I don't really understand this very well, but it's an investment, like stocks and bonds. What axelarator says makes good sense. I started on here with nothing at the end of Nov. Now my account is worth almost $1000. It's best to hang on, the price of steem keeps going up...it's like the people who got Bitcoin when it first started...now they're rich. Steemit is getting bigger and bigger and steem value will go up- be patient!