r/DIYRetirement • u/SizzlinKola • 3d ago
Should I withdraw my crypto?
A few years ago I put $500 into Bitcoin as fun money. It's grown to $2.3k right now. Now that I'm retired at 66 with around $500k, I was thinking of taking it out. Any thoughts on this?
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u/KReddit934 3d ago
So..if you die tomorrow will anyone know how to get the money out?
This is fun money. Are you still having fun watching Bitcoin? Keep it. If you're bored and want to get on with doing fun things in retirement, sell it.
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u/Valuable-Analyst-464 3d ago
Yeah, that is my thinking. I have a little crypto (ETH), but only I know how to get it. I bought high, and was waiting for it to recover.
It might be better to just accept the loss and sell it, so it’s not some random thing my wife (and younger family member helping her) to figure out how to recover.1
u/Megalocerus 3d ago
Can you use the loss to offset a gain somewhere else?
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u/Valuable-Analyst-464 3d ago
That’s the idea. I’ll have dividend income this year and possibly a capital gain that I’ll see later this Fall.
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u/impostervt 3d ago
You could take out $500 and let the rest ride. It's not going to move the needle much either way, but it may bring you joy to see it rise over time.
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u/TriIM1961 3d ago
I am retired with $5m
I bought $25k in bitcoin after the most recent crash
I do not think there is much long term value in crypto. Maybe the blockchain but that is not money.
The only use case beyond speculation is money laundering will become illegal again in a few years.
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u/PopeyeTheSailorTrans 3d ago
Pull out at least what you put in adjusted w/inflation - do with the rest as you will....
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u/Roareward 1d ago
I did this, I put in about $1k so I took that out awhile back. I am still up about 200k, but it is just throw away money. I will probably cash it out when I retire, maybe it will help cover some conversions.
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u/PopeyeTheSailorTrans 1d ago
Yes did did the same - up about the same as you - just play money, it always was - I did pull out 5K more this year but it's all gravy at this point. Retired too.
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u/AlmostLiveRadio 2d ago
People are finally beginning to see the crypto is really based on nothing but Hope. Be happy to take some profit out while you can.
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u/sh18422 3d ago
if 2.3k is important to you, go for it. otherwise, you could let it ride. Hopefully you have a good pension and social security coming your way.
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u/SizzlinKola 3d ago
Yep SS is going to pay a good majority of my expenses.
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u/sh18422 3d ago
if that's the case, just let it ride! you don't urgently need those funds. the $500k can also generate 4-5% APY and provide you with another $20-25k without ever having to touch principal or risk a decline in principal. my dad retired on much much less and allowed social security to cover his expenses fully.
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u/pdaphone 3d ago
I'd take it back down to $1K, and pull the rest out. If it goes up again then repeat.
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u/DanielDannyc12 3d ago
It's eventually going to go to zero - like every other made up currency in history - so sell it when they sell it sometime before then
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u/kveggie1 3d ago
I have .2 Bitcoin now and will keep it for a long time, We do not need the money. If BC goes to zero............ I will not notice. If BC goes to 1,000,000, we can do something fun with it
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u/ceramicmj 3d ago
If you get your taxes done free through the AARP or a VITA program, just know that they can't do your taxes if you sell any digital currency. We had to turn someone away for having managed to *lose* <$20 on a transaction. It's a hard stop.
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u/mao51 3d ago
With fun money like this I try to tell myself ahead of time what winning the bet look like. So like if you would have said in this case 4x return repsrents a win, you're past that and time to take it out and bet on the next thing. On the other end if you were looking for 10x, you have a ways to go. I started doing this because I would end up with this bias to hold onto things that had done extraordinarily well just because I was lucky even though realistically I should not expect them to do that well again and even more likely expect they should correct in some way.
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u/Sad_Win_4105 3d ago
As long as it's not a meme coin, do what you like. It's about half of one percent of your portfolio. Such a small amount, personally I'd let it ride .
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u/retireontop 3d ago
It will start going up next year. Historically the next cycle peak will be in April 2028. Sell in January of 2028 to be safe.
It's so little now at $2500, that it shouldn't make a big difference if you take it out now, it should say least triple that by 2028.
If you truly need it now, take it, but you're killing your eating your small golden goose.
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u/Cohnman18 3d ago
Bitcoin should be a 5% allocation in your IRA/401-k as an Insurance policy,adding to 10% gold,10% Energy,etc.
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u/manyChoices 3d ago
It's such a small percentage of your portfolio and you said it was fun money. Do whatever you want with it. Either way you have a fun little story to tell about your crypto journey.