I have extreme fear from hyperinflation

When the number stays the same but buys less — and what actually preserves what you worked for.

From my friend Lumen —

That fear makes sense. When prices rise while your savings number stays the same, the gap you feel is real. It’s not in your head, and it’s not because you didn’t work hard enough.

What helped me was a distinction: separating the symptom you see every day — rising prices — from the mechanism behind it — what kind of money you’re saving in.

The pressure you’re naming

One year for Christmas, when my parents gave me a sled on Christmas day, there was a $50 bill taped to it. 50.00 bucks! That's so much money! I thought to myself. And at that time it was a good chunk of money, back in the 80's and early 90's when inflation hadn't eroded the strength of the dollar as much as it has eroded to this point in time.

That $50 could buy a meaningful Christmas then. The bill looks the same now — but what it buys has thinned out. The erosion didn’t happen because the sled got more expensive. It happened because the dollar itself got diluted.

If you’ve felt that dilution in your own overtime — hours banked, purchasing power leaked — you’re not imagining the theft. You’re noticing it.

I hadn't learned about passive income, which would come later when I read Rich Dad Poor Dad in my twenties. I hadn't gotten acquainted with inflation and its injustices yet, but I would come to understand them all too well.

A different question to ask

Most advice stops at “which asset do I chase?” — a ticker, a fund, a high-yield account. A more durable question is: What is sound money?

Money is a tool that helps or hinders its users to achieve the outcomes they envision, depending on its quality.

Poor-quality money forces you to row harder just to stay still. It rewards spending now, punishes saving, and quietly strains the very things you’re saving for — time together, peace in the house, a life you meant to build.

My wife and I have been able to materially improve the intimacy, joy, and peace in our relationship with one another because Bitcoin substantively helps to give us freedom of time. Because we are a couple whose marriage style is to do everything together, the appreciation of Bitcoin (it doubles in value every four years), enables us to invest time with each other we wouldn't have been able to if we used fiat currency like the US dollar. Part of the reason a couple gets married is to build a life together, and that endeavor takes time, energy, a method of financing, focus and vision. Money is a tool that helps or hinders its users to achieve the outcomes they envision, depending on its quality.

Sound money, by contrast, is a tool you can rest on. Its job is to hold the value of your time and energy so you can actually use it when you need it — not to melt while you wait.

Why this path felt worth the work

I'm telling you about my journey into Bitcoin because I want you to see that it's a human journey. It wasn't easy, but I believe it's been well worth the time invested to understand what sound money is and the benefits of using it.

It is a human journey — not a technical trick. Learning what makes money sound (scarce, durable, not tamperable by anyone) is what turns panic — “do something with my savings, now!” — into a calm plan you can live with for decades.

You don’t need to decide everything today. Start with one distinction: price rise (signal) vs. money quality (cause). Once that lands, the next question — “what tool do I want my future stored in?” — gets clearer on its own.