40yo's new career or bust

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Originally posted by John Q Public
On the surface it certainly appears that you have done your homework, and given alot of thought to your future.

I suppose that you realize that the days of big paychecks at whatever your past profession was are nothing more than fond memories.

It would seem that your past experience and training have taught you to carefully evaluate all possibilities, and prepare a comprehensive plan.

However, I am appalled at the two possibilities that you came up with. sandwich making, or futures trading. Pardon me if I offend, but that has to be the most asinine choice I have ever encountered.

Middle age crazy is one phrase that comes to mind. With a wife, two children and at your age, you must have lost your mind. You have responsibilities and obligations. To put your family through this is beyond inexcusable.

Wives and children have a habit of trying to please the head of the house, so I am not surprised that they support you. But if they truly mean anything to you, if your marriage means anything to you, if the long term relationship with your daughters means anything to you, then you will come to your senses, and come to them quickly.

You are not a young and wild kid any more. Good God man, get a grip. Put the apron on. move your nest egg into something safe, and play with your dream of beating the futures market if and when you can afford to wipe out.

This type of attitude, pessimism, and ignorance is what allows me to make a great living as a professional trader. Thanks John Q. Public (very fitting name).
 
40,

I think if you have a passion for this thing, you should at least give it a shot in realtime. However, don't burn your bridges (and/or your capital). There is no guarantee for this thing. And what sounds good on paper doesn't necessarily translate into reality. (I've learnt it the hard way.) What mechanical systems don't take into account are things like analysts' down/ upgrades, geopolitical shock events, market makers gapping up/down a stock, etc. For these things, it is up to the trader, not mechanical system, to exercise prudent judgments for entries/exits. And when we are talking about the trader, we are talking about powerful emotions.

I really can't speak for anyone else, but IMO, it's better to start out with trading longer timeframes than daytrading. For daytrading, you have less time for reacting. And you can work partime by position trading while testing this thing out. And if that works out, you might be able to go daytrading fulltime.

My two cents,

stock.
 
Originally posted by quicktrader12


This type of attitude, pessimism, and ignorance is what allows me to make a great living as a professional trader. Thanks John Q. Public (very fitting name).

My guess is that you don't have two teenage daughters, and still think that life is some kind of a game. I'll guess further that you have never experienced a life shattering event at a time when it suddenly dawns on you that you ain't getting any younger.
 
Originally posted by John Q Public


My guess is that you don't have two teenage daughters, and still think that life is some kind of a game. I'll guess further that you have never experienced a life shattering event at a time when it suddenly dawns on you that you ain't getting any younger.

you are 100% correct;;; but you have to give him the benefit of the doubt that 40k will be when he pulls the plug...but I have to agree that at that point he may or may not pull the plug and continue...thats when it may become a life shattering event..till then he has already factored in a 40k loss......I wish him the best of luck..
 
Originally posted by ElCubano


you are 100% correct;;; but you have to give him the benefit of the doubt that 40k will be when he pulls the plug...but I have to agree that at that point he may or may not pull the plug and continue...thats when it becomes a life shattering event..till then he has already factored in a 40k loss......I wish him the best of luck

What he hasn't factored in is a lock limit day, or two of them, or maybe five in a row. Granted, it doesn't happen often, but they only seem to happen at the worst possible time.

So how about it, 40yotrader? Did you factor in a series of lock limit days? Did you ever hear of a lock limit day?

What are you going to tell the family when it happens? The landlord, the other creditors.

Your plan is reckless. Just because the corporate world you came from operates on written plans and evaluations doesn't mean that the world you want to enter now does.
 
so only single millionaires should attempt trading?

if i have 2 choices; id rather give trading a chance and fail and then go to subway rather than going to subway and grinding our "beak and snout" sandwiches for the rest of my life and wondering if i could have could have become a trader... all the while aging and wondering.

the choices are not just:

1. not succeed at trading (this time) .... or

2. fail, get divorced, go broke and die with your daughters hating you. if he fails, he can try again. or flip burgers, or whatever!

some of you guys sound like bitter losers. lighten up! who gave anyone on this board the right to pass judgement on this man as a father or a provider for his family.

40yo - i wish you luck and respect the leap you are taking.
 
Originally posted by QQQBALL


some of you guys sound like bitter losers. lighten up! who gave anyone on this board the right to pass judgement on this man as a father or a provider for his family.

40yo - i wish you luck and respect the leap you are taking.


I agree with you 100%!

The guy has a sound plan. If he sticks to it, uses proper money management, and is disciplined he doesn't have that much to lose. Plus he is 40 not 80.
 
I wish you the best...at least you've got a trading plan and have done your homework. This puts you ahead of 95% of all traders. Obviously, the execution of your plan and dealing with the psychological aspects of real vs. paper trading will be the next hurdle. Great work so far and keep us informed of your progress.
 
After reading Public's posts it seems as if 4oyotrader is starting something impossible, which is doomed from the start.

However, this is not the case.

Trading is as easy and hard to master as any other profession.
 
Originally posted by John Q Public


My guess is that you don't have two teenage daughters, and still think that life is some kind of a game. I'll guess further that you have never experienced a life shattering event at a time when it suddenly dawns on you that you ain't getting any younger.

My guess is that you have taken a shot or two and have failed. You now are afraid of failure and can't believe people take risks in life. You probably don't understand that most successful people have failed before but the difference between them and you is that successful people do not give up on their dreams. Furthermore being 40 with 2 kids is not a reason to give up on your dreams.

I don't think life is a game. I do think life is short and that its ok to go after what you want. And yes I have had a life shattering event. And guess what? I picked myself up and kept going. This is what seperates the losers from the winners.
 
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