Advice for a youngster?!

I hire the gamut, both clerical positions, client liaison positions, IT positions as well as guys who want to learn how to trade.
I understand that a lot of people who have made the sacrifice, effort and incurred the expense of going to college often exhibit this condescending attitude. Be like everyone else, expect the same results as everyone else. In the end, you cannot by brains.
How much AUM are you guys running that you have such staff needs?
 
You should create your own website called EliteHouseFlipper.com -- that seems more like your kind of home, rather than hanging out at elitetrader.
If it's a success, I want 10% ownership/sales of it. It was my idea and inspiration. :sneaky: (i'm joking, but i also mean it. i saved your avatar face for record keeping/identifying purposes)

Every house I've ever bought I've lost money on. I know there are people who make money trading houses for a living. I'm the worst at making money when it comes to houses!
 
In almost every sub-field of finance, there are things that are hard to learn on your own. Nobody is suggesting that he gets vocational training in "finance". Good education teaches you how to learn. For example, I got a PhD in biophysics and yet look where I ended up.

Well, no. Someone managing 500k from friends and family can not really make a proper living out of it.

You can't say for sure where you would have ended up without education. Now I'm not saying education is useless but you also have to account for the money and more importantly time spent acquiring it.

If he has 50% profit sharing and let's optimistically say he makes 20% p.a., he can make a living out of it. Also, if he's that good he can attract money from other family and friends and that can add up to a nice AUM.

In the end, people choose a path they're most comfortable with and later justify their decisions if choosing correctly and curse themselves if choosing poorly.
 
Every house I've ever bought I've lost money on. I know there are people who make money trading houses for a living. I'm the worst at making money when it comes to houses!
You should partner with a couple of these houseflippers on here and do Trading/Houseflipping seminars. I'm sure they have probably already Pm'd you. Keep your eyes and ears open they're a shifty bunch.
 
Hmm. I wonder if your career path is possible now?
On the merits of schooling. I think there is an educational aspect to going to a good school which is hard to deny (even the startup founders that dropped out usually dropped out of Harvard:)). Then there is the whole degree-access aspect to it. I have yet to meet anyone in finance (my age or younger) that does not have a higher education. Does not mean they don’t exist, but probably does mean that lack of a college degree reduces ones chances of making it to the higher end of finance.

That's obviously true for almost everyone as you'll be rejected before being interviewed (I imagine). That said, you don't know what it would be like if education was ignored when hiring staff. You can't form an exclusive club and then claim "it's obviously because of our education that we've done so well". Imagine if the requirement to work in finance would be to be Chinese and the Chinese would then claim they're the best in finance.
 
You can't say for sure where you would have ended up without education. Now I'm not saying education is useless but you also have to account for the money and more importantly time spent acquiring it.

If he has 50% profit sharing and let's optimistically say he makes 20% p.a., he can make a living out of it. Also, if he's that good he can attract money from other family and friends and that can add up to a nice AUM.

In the end, people choose a path they're most comfortable with and later justify their decisions if choosing correctly and curse themselves if choosing poorly.

True, for any of us. It is a hypothetical argument, for me, to tr to determine if I would have been better (or worse off) with the education, than without it, and vv for those who posses the education.
 
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I could not imagine trading for a living having 2 kids and a mortgage unless you have a very large bankroll or a working high earning spouse & reserve cash to cover living expenses for at least a year or two.


'The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.' - Albert Einstein
 
If I do for sale by owner I may be a able to swing that and still make a decent buck on The sale. I’ll do some higher end upgrades myself this winter and list it in the peak spring season and see what happens high end comps are about 30k above me currently. I could match them with about a 10k investment in the house
When I wrote "price it at the higher end of comps on superior homes in the neighborhood" ... I meant without any upgrades. Even if its at a 7.5 on a scale 1 to 10 presently.... price it at an 11.
I realize that current banking regulations will nix any buyers at that level requiring financing as they are very stringent on appraisers... but in a city like Chicago you have a plethora of cash buyers that need something now. Anytime you buy real estate, you should always put it for sale immediately for upwards of at least 9% more than you paid... in some cities more. And NEVER use an agent in a high demand area.
 
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