S4S Trends Blog

A lot of people these days may have heard of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. In 2008, Bitcoin was designed to avoid problems such as the economic crisis. The goal is to have a cryptocurrency that isn’t tied to any economy. It operates using the blockchain. What it does is that there is a public ledger of all transactions that transpired all throughout its history. And also, Bitcoin is finite. There will only be 21 million bitcoins. And the reason behind this is that it will create demand from miners.

In 2017, we’ve seen the rise of Bitcoin along with other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin was able to hit near $20K by mid-December of that year. It is considered the all-time high of Bitcoin. In addition to this, there were also other cryptocurrencies that emerged. Ethereum, XRP, and Litecoin are among the altcoins that also became popular. Now, should you be investing in cryptocurrencies? Here are some things that you have to consider.

Regulatory Clarity

Regulatory clarity has been a problem in the crypto industry after 2017. Regulators were concerned about the possible role of cryptocurrencies in money laundering and even in tax evasion. Also, there are those concerned regarding the possible price manipulation.

And the US Securities and Exchange Commission has raised concerns regarding the lack of surveillance tools used by crypto exchanges. Now, if you are risky, then you might invest in cryptos. By the time that there is regulatory clarity, it is possible that cryptos are going to go back up. The good news is that there are institutions that are now looking to take advantage of the technology. Even JP Morgan developed its own stable coin that runs on the blockchain technology.

Security

Now, is cryptocurrencies secured? There have been a number of hacks that happened throughout the years. Some may have lost hundreds of millions worth of cryptocurrencies. However, if you are really wise on how you take care of your cryptocurrencies, it can be secured. You can make use of cold storage in order to hide your cryptocurrencies.

Fluctuation of price

It is volatile. it is something that you should know from the very beginning. Imagine losing 80% of the value of Bitcoin in just a matter of 12 months? Nowadays, if you don’t have a decent risk tolerance, then you shouldn’t be going for cryptocurrencies in the first place. However, if you are someone who believes in the technology so much that you want your skin in the game, then this is something that you should go for.

Thousands of options

There are thousands of cryptocurrencies out there. Unfortunately, a lot of these cryptocurrencies are actually just a scam. Unfortunately, there is someone who is getting rich while you wait for your chance to actually get a piece of the cake. What you have to do is to take a closer look at the technology itself. Does it offer something that is new? For instance, Ripple’s XRP is now being used by banks and other institutions for cross-border transactions. And this is the reason why it has been able to surpass Ethereum in terms of market capitalization.

Having the ability to travel and explore the world can be a great experience because you will be introduced to different cultures. Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to travel. You will have to take into account the cost of your flight to the cost of your hotel room. However, it is also a good idea that you know exactly how to travel on a budget. This will help those people who can’t afford to travel in first class. Here are some ways on how you can travel despite having a small budget.

Choose to travel domestically

One of the things that you can do is to travel domestically. If you can just travel to different places that are just a few hours away from your hometown, then you don’t really have to spend so much money. You may not even have to spend on airfare. The good thing about this is that you can also just go back to your home after the day ends. It means that you don’t have to worry about your hotel as well. It doesn’t mean that you are not going to have fun.

Plan your trip ahead

Next, you also want to make sure that you are going to plan the trip ahead of time. You will need to make sure that you are going to save money months ahead. You want to make sure that you will also know the cheaper alternatives. And when you plan things ahead, you can buy the tickets in advance which can be significantly cheaper than buying in the last minute.

Airbnb over hotels

Now, if you are going to choose where to stay, it is a good idea that you ditch the hotel rooms. Instead, what you can do is to just go for Airbnb rentals. You have the option to stay in a room or you can even just occupy a bed bunk. Nowadays, a lot of people who stay in a room can still have a good amount of savings. If you are staying in a hotel, you will have to spend around $100 per night. On the other hand, vacation rentals cost around $20 for a private room. Nowadays, it can help give you the savings that you need especially if you are tight on your budget.

Consider DIY Travel Plans

If you are going to travel to a new place with a small amount of money, what you can do is to just stick to DIY travel plans instead of going after tours. Tours cost a lot of money for obvious reasons. One, you will have to pay for the tour guide. Now, if you don’t like tours that are generic, then you can do things on your own. You will be surprised that you can travel at your own pace and even save money.

If you plan on traveling, it is imperative that you choose these things. Here, you will be able to save a lot of money in the long run. You will be surprised that traveling isn’t as expensive as you think it is.

There are a lot of young individuals who are having financial problems today. Most people today are caught up living the Instagram life but then suffer the consequences. Financial problems can be a lot common especially if you are a young person. A lot of people today don’t know what to do with their money and how to be smart with their finances. Here are some of the most common mistakes that young people do with their life when it comes to money.

Borrowing money they can’t pay back

The first and most common mistake that is committed by a lot of young individuals today is to borrow money that they know they can’t pay back. The last thing you want is to be negative when it comes to your net worth. However, a lot of people are paying paycheck after paycheck just paying loans that they can’t actually pay back. Now, if you are in this type of scenario, it might be a good idea that you choose to declare bankruptcy. Unfortunately, it can affect you in so many ways. You will not be able to borrow money for the next years to come. And also, it will reflect on your credit score.

Not investing/saving

Next, it is important to save for the rainy days. A lot of people don’t save money or invest. As rule of thumb, you will need to have an emergency fund that is worth roughly around 4 months of your income. This means that if you ever lose your job, you don’t have to worry about paying the utilities and buying your food. The last thing that you want is to borrow money from friends and relatives because you didn’t save when you can.

Investment is another thing that people should be worried about. Keep in mind that you want to eventually retire. You need to get your finances in order as early as possible.

Traveling without a travel fund

Another habit that young people have these days is to travel to different parts of the world. A lot of these young people end up begging for money not thinking about the current situation of the people living in these areas. The reality is that you don’t want to travel without any travel fund. You want to save years in advance if you really want this type of lifestyle.

Not investing in skills 

And of course, skills are important if you are looking for ways on how to improve your finances. It is imperative for young individuals to invest in skills and work experience. It is a good idea to always grow. In fact, you don’t always have to go to school in order to learn something new. It means that you shouldn’t be paying thousands of dollars to take Masters Education in order to become knowledgeable about certain things.

Young individuals are in a lucky opportunity today to earn different ways. However, you also have to make sure that you know as early as now that money is a finite resource.

Building a small business can be a challenge these days. Imagine having your own business from minimal funds? But nowadays, it is possible to do this. If you are someone who is looking to start a business from a small capital, you need to do it in a very smart way.

First, you need to start with a website. You may not have the capital to start your own store, but you can have a good design. In addition to this, you also need to make sure that you target the right people. You want the right content to be a priority as well as the aesthetics. This can get your website ranked and have the attention of the right people.

Consider the fact that you also have competitors. However, you can make use of this to your advantage? What you can do is to study your competitors. Here, you can imitate whatever it is that they are doing and getting them success. Being smart in your business approach can be a good thing. Do they tend to target the younger demographic? If you have the same product, this can also be a good thing. You can just have the product priced a bit lower to get more attention.

A lot of people bought cryptocurrencies in 2017. The reason was hype behind Bitcoin. By the end of 2017, it was able to reach near $20K, considering that it started just at around $1,000 during the start of that year. In addition to this, no one ever thought that it would reach that big considering that it was a byproduct of the 2008 financial crisis.

Unfortunately, there are a number of other cryptocurrencies that weren’t actually designed to get people to use it. Unlike Bitcoin that has an anonymous maker, other cryptocurrencies were made by people who eventually became rich.

To this day, there really is no regulatory consensus among different countries how to treat cryptocurrencies. There are those countries that have a more lenient approach while there are also those countries that have a more closed-minded approach. However, things are changing since the likes of Santander, Western Union, as well as ICE and NYSE are now exploring the possibilities of cryptocurrencies. Could this lead towards regulatory changes and eventually adoption? The SEC even mentioned that Bitcoin and Ethereum aren’t securities. Could we be seeing cryptos more in the future?