One of the things I *”learned”* a long time ago was that investing was really not for *”regular”* people. 

Granted, my introduction to investing came many, many years ago… at a time when the whole idea of *”making an investment”* was something reserved for those who were standing by with *at least $5,000* in hand, ready to start. In many cases, minimum investments were $25,000.


![0372-Backlit.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/EokgShVpLbYNFJFgkLzwt5MzsGsgyUggB4NFPyoojJ8AAr2HDSraKs6rGpQMCPkfaij.JPG)

As a relatively young adult, I dreamed of building an investment portfolio over time, but recognized that the need to have $5,000 or more in hand was a huge barrier to entry. Most of the time, I was barely able to make ends meet and even just pay my monthly bills and make my student loan payments, so I slowly turned my back on the idea… with some sadness.

In time, *some* mutual funds started to make investing — at least in a limited sort of way — more accessible by lowering some of their investment minimums to $500… *IF* you also agreed to have a certain amount *(often $100 per check)* automatically deducted from your paychecks. 

I did try that for a while, but it didn’t really work so well, because most of the time I found that I desperately *needed* that $200 a month for things like car repairs or other unexpected things that came down the pike.

![0459-BixbyBridge.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/EpGQHY6ZKCo4TYxr2vZjTHgUyy3TnYhB46z8wC9CVTisECtJevgGVJR3WkirQDGdr9v.jpg)

Besides, this development happened right around the time I turned to full-time self-employment, so there wasn't actually *"a paycheck"* any more... so I was *disqualified.*

People who were supposedly *”in the know”* told me that it was wiser not to try to invest when you really couldn’t afford to do so.

The sad thing is that by such a metric, *most* people in this world would never be able to *”afford”* to start investing. Just consider even such a simple statistic as the fact that more than 50% of US households would *not* be able to afford a sudden and unexpected $1,000 emergency.

The thing that made me feel nervous about it all was that I realized I'd eventually become too old and tired to work... and I would have no back-up plan.

![0330-Gazebo.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/23wMcXFoLEjR2may4b9gyVijMaikmUevw8Q2Uqh5zitBxhu4v6nFSVngf2Lxrn6nnKuGo.jpg)

## *Many Years Went By…*

The sad truth is that I *never* reached a point where I could actually *afford* to start investing… that is, by those traditional metrics, I never made significantly more than I earned — after bills, expenses and taxes were paid — to genuinely *”have money left over.”*

In fact, it really wasn’t until the advent of cryptocurrency — and specifically venues like Hive and its predecessors/derivatives — that I was able to very *slowly* start investing at least a *little bit,* every now and then.

This *”system”* by which we are able to create and curate content and *build stake* in the venues we are using seems like one of the best possible solutions — or at least *opportunities* — for those many people in the world who really can’t *afford* to invest. 

I *still* can’t *”afford”* to invest, but at least I can *”afford”* to build stake, at least for the time being! And that does offer a measure of relief and comfort. In a few months, I will have been doing this for *six years!*

![0586-WinterLabyrinth.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/23wgU9hjbcwA35L5byKf3JLhuxwFAFhw5H4ccFoeyvihuCqmWzuGk2zAQyGwWoaEqPcVW.jpg)

Today is *Thanksgiving* here in the USA, and so I take this moment to be *thankful* for finally having found a way to invest a little… however little that may be!

I know the Cryptosphere seems to be hitting a rough patch these days… and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that recent developments in the industry have been worrisome… so I can but hope that we will be able to continue doing this, going forward!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

***How about YOU? When did you first start investing? Did you have "conventional" investments, before crypto? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!***

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