Great post Jerry,

I think the other important thing to remember is that mining for today can sometimes be much less profitable than mining for tomorrow.

Just because the return on a particular coin today is low compared to other coins, it shouldn't deter you from mining another less profitable coin you have some attachment to or feel is undervalued. Take risks if you are in the position to and they can pay off.

To give a great example i was mining Dash when it was $2.20 for a few months back in 2015 really only just because i wanted to and it was fun to see a payout when i hit a block, I was not really doing it to make a living or even substitute my income however i kept a handful of Dash after stopping mining a few months later. I finally decided to cash it all in last month to setup 2 more rigs.

18 months later and that $50 of Dash was worth over $6000, so you don't just have to choose the highest paying out coin on the day, look at what you are mining and if you believe in the coin and what it is working towards the opportunity can be far greater than you can imagine!

What is fantastic is that now coins like ZCASH and ETH (assuming they keep up a reasonable value ) can pay off your investment in 2.5 to 3 months rather than the lengthy 18 months I waited.

Note: In winter mining rigs will also save your home heating costs :)