Is Crypto a Good Investment?

Word count: ~1,400
Time to read: ~6 minutes

I’m a financial planner, and I am buying cryptocurrency for the first time. This is how I am approaching it as a real person with a real family and a real plan, not as a speculator trying to hit a jackpot.

Crypto sits on the fringe of many of my clients’ lives already, whether through headlines, friends’ stories, or actual holdings, and they often ask how a planner would handle it in a responsible way. This matters because curiosity about crypto is not going away, but your long term goals still need to come first.

How Much I Invest and Why it is Capped

Every week I dollar cost average into three coins through my personal Coinbase account. I automate the buys, keep the dollar amounts modest, and treat the whole thing as a long running experiment in both markets and behavior. This matters because a fixed, repeating schedule is a simple way to avoid emotional, all at once decisions.

Before a single dollar went in, my spouse and I agreed that our total crypto exposure would not exceed 4 percent of our net worth. We wrote that number down, talked through what it meant in dollars, and agreed we would treat that 4 percent as money we could truly afford to lose without derailing our long term goals. This matters because a clear cap turns a vague risk into a specific boundary you can stick to.

That 4 percent is not a magic number. It is a line that fits our situation, our savings rate, and our comfort with volatility. For some households, that line might be lower or might reasonably be zero. This matters because borrowing someone else’s risk tolerance rarely ends well.

How Crypto Fits into our Broader Plan

In our financial plan, crypto is a small satellite position sitting outside our core investments. Our core still lives in boring, broadly diversified stock and bond funds that are designed to fund retirement, education, and other big goals. This matters because an exciting side bucket should never replace the simple engine that drives most of your wealth over time.

We track crypto in our net worth, but we mentally label it as “speculative” and separate it from the money that must be there when we need it. If crypto went to zero, it would sting but it would not force us to work longer, sell our home, or cancel vacations. This matters because you sleep better when no single bet holds your future hostage.

I also revisit this allocation with my spouse during our regular money check ins. We look at current values, confirm we are still under the 4 percent line, and talk briefly about whether our feelings around the risk have changed. This matters because money decisions are rarely just math, and staying in sync matters more than squeezing out a slightly higher return.

Why I Chose Coinbase and Accept the Tradeoffs

I buy and hold through Coinbase’s standard platform and keep my coins there. I chose it because it keeps my holdings in one place, automates recurring purchases, and provides organized tax documents and transaction history at year end without extra work. This matters because simplicity and clean records often matter more than squeezing every possible feature out of a platform.

There is a real tradeoff here. By using Coinbase, I am not holding my own keys in a personal wallet, which means I am not getting the full “self sovereign, decentralized” experience that many crypto enthusiasts champion. This matters because every convenience choice you make with crypto sits on a spectrum between control and ease of use.

For this small, speculative slice, I am comfortable with the tradeoff. I want to understand the user experience my curious, busy, professional clients are most likely to use when they dip a toe into crypto, which for many of them will be a large, regulated platform with a familiar app, not a hardware wallet and complex self custody setup. This matters because advice is more useful when it is grounded in the real tools people actually use.

Guardrails I use to Keep Myself Honest

First, I size crypto assuming it could go to zero and still not derail our plan. That mindset sounds extreme, but it keeps portfolio decisions conservative and nudges me to remember that the goal is participation and learning, not reliance. This matters because planning for the worst outcome makes you less likely to overcommit to a risky asset.

Second, I avoid chasing headlines, referral links, and hot tips. If a coin is trending because of social media buzz or a friend’s referral bonus, that is a yellow flag for me rather than an invitation to pile in. This matters because most people get hurt in speculative assets when they respond to hype instead of following a calm, pre written plan.

Third, I remain aware of the sheer volume of scam offers and too good to be true schemes that orbit crypto. I treat unsolicited messages, promised returns, or pressure to move assets off a known platform into an unfamiliar wallet or protocol as outright threats to our financial security, not as opportunities I might be missing. This matters because financial fraud is much easier to avoid than it is to recover from.

Finally, I keep this allocation separate in my mind and in my tracking from long term core investments. When I log into our planning software, I see crypto labeled distinctly from retirement and college accounts, which reminds me of its role and limitations. This matters because clear labels reduce the temptation to quietly let a speculative slice grow into something bigger than you ever intended.

What This Post is Not

This description is about my personal approach, not a recommendation that you should buy, sell, or hold any cryptocurrency. Crypto is not appropriate for everyone and does not need to play any role at all in a successful financial life. This matters because seeing a planner do something can feel like an endorsement, even when the circumstances are very different.

My spouse and I have the income stability, emergency reserves, insurance coverage, and savings habits that let us take small, thoughtful risks on the edges of our plan. Many households are still working on building that foundation and would be better served by directing every spare dollar toward cash reserves, debt payoff, or tax advantaged retirement savings. This matters because the order of operations in your financial life affects how much risk you can absorb.

Even if you are in a strong position, owning crypto may still not fit your temperament. Some people find the volatility distracting or stressful, even at low dollar amounts, and that constant mental churn is a cost in its own right. This matters because a portfolio you can stick with calmly will usually beat a more “optimized” one that keeps you on edge.

-Thomas

P.S. If you’re interested in learning if crypto exposure is right for you and how to make it easy: Click Below to schedule some free time 👇