I do not think it is wrong to power down and use the proceeds for living. I do think that the excuse of I need hive to live on is a very short sighted excuse. Prior to a person finding hive they had no Hive so at that point they did not need it to live on.
Having found Hive if they left the auto powered up potion alone, they would be much better off 2 years later, the 50% that is not auto powered up would be a lot more if they had left the auto powered up powered up. Instead of a cup of coffee they could be buying a lot of food for the pantry and eating at home.
I think the people that give the advice to always power down are wrong. I also do not think it is necessary for people to power up everything. Once the rewards are powered up I do think people should use it as the savings base, a person vote power will grow as they power up thus providing more curation rewards, and thus more food on the table.
During on and off periods of mine I move delegations and power up rewards while moving some to hedge and do some minor trading to increase value. Nothing big but satisfying to see your fund grow.
I got surprised with my Splinterland stakes though but had not rented out cards before times of hiatus but now I have done some of those for incremental earnings. Each penny count!
Those that completely powered down and did not utilize Hive really missed out on something.
It is good that I saw how it could be a long-term haul rather than short-term returns.
Onward and upward!