Recent content by ajau

If you must lie, tell them you were on sabbatical or you were backpacking thru Asia or something. OTOH, whats the deal with the harda$$, unforgiving employers who look down upon anyone who steps out of the "career track" even for a moment? Jealousy?

That is EXACTLY what I did/my thoughts are, and I am midway thru my "two year plan" with okay to pretty good results. More income, more "up-and-down" stress, but working for yourself when you can make it work is amazing. Good Luck and keep us all at ET posted about your progress.

CEO I would assume? In all seriousness though, and assuming that mostly traders are reading this, entering a partnership in whatever profession or trade you are in is the best way to get stock options. Yes, you have to put something in of yourself into a partnership.

Does anybody still give stock options to EE's. I know some companies will pay your fees for an L-1 or H1-B visa if you're from India, but with the amount of so called EE's coming from India and China with their "degrees" from "private technical institutes" (diploma mills) the supply of tech...

Try contract or consulting work. You work for a set amount of time and then when you get that "real job" feeling out of your system you get back to trading. Its usually much easier for an EE to get a temporary job than a full time one. Even if its just drawing up some circuit diagrams for a...

Of course if its benefits that are a worry (and it shouldn't be for a healthy young single guy) you could always move temporarily to the UK, Australia, or Canada. Those countries have universal health care and their version of FICA is much less onerous than in the US.

I am exactly in the same situation that you are in. Former EE, miss the interaction, getting bored, etc. I recommend getting out of the house and getting into a pro or pro trading firm. It will bring structure to your life and it will build self dicipline. Of course if it is female social...

Read my post at the beginning of the thread. You live in Michigan where most recent engineering grads can afford to buy a house without a problem. I know. I lived in Michigan after my undergrad and bought two houses. Cheap credit, dirt cheap homes, why not? Alas its not that way on the...

It is funny though how those wonderful young ladies come out of the woodwork when they see a young, single, successful guy dangling his Bimmer keys walk by. Sad but true. I know living in Middle America has saved you a great amount of money, and I personally know just how well you can live...

I hear ya. I'm trading full time for the same reasons. Not a "get rich or die trying" kinda guy but you can't blame a guy for wanting a nice house, nice family, and a beautiful wife. Those primary human objectives are hardwired into us after all. That and when you consider the amount of...

Must be from the Midwest. Michigan or Ohio.... So bad in Metro Detroit that home prices have been falling for awhile. Highest unemployment in the nation and getting worse. OTOH you can like in posh Grosse Pointe for under $400,000 easily.

I'm an EE also. Do what I did, ask for a buyout from your employer. I didn't get a promotion I wanted, my job was boooring and too easy so I just asked for a negotiated settlement. I used that money and my other savings and capital gains to start trading full time. No muss, no fuss. Oh...

US Dollar slide? Everyone saying it will be, but I'm not so sure. I do think the day of choose either a dollar slide or an interest rate hike (and a housing market collapse) is coming, and that is creating volatility. But all is safe on the interest rate front until after the November...

Or you can go long on the US dollar and short the Canadian Dollar. Same effect, no nasty commodity bubble.

Or you can move out of Canada to the US. The capital taxes are horrendous in Canada, and the general attitude of the people there is very demoralizing for a trader. Ambition and personal responsibility seem to be four letter words in Canada. BTW they don't call it "Ripoff Canada" for...