Already profitable, what's next?
- Thread starter metatrader54
- Start date
If you are making money your account should be growing. If you are now doing 5% a month, if you compound your returns you double your account every 16 months.
Keep risking 1% per trade. Keep focusing on protection of capital.
I would not top up my account from my main income. If I was planning on trading full time I would build a savings account to give me a years living expenses so that I could trade for a year without worrying about how I would finance my life style.
If you are profitable, so keep trading and inevitably your small account will reach 50 or 100K.
If your goal is to turn full time...
Make enough profits along with saving enough money to equal your income for a minium of 2 years along with covering your trading expenses, health/medical insurance, disability insurance and any other costs.
In 2 years...you should be able to increase your position size without violating your risk management to keep yourself protected if you hit a drawdown until you get going in the right direction again.
If your trading is good enough to continue that 5 - 10% growth...compounding that by next year will be easy to do in reaching your 50k goal while still keeping your job until you save enough money to pay your annual expenses, equaling/bypass your the annual income of your job plus enough to cover your health/medical insurance and disability insurance.
Do not assume life is perfect and you'll continue your monthly 5 - 10% profits because stuff happens that's not related to your trading.
For example, I've been a full time trader for many many years. I got private health/medical insurance a few years after being full time trader. Yet, I never had to use it but continue paying my monthly premiums.
Years later and with a family...gotta protect the family via the disability insurance & life insurance...there's no other options.
Years after the above and recently, I became ill, lapsed into a coma for 2 1/2 months and then had to do 6 months of rehab plus I wasn't allow to work for a full year although I did do a few hours of work per week during that one year of not being allowed to work.
It was the disability insurance that cover all the costs for me...I didn't have to worry about anything beyond just submitting paper work from my doctor to them. I was back to trading after being on disability for 6 months and the Doctor agreed after seeing my super fast improvement to remove the medical restrictions to keep me out of work for up to one year.
Shit happens and you gotta be ready when it does because life is not perfect along with surprising you when it goes wrong. Simply, plan for the worst if/when you reach the status of a full time trader as in self employed.
For now, keep your day job...you have a long ways to go and you want to keep your day job as a protection (e.g. plan B is you know what I mean)
P.S. Basic life insurance for traders that are single...full coverage insurance for traders with family (spouse & kids) or supporting a relative...same with health/medical insurance. These are part of your costs of doing business as a full time trader.
Also, check into Critical Illness insurance...a lot cheaper than Disability insurance.
wrbtrader
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If you really do have a worthwhile edge, contact many prop firms about leverage, all commissions and costs, their deal, etc.
Post on ET looking for recommendations.
Come back here and post the firm and all the specifics they offer you Some firms are better than others and some firms simply ripping off in various ways and burn and churn. Evaluate the replies.
Do not expect to be taught to be a winning trader unless you have a personal relationship with a winning trader at the firm who will mentor you. Often these forms have the blind teaching the blind, failed traders who owe the firm money, etc. who charge new traders money for their lessons.
Most prop traders never make it so do not be mislead.
If you are a losing trader who thinks he is good enough right now and you do this, expect to blow up lots of time and money.
Bonus: Winning prop traders rarely take new people under their wing in a serrious way, obvious reasons, but if you go in with an edge you may make alliances that benifit you. Look to hook up with the proven winning traders, if you find any.
_______
*This is only one of many options and I do not know if it is best for you.
Post on ET looking for recommendations.
Come back here and post the firm and all the specifics they offer you Some firms are better than others and some firms simply ripping off in various ways and burn and churn. Evaluate the replies.
Do not expect to be taught to be a winning trader unless you have a personal relationship with a winning trader at the firm who will mentor you. Often these forms have the blind teaching the blind, failed traders who owe the firm money, etc. who charge new traders money for their lessons.
Most prop traders never make it so do not be mislead.
If you are a losing trader who thinks he is good enough right now and you do this, expect to blow up lots of time and money.
Bonus: Winning prop traders rarely take new people under their wing in a serrious way, obvious reasons, but if you go in with an edge you may make alliances that benifit you. Look to hook up with the proven winning traders, if you find any.
_______
*This is only one of many options and I do not know if it is best for you.
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Open account at reputable broker (IB or similar), track your results, after a year pay to get them audited, raise small money and manage it for free, repeat. If you genuinely make 50pc a year you’ll get where you want quickly.
I don't think you have mentioned how scalable your strategy is. Will you be able to trade the size necessary to support your needs? How will the risk/reward change? Since you have no family to support yet, this is a great time to go for it. You may never get another chance. If you fail, it will be meaningless in the big scheme of things, but you will learn a lot regardless of results. Good luck.