Advice for a youngster?!

You don't need college and/or a degree to be a trader -- you only need that stuff if you will be an employee and have to basically impress and convince people.

There are varying degrees of "trader".
Will you be one of those relatively ultra rare one's who do it all by themselves and grows and compounds a $5,000 account to $500K.
or will you be a trader working for a bank or trading company taking very small and conservative risks to make basically just a base salary.

You're young still, you have alot of to learn about collective book smarts, trading smarts, one's self, psychology, life wisdom, etc etc.
Based on your initial post, I wouldn't bet on you...I would bet against you.

People, or traders, with PH.d's and masters degrees like to kind of brag and be smug...thinking they are superior traders generating great returns...but most of them can't trade their way out of a vagina. They can't show a consistent penny profit annually if their lives depended on it.
Bet against me friend. 2.5 years ago when I became a father to my first kid. I was livin in the ghetto in little village Chicago. Use to wake up to gunshots. Last year in October I closed on a 260k brand new construction house. While supporting a stay at home mom and 2 kids. And I have some savings. I wasn’t given anything in life. I work my ass off harder then most people and have been through more then plenty. Everyone’s is entitled to make a bet though
 
No, I didn't. I got a job out of high school as a margin clerk for accounts that were"OK to trade short options," as the margin calculations for such accounts were not yet computerized(!) and we did it by hand.
With all due respect, you can't disagree that in the modern world it would be near impossible to follow your path. These days if you want to make it to professional finance with high probability, you need a college degree in a quantitative field.

It would be an interesting statistics to see, if someone wants to take 10 minutes to google it. My prior would be that most of patriarchs of finance today (say all finance people on the billionaire list) got a formal education of some sort.
 
I wasn’t given anything in life. I work my ass off harder then most people and have been through more then plenty.
I hope that you do make it. On a more realistic note, I have to say that long-term perspectives as a self-employed trader are pretty dim unless you are sitting on a very nice chunk of capital. I To make a respectable living in a place like Chicago, without taking unreasonable risks, you probably need upwards of 2 million dollars (IMHO, people here will argue probably).
 
I hope that you do make it. On a more realistic note, I have to say that long-term perspectives as a self-employed trader are pretty dim unless you are sitting on a very nice chunk of capital. I To make a respectable living in a place like Chicago, without taking unreasonable risks, you probably need upwards of 2 million dollars (IMHO, people here will argue probably).
I completely agree with you. But I have a construction background. And Once I build enough capital I would like to branch off into real estate development, among other businesses. One step at a time. And I appreciate your luck brother. We are all just trying to make it in this tough world
 
. I built a new house last year and I support two kids.
You're gonna need way more than 30K.
To get the kind of money you'll need, you have to leverage your individual skill-sets into something that makes you money fast.

Build a relationship with a small bank, sell that house you just built and use the leverage of that money to build two entry level spec duplex homes. Then do it again with three. There's a very strong market out there right now for that and I don't see it abating for several years going forward. You won't be stuck sitting on something that won't sell. If you're in Chicago, buy distressed lots in urban areas preferably without an existing structure, ie the demolition has already taken place. You obviously know enough tradesmen to get the work done at reasonable rates. Minimize the actual work you do personally. While it might save you money, you'll make it up in quick turnovers of your capital. Key here is finding the right bank. By the time you're 32, you'll have enough money to trade full-time and still build homes. It sounds like you have what it takes to do both.

Edit: lol... I just read the previous two posts that went up while I was typing this one. There ya go. :D
 
To get the kind of money you'll need

you have to leverage your individual skill-sets into something that makes you money fast.

That's essentially the Holy Grail to success: Leverage and using or working on your main skill-set.

It's important to understand what you truly excel at, and hopefully that's also your passion too.
Too many people align themselves down the wrong path. and waste their time and energy and resources.

I once studied to be a Realtor in 2005, and I hated that work and material being studied.
I also once studied being a travel agent/hotel management/even a jeweler, and I equally hated it.
Around that same time, I also tried my hand at websites..forums and affiliate products, ebay products. needless to say, it failed or got nowhere.
I love trading, and I'm flourishing at it. And that's why I've decided to create my own Trading Academy website.

High-Fives all-around, :confused: o_O We should all have a Domino's pizza party because it's 2018.
 
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You're gonna need way more than 30K.
To get the kind of money you'll need, you have to leverage your individual skill-sets into something that makes you money fast.

Build a relationship with a small bank, sell that house you just built and use the leverage of that money to build two entry level spec duplex homes. Then do it again with three. There's a very strong market out there right now for that and I don't see it abating for several years going forward. You won't be stuck sitting on something that won't sell. If you're in Chicago, buy distressed lots in urban areas preferably without an existing structure, ie the demolition has already taken place. You obviously know enough tradesmen to get the work done at reasonable rates. Minimize the actual work you do personally. While it might save you money, you'll make it up in quick turnovers of your capital. Key here is finding the right bank. By the time you're 32, you'll have enough money to trade full-time and still build homes. It sounds like you have what it takes to do both.

Edit: lol... I just read the previous two posts that went up while I was typing this one. There ya go. :D

Haha thanks!! That is exactly my plan. There is some more work I want to do to the house first to bump up the equity more like finish the basement etc. but first I’m glong to rent it for a year so I can get the tax advantage for it being primary residence and not have to pay capital gain tax when I dump the money into a 2 flat.
 
Well then if you are that close to finishing, you should finish. As an employer in the financial world, I can tell you ay resume I get that has a college listed I throw.I just can use them.

I would much prefer to hire someone your age who has hitchiked across America.
Are you in charge of hiring toilet cleaners or tampon machine changer?
 
Alright guys, so i am 26 years old and i have dreamed of being a trader since i was 20 years old and opened my first brokerage account. I have periods where i can stay disciplined build a solid strategy and do very well consistently. Then i have periods were life, and stress get the best of me and i deviate from my strategy and i blow up my account. It is quite frustrating to see how well i can do and how accurate my analysis can be when i am not acting like a hormonal chick! I have quite a bit of money saved up again about 30k that can be used for trading. and i am returning to finish my degree in finance since I dropped out when i got my girlfriend pregnant so i could work commercial construction and she could be a stay at home mom. Which got me nowhere because she didn't appreciate it and we split up after 3 years. Now that i am a student ill have mon,weds,fri free to trade. i like futures and in the past i specialized in the e mini. I did so well on one of my disciplined sprees, that i landed a 500k trading account from a guy and was trading that and earning weekly commission for awhile. so i would like to stick to the e mini, crude, gold, and euro. primarily E mini though.

So if any of you have any advice or useful resources i would greatly appreciate it! i want to give this another solid shot.

Thanks guys
Take the 500k from the idiot who let you trade his money and move to Calif and get in The cannabis biz..Mike Tyson is looking for some VC money for his new project.
 
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