bit coin is important.

I find the opposite is true.  Most people I meet and talk about Bitcoin with say they will read up on it, but never bother

It's because people are trying to hard to get people convinced to get on board. I'm sure a lot of people would actually consider looking into it, but when they are being pushed into it again and again, it really looks like some pyramid or Amway scheme....

Good luck, I've given up trying to convince my family and friends to buy some btc.

Whatever you do, don't show her the price drop from the beginning of this year.

Hardest thing is convincing them of the philosophy of bitcoin and why we need it or something similar to evolve as a species.  People still think its some quirky nerd money. 

What an odd thing to say... Why wouldn't or shouldn't it be? I think it's a currency that everyone on this planet may profit from or potentially use. Of course it needs to get easier to use first, so people who aren't that tech savvy can use it!

that's the problem, it should be i think, more people knows about it the better, more adoption, especially old people

This is great! I never really thought about teachers doing say home tutoring for bitcoins but if people are willing to pay in bitcoins it's something to definitely consider. I really hope your mother does consider this as it will definitely benefit her in the long run not just from her earning money but by also being able to help others.

Lol. Bitcoins aint for the old! 

Why get her involved into something controversial?

If she educate her students and her students get involved into drug and money laundering, who will be on hook for all the troubles?

This. There's also a ton of FUD in the general public about bitcoin in general. The media does a fantastic job portraying it as "illegal drug-funding currency"

I hope your mom won't be china dama, risk is coming

I did mention that the value of Bitcoin can bounce around and has been as high as $1000. "Supply and demand" was what I told them when they asked why that was.


OK will do that.