[dragonwriter]

> The difference is, inflationary currency is guaranteed to lose value over long term. One-year fluctuations are not very important to me, this is short-term thinking.

The whole point of currency is short-term; it's the virtual particle of the economy intended to lubricate the flow of useful goods without incentivizing hoarding of itself over investment in productive assets.

[bufferoverflow]

> The whole point of currency is short-term

Not if you're saving for retirement or your kid's college fund.

We never had any deflationary currencies till recently. Now we have a choice.

If you want to quickly spend your money, go right ahead, nobody is stopping you.

I prefer to spend for what I need, and save the rest, and it's been working great so far. That's what most financial advisers advise anyway - live within your means, and create a financial cushion.

[dragonwriter]

> > The whole point of currency is short-term

> Not if you're saving for retirement or your kid's college fund.

No, even there: it's to be the short-term stable thing you trade other stuff (for most people, labor) for and then use to buy the productive asset you invest for those purpose. It's an important part of the process, just not the final vehicle.

It is very much not for direct use as the final vehicle for those purposes itself, because the attributes which make something good as a long-term investment are very different than those that make it good as currency. (Savings accounts, which still are only good for fairly short-term reserves and not the purposes you lay out, aren't the same as raw currency.)