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On 3/17/2020 at 6:57 PM, Y2HH said:

Uh, yeah...a virus you didn't know would exist caused this on a global stage. You sure called it.

if you listen to trump you'll believe this is all due to the coronavirus or his words the chinese flu. That's what the common man will believe. the truth is that we were an incredibly weak & sick economy ready to fold at any misstep. In what sane world is QE being utlized and interest rates falling during all-time market highs? Where delinquency and default on car payments was at all time highs? earnings to debt ratios were at terrible levels. the writing was on the wall. trucking companies were having terrible Q4. I sold all my personal stocks in their entirety in early February, before even ramped up here. I put my money where my mouth is. And i'll tell you right now I am not touching the stock market. Those people buying "low" are buying too early. These ripples are going to be massive and longstanding. we're still on our way down - 15,000 for the DOW is probably a fair number. i'll pick a few stocks at that time - still watching, but there are a few sectors i am looking at. 

 

Hope everybody stays well, that's the most important thing over everything. But if you believe your government and Fed then i think you should use this month to start reading literature. this doesnt have to be conspiracy or tin foil hat take -- just educate yourself on the systems. zoom out. macro moves slow - you can see the next steps if you paint in broad strokes. 

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12 minutes ago, BrianAnderson said:

But, it sounds like people in this discussion have blind faith in the Fed. And to you, i wish you luck. As i've said for years, do your research. Research fiat currencies. We aren't even on fractional reserve banking anymore. Rules are being bent. fiat currencies are essentially an experiment for the last 50 years. It's a blip on the radar in the history of mankind. fiat currencies have always failed and will continue to fail - and this one is being tested currently. Believe whatever helps you sleep at night - but I have and will continue to invest into bitcoin and gold as hedges.. call me crazy or whatever you want. everybdoy in this world buys insurance, where is your fiat insurance?

 

Gold and Bitcoin are no different than the US dollar. Their entire value is built on "belief". Unless you are stockpiling actual goods that have inherent value (food, supplies, etc) any form of currency is no different, whether its sea shells, tulips or gold. Gold bars cant feed your family, they cant keep you warm at night. 

If the economic system crashes out bitcoin goes before dollars. Gold is maybe "safe" but that is actual gold bars that if the entire system goes down you can then break into smaller "coins." But are you actually buying bars of gold and storing them? Or are you buying words on a screen that represent gold bars in someone else's vault? Because when the system goes down, how do you actually cash out your gold/bitcoin if there are no dollars to convert them to?

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15 minutes ago, Soxbadger said:

 

Gold and Bitcoin are no different than the US dollar. Their entire value is built on "belief". Unless you are stockpiling actual goods that have inherent value (food, supplies, etc) any form of currency is no different, whether its sea shells, tulips or gold. Gold bars cant feed your family, they cant keep you warm at night. 

If the economic system crashes out bitcoin goes before dollars. Gold is maybe "safe" but that is actual gold bars that if the entire system goes down you can then break into smaller "coins." But are you actually buying bars of gold and storing them? Or are you buying words on a screen that represent gold bars in someone else's vault? Because when the system goes down, how do you actually cash out your gold/bitcoin if there are no dollars to convert them to?

The US Dollar does have one absolutely enormous benefit. The US Government accepts the US Dollar as payment for US Tax debts. 

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46 minutes ago, BrianAnderson said:

"there is a longer term risk to consider, over and above the tactical. Central banks are central banks for a reason, they are supposed to sit (hide) behind commercial banks, so that the commercial banks take all the risk - not them. But the opening and widening of FX swap lines means that the central banks are now taking on foreign currency credit exposure - that is, the credit risk of the other central banks due to currency mis-matches. And the prospect of direct financing of corporates means that central banks are starting to take on genuine corporate credit risk. All in all, central banks balance sheets are becoming riskier to accommodate the de-risking of the private sector. But what happens when everything blows up again? Do central banks literally go bust?

 

Either they do and we worry about the integrity of fiat currency systems, or they dont because they print money to cover losses (effectively in collaboration with sovereigns, as they remit losses back to them, contributing to fiscal deficits, which in turn need more central bank financing) Either way we worry about the integrity of fiat currency, or inflation. Therefore attention starts to turn to alternative currency regimes, whether gold, or digital, or all of the above. "

 

Those aren't my words - those would be my words if I was better at compiling thoughts - but those are the thoughts of Credit Suisse. 

 

But, it sounds like people in this discussion have blind faith in the Fed. And to you, i wish you luck. As i've said for years, do your research. Research fiat currencies. We aren't even on fractional reserve banking anymore. Rules are being bent. fiat currencies are essentially an experiment for the last 50 years. It's a blip on the radar in the history of mankind. fiat currencies have always failed and will continue to fail - and this one is being tested currently. Believe whatever helps you sleep at night - but I have and will continue to invest into bitcoin and gold as hedges.. call me crazy or whatever you want. everybdoy in this world buys insurance, where is your fiat insurance?

If you were on to something here, the price of gold would reflect it.  We are in an extreme deflationary cycle right now.

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29 minutes ago, Soxbadger said:

 

Gold and Bitcoin are no different than the US dollar. Their entire value is built on "belief". Unless you are stockpiling actual goods that have inherent value (food, supplies, etc) any form of currency is no different, whether its sea shells, tulips or gold. Gold bars cant feed your family, they cant keep you warm at night. 

If the economic system crashes out bitcoin goes before dollars. Gold is maybe "safe" but that is actual gold bars that if the entire system goes down you can then break into smaller "coins." But are you actually buying bars of gold and storing them? Or are you buying words on a screen that represent gold bars in someone else's vault? Because when the system goes down, how do you actually cash out your gold/bitcoin if there are no dollars to convert them to?

This.  Literally everything except food is a fiat currency.  They all have value because people assign it a relative value, and that value has an exchange place.  SO many people since Nixon have pretended that gold is some magical substance that has an inherent value, but is no different than any other asset.

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54 minutes ago, Soxbadger said:

 

Gold and Bitcoin are no different than the US dollar. Their entire value is built on "belief". Unless you are stockpiling actual goods that have inherent value (food, supplies, etc) any form of currency is no different, whether its sea shells, tulips or gold. Gold bars cant feed your family, they cant keep you warm at night. 

If the economic system crashes out bitcoin goes before dollars. Gold is maybe "safe" but that is actual gold bars that if the entire system goes down you can then break into smaller "coins." But are you actually buying bars of gold and storing them? Or are you buying words on a screen that represent gold bars in someone else's vault? Because when the system goes down, how do you actually cash out your gold/bitcoin if there are no dollars to convert them to?

Ah. You're getting so close to the great part of bitcoin experiment. Peer to peer. No Banks. You control the wallet. Limited supply. Yes, just like all currencies, it's about belief - but it's gone from fake made up internet coin to something that has withstood a decade thus far - and is holding up incredibly well thus far in my opinion. Bitcoin doesn't need anybody's system. If i wanted to buy your couch from you - we'd create a peer to peer transaction, logged and confirmed on the blockchain. we exchange bitcoin and a couch. we didn't need to clear money through banks like venmo. 

 

One bitcoin = one bitcoin .... not one bitcoin = $6,200. 

 

It'll never go to a full bitcoin system, but it is of my opinion we'll see a period of hyperbitcoinization some time in our life. which is to say some country will adapt bitcoin as part of their fractional reserve system and "normalize" it even more. Then you'll see a rush of other countries do the same. My opinion again. I'm generally rosy on bitcoin and negative on fiat/sovereign debt. We all put our faith into government and central banks as if they are some superhumans -- well its times like this where i think we can all tell they are not superhumans, rather humans. They try their best, but there is no perfect solution ... unfortunately it is my opinion that they created a monster trying to create a stable economy. 

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1 minute ago, BrianAnderson said:

Ah. You're getting so close to the great part of bitcoin experiment. Peer to peer. No Banks. You control the wallet. Limited supply. Yes, just like all currencies, it's about belief - but it's gone from fake made up internet coin to something that has withstood a decade thus far - and is holding up incredibly well thus far in my opinion. Bitcoin doesn't need anybody's system. If i wanted to buy your couch from you - we'd create a peer to peer transaction, logged and confirmed on the blockchain. we exchange bitcoin and a couch. we didn't need to clear money through banks like venmo. 

 

One bitcoin = one bitcoin .... not one bitcoin = $6,200. 

 

It'll never go to a full bitcoin system, but it is of my opinion we'll see a period of hyperbitcoinization some time in our life. which is to say some country will adapt bitcoin as part of their fractional reserve system and "normalize" it even more. Then you'll see a rush of other countries do the same. My opinion again. I'm generally rosy on bitcoin and negative on fiat/sovereign debt. We all put our faith into government and central banks as if they are some superhumans -- well its times like this where i think we can all tell they are not superhumans, rather humans. They try their best, but there is no perfect solution ... unfortunately it is my opinion that they created a monster trying to create a stable economy. 

Except bitcoin fell by 50% after all of this got going.

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47 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

The US Dollar does have one absolutely enormous benefit. The US Government accepts the US Dollar as payment for US Tax debts. 

and it's what oil is traded on. But as you're seeing Russia isn't playing nice in the OPEC sand box anymore. Why does oil have to clear through the NY fed and US dollars? 

the US dollar is a mafia right now, and thank god were americans during it, but in what world does one power reign forever? chances are we'll be good during our lifetiem, but the US dollar will have its day. World powers always change hands. 

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6 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Except bitcoin fell by 50% after all of this got going.

Relative. What time period?

Last year on this date stock market was 25,000 and is now 20,000

last year bitcoin was $4000 and now is $6,200

And just stop and think you're having a serious conversation about BITCOIN against the FREAKING STOCK MARKET. Isn't that something eye opening? You're so close to considering what is money, what is the dollar?

 

Check out Bitcoin for safety.. worth a read. 

https://jameso.be/2019/08/24/bitcoin-is-for-this.html

 

We're still early on bitcoin - $6,200 will seem cheap one day. And you'll look back and say -- damn, that BrianAnderson told me to buy. 

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and i get you said after this started getting going. But again, think about this ... in your mind bitcoin is a made up internet coin destined to fail. a ponzi scheme. shouldn't it be liquidated in its entirety 11 years in the making? Yet here we are in the midst of the biggest sell off in stock market history .... and yet its up almost 17% today. 

 

It's not dying - it's solidifying. 

 

I've maintained the same statement for 4 years now. Born in the 2008 crisis. Forged in the next one (happens to be now) and flourishes in the one after that (my guess is 5-8 years from now). The chances of bitcoin going to $1,000,000 per coin are greater than you think. 

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1 minute ago, BrianAnderson said:

Relative. What time period?

Last year on this date stock market was 25,000 and is now 20,000

last year bitcoin was $4000 and now is $6,200

And just stop and think you're having a serious conversation about BITCOIN against the FREAKING STOCK MARKET. Isn't that something eye opening? You're so close to considering what is money, what is the dollar?

 

Check out Bitcoin for safety.. worth a read. 

https://jameso.be/2019/08/24/bitcoin-is-for-this.html

 

We're still early on bitcoin - $6,200 will seem cheap one day. And you'll look back and say -- damn, that BrianAnderson told me to buy. 

During this crisis bitcoin went from about 10,000 to under 5,000 at its low.  It has bounced back a bit, but is still down 40% from where it was four weeks ago.  Two weeks ago it was 9000.  I did notice you switched from the dollar to the stock market, but have you seen the rally in the dollar at this time?  You do understand that bitcoin is down more than the stock market during this time?

In terms of confidence, the dollar is still leading the world.  Stocks are down, gold is down, and bitcoin is leading the losses.

 

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2 minutes ago, BrianAnderson said:

and i get you said after this started getting going. But again, think about this ... in your mind bitcoin is a made up internet coin destined to fail. a ponzi scheme. shouldn't it be liquidated in its entirety 11 years in the making? Yet here we are in the midst of the biggest sell off in stock market history .... and yet its up almost 17% today. 

 

It's not dying - it's solidifying. 

 

I've maintained the same statement for 4 years now. Born in the 2008 crisis. Forged in the next one (happens to be now) and flourishes in the one after that (my guess is 5-8 years from now). The chances of bitcoin going to $1,000,000 per coin are greater than you think. 

When you start with a strawman that literally no one said, it is hard to take the rest of a post seriously.

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1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

During this crisis bitcoin went from about 10,000 to under 5,000 at its low.  It has bounced back a bit, but is still down 40% from where it was four weeks ago.  Two weeks ago it was 9000.  I did notice you switched from the dollar to the stock market, but have you seen the rally in the dollar at this time?  You do understand that bitcoin is down more than the stock market during this time?

In terms of confidence, the dollar is still leading the world.  Stocks are down, gold is down, and bitcoin is leading the losses.

 

which again goes to the credit suisse statement in the thread that i posted. you can do whatever you'd like.. i'm just putting the information in front of you as a fellow sox fan. 

4 years ago i was a kook buying bitcoin. now it's not so crazy. 4 years from now i'll be the norm. 

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1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

When you start with a strawman that literally no one said, it is hard to take the rest of a post seriously.

you can read all my posts from this board regarding the white sox or finance. up to you if you want to take me seriously. I think my track record is consistent and level headed. thats your choice to make

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1 minute ago, BrianAnderson said:

which again goes to the credit suisse statement in the thread that i posted. you can do whatever you'd like.. i'm just putting the information in front of you as a fellow sox fan. 

4 years ago i was a kook buying bitcoin. now it's not so crazy. 4 years from now i'll be the norm. 

No it wont. A few years ago my former law clerk was telling me how great bitcoin was. I asked him to find a single thing outside of illegal transactions (he was using it for offshore gambling) that bitcoin was better at than regular money. To this day he has never successfully been able to argue 1 thing it was better for.

I get why bitcoin has a niche, its for illegal goods/trade/etc. 

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5 minutes ago, Soxbadger said:

No it wont. A few years ago my former law clerk was telling me how great bitcoin was. I asked him to find a single thing outside of illegal transactions (he was using it for offshore gambling) that bitcoin was better at than regular money. To this day he has never successfully been able to argue 1 thing it was better for.

I get why bitcoin has a niche, its for illegal goods/trade/etc. 

Let's revisit this in 12 months. And then every 12 months after that. :) 

I'm only buying things on the silk road and gambling with my bitcoin ..........

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17 minutes ago, BrianAnderson said:

Let's revisit this in 12 months. And then every 12 months after that. :) 

I'm only buying things on the silk road and gambling with my bitcoin ..........

You should be able to answer it today. Why is bitcoin superior to regular currency? That is the competition. My money in my bank is federally insured, your bitcoin wallet isnt. The federal govt guarantees that my money can be used as legal tender, your bitcoin isnt guaranteed.

You can post green all you want, but the only advantage of bitcoin is that it is not as easy to regulate or trace. For most people that is not a good thing. That is why bitcoin will never be the "norm." 

You can use bitcoin for normal transactions, there just is 0 advantage. You still have to cash out bitcoin to get money, which means bitcoin adds an extra step and is less secure.

(Edit)

And bitcoin by its own definition is a failure. Bitcoin's advantage was supposed to be that it had no volatility because it wasnt tied to a govt or fiscal policy.

 

(Edit 2)

In your previous post you confirmed its failure as a currency. Bitcoin should not be an investment vehicle, it shouldnt be compared to the S&P or stocks. Its comparison is to the US dollar. If the US dollar lost 50% of its value in a week, it would be a disaster. Currency is supposed to be relatively stable. 

Edited by Soxbadger
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7 minutes ago, Soxbadger said:

You should be able to answer it today. Why is bitcoin superior to regular currency? That is the competition. My money in my bank is federally insured, your bitcoin wallet isnt. The federal govt guarantees that my money can be used as legal tender, your bitcoin isnt guaranteed.

You can post green all you want, but the only advantage of bitcoin is that it is not as easy to regulate or trace. For most people that is not a good thing. That is why bitcoin will never be the "norm." 

You can use bitcoin for normal transactions, there just is 0 advantage. You still have to cash out bitcoin to get money, which means bitcoin adds an extra step and is less secure.

(Edit)

And bitcoin by its own definition is a failure. Bitcoin's advantage was supposed to be that it had no volatility because it wasnt tied to a govt or fiscal policy.

Oh man --- give me a few days. i have all your answers. However my primary job is a financial/credit underwriter and I am in the middle of making like $100,000,000 of legal demands right now. My day job is taking up like 18 hours a day right now. and sadly my refuge away from my job was the white sox... and unfortunately i have a wife with corona i'm trying to help navigate through right now. so kind of a lot going on in my life. but i can point you in directions of people who's job it is to articulate these points better than i can on a message board if you're interested. I'd love to convince you - but not in the "im right, you're wrong" way. More, I'd just rather open peoples eyes that there are options. To understand what is going on right now. The risks of what they're trying to do, the faults, and the even bigger bubble it's going to create. We've been taught our whole life to trust, trust, trust. I am just saying trust and verify. I have no horse in this race. I do contribute to my bitcoin fund like my 401-k. I take out a certain amount of my paycheck every 2 weeks, so i guess i do have a horse. But i'm like everybody else -  i truly hope the powers that be make the situation better - i just think they're making it worse and digging a deeper hole. a healthy 401k is great for my life personally, but not my end all be all. Life is about learning and understanding and challenging yourself. laughing, and relaxing and exploring. That'd be my hope at the end of this - that you explore bitcoin, learn, and challenge yourself. If it's not for you that's okay.

Its not like i havent heard your viewpoint before. I have a brother who is a CPA and a CFA. My uncle is a CFO. My family is all in finance. All i can say to you for this short time is zoom out. go macro. think bigger. I can have detailed posts to you over the weekend or over this next month of my thoughts - but for the time being I have a job to do to support my family. I wish you health and happiness - and an open mind. 

 

Also, my bitcoin is in a cold wallet. It's about as safe as it can be. And doesn't need to be FDIC backed - i hold it. The bank needs insurance because they are holding your money for you. Try going into the bank and taking out $50,000 today. See what happens. Try opening a wire for $20,000 today.. see what happens. Go to the ATM and try taking out $2,000 see what happens. Check out the fees. Soon we'll be in negative interest rates and paying hte banks to hold our money.

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Bitcoin, and other cryptos, are not currencies.

Currency must have two factors to exist. First is of course something that can be traded for goods or services - and that it does, albeit mostly in the area of illegal trade. But it does achieve that. Second is to have some sort of backing that establishes its underlying value. That can be gold or silver, or a governmental body (like the US Treasury and the Fed, for example) and it's guarantee and infrastructure. Bitcoin does not have this. That is the principle reason why you see it being traded like a gamble, and avoided in broad use. The existence of so much illegal trade, the lack of confidence in it's underpinnings and other factors are at play too of course, but that fundamental lack of existence of a currency is the main reason.

Crypto and block chain, together and separate, have lots of potential in the business world. But cryptos are just not currencies.

 

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1 hour ago, NorthSideSox72 said:

Bitcoin, and other cryptos, are not currencies.

Currency must have two factors to exist. First is of course something that can be traded for goods or services - and that it does, albeit mostly in the area of illegal trade. But it does achieve that. Second is to have some sort of backing that establishes its underlying value. That can be gold or silver, or a governmental body (like the US Treasury and the Fed, for example) and it's guarantee and infrastructure. Bitcoin does not have this. That is the principle reason why you see it being traded like a gamble, and avoided in broad use. The existence of so much illegal trade, the lack of confidence in it's underpinnings and other factors are at play too of course, but that fundamental lack of existence of a currency is the main reason.

Crypto and block chain, together and separate, have lots of potential in the business world. But cryptos are just not currencies.

 

That's the Mnuchin angle. Then he goes along and hires Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer this week. Makes you think huh?

https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbases-chief-legal-officer-resigns-to-oversee-us-national-banking-system

Rule one: watch what people do with their money - not what they say. 

 

Also, 1% of total Bitcoin in 2019 is on illegal activity. 

https://cointelegraph.com/news/515-million-in-bitcoin-spent-on-illicit-activity-this-year-representing-1-of-total-btc-activity#:~:text=

 

And last i checked the majority of illegal activity is conducted via the almighty US Dollar. 

 

 

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1 minute ago, BrianAnderson said:

That's the Mnuchin angle. Then he goes along and hires Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer this week. Makes you think huh?

https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbases-chief-legal-officer-resigns-to-oversee-us-national-banking-system

Rule one: watch what people do with their money - not what they say. 

 

Also, 1% of total Bitcoin in 2019 is on illegal activity. 

https://cointelegraph.com/news/515-million-in-bitcoin-spent-on-illicit-activity-this-year-representing-1-of-total-btc-activity#:~:text=

 

And last i checked the majority of illegal activity is conducted via the almighty US Dollar. 

 

 

So what fraction of transactions with the dollar are illegal? 

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You can try me on any bitcoin angle and I'll have a rebuttal. I've spent at least 30 mins a day for 4 years researching almost every angle. 

The thing that is holding back bitcoin is ease of use. Setting up and controlling your own wallet is quite tough. UX has actually been improved quite a bit through Coinbase, Gemini, CashApp, etc. The trouble remains the ease of transferring your funds to your own control, to your own wallet. It's not even all that tough, but I'll be damned if isn't never wracking. It's easier with practice, but remains way too tough and scary for probably 95% of the population. Until that is changed (and Square being FDIC approved just yesterday does intrigue me a ton) then it will be tough to make the jump as a P2P operation. However that doesn't stop it from being a tool utilized by the banking masses as another investment tool.

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2 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

So what fraction of transactions with the dollar are illegal? 

Hell if i know. Doesn't it change every day the Fed prints trillions of dollars?

The chance bitcoin replaces the dollar as the medium of exchange is unlikely. Governments and banks would never embrace that. Why give power to the people? They want their piece. But I'd have you look at your tax returns this year and see i believe is to the top question on schedule 1: have you bought, sold or traded cryptocurrencies in 2019. 

It's seeping. Government still has the power like China to just shut down these sites --- and that could very well happen. Governments are still bitcoin's number 1 enemy. But if other countries embrace -- they'll have a leg up. Would be a bad look to be left behind if Europe, Japan, China do embrace. 

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6 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

So what fraction of transactions with the dollar are illegal? 

Also - the point was to add a rebuttal to this narrative that was presented above that the "majority" of use for bitcoin is on illegal activity. 1% isn't the majority by A LONG stretch

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Hey everyone. Some of you guys are way smarter than I am when it comes to stuff like this, so could I grab some advice perhaps? I have a big decision on my plate and want to hear as many opinions as possible. 

So I'm actually transitioning jobs right now and in order to get more control over the money in my 401K, I went ahead and quit that job so that I could move that money into something I have more control over. A few of the options I'm considering are:

1) Roll it all over into a Roth IRA, pay the penalties and taxes now, and use the rest to buy stocks and ETFs that I think will rebound nicely.

2) Roll it all into a Traditional IRA, pay no taxes right now but if I were to ever withdraw before age 60, pay penalties and taxes on (potentially) higher funds. 

3) Do a split sort of contribution, say $6,000 into a Roth IRA for my 2019 contribution and the rest into a brokerage account where, yes I'd pay again full penalties and taxes on but then I'd have more accessible funds.

I do realize this is a very personal decision with personal factors to consider, but if anyone has any real world experience or opinions to offer, I am all ears. I also understand that I only have a very rudimentary understanding of this, so if I missed any important nuggets, please share. Thanks everyone!

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