The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is Non-Fungible Tokens (or NFTs)...explained. 

Over the last couple of days I’ve been coming down pretty hard on NFTs. I think it’s a really interesting, completely new type of asset or product which is worth exploring, but as an actual investment, I think it’s garbage. 

But what if you’re one of those people who loves collecting things, or you love flipping garage sale finds, or scouring eBay for deals on rare trading cards. If you invested in beanie babies in the 1990s, then NFTs might be for you. 

By the way, I’m not being judgemental about this at all. I owned a lot of beanie babies in the 1990s and held on while their values plummeted and people lost interest and moved on to the next fad. Interestingly enough, certain beanie babies still fetch a few thousand dollars today. I think I still own peanut the elephant and iggy the iguana somewhere in my mom’s attic. Perhaps I can list those on eBay to pay for some first class tickets to Maui once the Covid restrictions ease up a bit. 

We all have quirks about how we spend our money and what brings value to us in how we spend money, but I just want to be clear that a good NFT speculator can hope to break even and that’s it. In all likelihood, most people will lose money investing in NFTs. 

Today, I’m talking briefly about buying and selling NFTs. A quick disclaimer about this. I haven’t actually bought or sold NFTs myself, so what I’m telling you is based on my research into this topic, not my actual experience. 

The first thing you need to know is that you buy and sell NFTs with Cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin or ethereum. 

One of the larger platforms for buying Non-fungible tokens is a website call Open Sea. O-P-E-N S-E-A. All the NFTs on this platform are priced in ethereum, which is interesting because it’s pretty volatile. It’s not like browsing eBay where everything in priced in dollars which is a very stable currency. 

If you’re curious about NFTs, I think it’s a pretty cool site for exploring and seeing what’s out there. I can buy a fun pair of blue checkered shoes for roughly $121, but remember, I won’t actually receive the shoes. It’s just a digital image of the shoes that belongs only to me. If it sounds absurd, that’s because it is. But if nothing else, it gives you something interesting to talk about next time you hang out with your best friend. 

That’s it for today, Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance