Anyone ever try to explain their trading career choice to family?

It took 5 minutes for my wife to see the passion and fire I had with respect to trading and she instantly knew there was nothing she could do to talk me out of doing it and has supported me ever since. Of course the success I have helps since I am not cleaning out our savings like an obsessive gambler. I did not even have to convince why leaving law would be better.

Those who love you will know when you are truly into something and no need for any explanation...
 
It may be interesting to continue the thot here. The 80 something yr olds in the story met during WW2, she was a WAC delivering fighters from the Los Angeles factory of North American Aviation, P51 Mustangs, and he was a a fighter pilot instructor in Texas. Think about that time, the fear, the not knowing about the future, the farmers that had never even seen an airplane unless somebody was barnstorming in their town, the mixing of people that would never have seen each other if the govt. wasn't shipping them all over because of the war, the end result of this upheaval. In England it was considered acceptable to be "in service ", a butler or servant to the wealthy, untill they fought along side each other and the "servants" realized that the "Lords" shit stinks too. Each person can reach back in time and physically touch at least thier grandparents , I had lucid conversations with with my great grandmother. That means you can reach back three generations and three generations down the line will know you, Imagine the changing world in each of those generations and the fear it must have generated in adults that would much rather have their world not change at all.
There are things coming down the pike that are pure fantasia yet will be common place to your grandchildren. We are on the crux of enormous progress or virtual extinction and nature doesn't give a damn which way it goes, it will just start over with a cell if we prove to be without comprehension and self respect .
 
Just want to add, I'm 18, about to turn 19. In college, and currently considering getting out to persue trading full time.

I am extremely fortunate to have someone guide me (mentor), and am doing very well in futures.

I'm greatful to be able to have this chance after my father passed away, I was fearing I'd be doomed to a 9 - 5 job, but I decided that you won't get anywhere if you don't take risk, and although I have taken losses, the learning experience has been beyond amazing and I'm enjoying trading.

Trading has been the one thing I have enjoyed with passion, and I have actually read books on trading... and i'm not much of a book reader. But trading brings out the best of me. It has also changed myself. It has tested me, and has made me realize so much about myself.

They were not lying when they said trading is the ultimate test, and yes, it does test your own self and it has made me more confident. I used to never talk on a phone before because I hated it, but now just trading has allowed me to be more confident. So many things that trading has done for me.

I was a C student in school. Mainly accounting for half the classes I did enjoy and did well (History, Government, Math, and PE), and then just racked up the D's in english and science classes because I didn't care for them.

I try explaining trading to my mom, who also thinks it is gambling, and that is all there is to it. But I just ignore it for the most part and just try hard to focus on what I love to do.


I have a long way to go before I become consistantly profitable, but I am at the very least proud of myself for taking the risk to do this. A lot of my friends in college say I'm nuts, they think I am gambling as well, and I have tried to explain, but it is just apparent that they will never understand, just like most people never will.

But I take pride in being a trader, and I think all of us should be at the very least, proud that we have taken risk, whereas so many others wouldn't dare to take such risk, and pay the price of being wrong, and reaping the rewards for being right. I just don't think many people in the world could handle it, and I'm happy to be able to participate.


Passion and loving what you do is all that matters. You don't have to drive a ferrari or own a mansion to be happy in life, but to be able to do what you want, and enjoy it, and be able to share it with someone, is the ultimate goal for me.

So good trading to everyone, and although this isn't the military or something like that... take pride in what you do, as so few others are willing to take the risk to even bother, and maybe never will. But at least all of us have tried.
 
Get your degree. Education is the best thing you can do for yourself and secondly, nobody will give you a second look without a degree. There will be plenty of time to trade after college.
 
Quote from CONR:

Get your degree. Education is the best thing you can do for yourself and secondly, nobody will give you a second look without a degree. There will be plenty of time to trade after college.
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That's very good advice. A degree is fundamental to become a serious money manager [one who's able to trade, but also to invest]
 
Quote from CONR:

Get your degree. Education is the best thing you can do for yourself and secondly, nobody will give you a second look without a degree. There will be plenty of time to trade after college.
More...

If anything, the social education you will get is worth the effort. This social education is only one part of what becomes an "emotional IQ (EQ)". (For those of you that do not know what an EQ is, it is essentially a measure of your ability to deal with difficult emotional situations and your ability to properly handle other personalities - as well as better understand your own persona and how you come across when speaking publically or in small groups).

Personally, I would rather hire (or invest with) someone with a good balance of IQ and EQ. A high degree of education/intelligence does not make up for an inability to communicate well and network socially. A suggestion would be to view college as a way to go to parties and meet good quality people (but do get the passing grades though).

I hate to sound snobby and there are always exceptions, but speaking in broad generalities, people/employers can tell if you are not well educated, it comes out un-intentionally in the way you speak and present yourself.

Given that you may want to attract OPM in the future, this type of presence/perception is vital. Again, there are always exceptions (high school dropouts and such who become wildly successful), so I'm simply relating some general observations.

Regards,

Mike
 
Quote from Mike805:
I hate to sound snobby and there are always exceptions, but speaking in broad generalities, people/employers can tell if you are not well educated, it comes out un-intentionally in the way you speak and present yourself.
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I agree with Mike805, but I don't like it.
It really blows because I'm bilingual and I have horrible communication skills in both languages.

I graduated high school with high test scores but with a very low gpa. I ditched most of my classes during my senior year because I was running a business. I regret it and I wish I had enjoyed my time in high school. I'm now a sophomore at my university.

My second sister also has bad communication skills but at least it is better than mine. She is a graduate stucent and she has always excelled in academics and sports. She has always been popular.

My oldest sister is in medical school but doesn't excel in academics nor sports like my second sister.
She has excellent communication skills. She is shy but very wise.

My mom is educated but her communication skills are awful.

My dad didn't even graduate from middle school and he has bad speaking skills; however, he is very good at interacting with other people no matter what their background is.
 
My entire family comes from a family business background.

I have support from my dad. My mom supports me somewhat but it isn't like she would support me by actually giving me money to trade. My dad doesn't know how I make trading decisions and he doesn't want to know. All I hear is the life is slow and steady mantra. My mom is clueless as usual. I haven't actually told my mom but she knows I do something with the computer.

My dad told his sister(my aunt) and she actually offered me a no cost loan to trade with. The "loan" was actually a gift. I kindly turned it down because I can't bear the thought of taking her money and not being able to give it back at least two fold.

Both of my sisters support my decision as usual.
My oldest sister has a friend who successfully trades with a lot of money and she is familiar with it. If I blow my money, she would probably say that my business failed and I will succeed in my next venture. My second sister would probably would just say with a straight face , "you freakin retard. go help dad with the business or something" They would both give me money to live off of for awhile if I needed it.

My relatives are probably supportive but I don't think they know. My uncle who is the second head of the family always says make up your mind and then give it your all. Since he is totally clueless about anything that has to do with trading, he can't say much else.

They also know that it isn't the end of the world if I lose it all.


My gf and mother of my daughter hates my trading but she says she can't do anything about it because I've made my stubborn decision. At times I've wanted to blame her for losses for destracting me, but I always realise that it is my fault in the end.
She thinks I'm out of my mind but she has known that I've been into the market before I even met her.
I seriously want her to support me but all I can expect is that she doesn't bitch at me about it. She is also a serious spender and I think she would like to get her hands on the money for a couple of $1000 beds, a flat screen, and a car for me because mine is totalled I'm driving the family's ugly spare but it runs fine. She will be graduating this year and working in the medical field so we aren't worried about money too much.
She has no business background and likes steady paychecks.
If I lose a lot of money I don't know how she would react esp if we were married. It is actually the reason I haven't proposed yet.

If trading doesn't work out I'm going to try to be an enlisted Marine. I don't think I'll even finish school until after my service.
My dad is a retired Marine and I would like to develop some of his characteristics. Sons are so compelled to be like their fathers for some reason. Maybe its just because I don't want to die knowing I haven't lived like anything close to my dad's life.

GF doesn't like this decision and wants me to be an air force payroll specialist, mechanic, or something "safe".
 
Quote from JMowery1987:

Just want to add, I'm 18, about to turn 19. In college, and currently considering getting out to persue trading full time.

I am extremely fortunate to have someone guide me (mentor), and am doing very well in futures.

I'm greatful to be able to have this chance after my father passed away, I was fearing I'd be doomed to a 9 - 5 job, but I decided that you won't get anywhere if you don't take risk, and although I have taken losses, the learning experience has been beyond amazing and I'm enjoying trading.

Trading has been the one thing I have enjoyed with passion, and I have actually read books on trading... and i'm not much of a book reader. But trading brings out the best of me. It has also changed myself. It has tested me, and has made me realize so much about myself.

They were not lying when they said trading is the ultimate test, and yes, it does test your own self and it has made me more confident. I used to never talk on a phone before because I hated it, but now just trading has allowed me to be more confident. So many things that trading has done for me.

I was a C student in school. Mainly accounting for half the classes I did enjoy and did well (History, Government, Math, and PE), and then just racked up the D's in english and science classes because I didn't care for them.

I try explaining trading to my mom, who also thinks it is gambling, and that is all there is to it. But I just ignore it for the most part and just try hard to focus on what I love to do.


I have a long way to go before I become consistantly profitable, but I am at the very least proud of myself for taking the risk to do this. A lot of my friends in college say I'm nuts, they think I am gambling as well, and I have tried to explain, but it is just apparent that they will never understand, just like most people never will.

But I take pride in being a trader, and I think all of us should be at the very least, proud that we have taken risk, whereas so many others wouldn't dare to take such risk, and pay the price of being wrong, and reaping the rewards for being right. I just don't think many people in the world could handle it, and I'm happy to be able to participate.


Passion and loving what you do is all that matters. You don't have to drive a ferrari or own a mansion to be happy in life, but to be able to do what you want, and enjoy it, and be able to share it with someone, is the ultimate goal for me.

So good trading to everyone, and although this isn't the military or something like that... take pride in what you do, as so few others are willing to take the risk to even bother, and maybe never will. But at least all of us have tried.
More...


EEEEEEEKKKKKK! dear god man...finish school. you are young. to be fair most of us dont start to "get it" until about 25 or 30. It just takes a while before you figure out what is really important in life. ALWAYS HEDGE LIFE. always have a plan b and a plan c. I also had bad grades (my dad always said that but he is a rocket scientist), but managed to schlup my way through a large well know school. I hate school, and will never get an MBA...but it is valuable...SUPER valuable. Simply having that diplopma on the wall...gives you credibility...and makes life MUCH MUCH easier. it opens doors you cant open with out a degree. what ever you do, concentrate, and finish. I cant think of anything more valuable.
 
oh yea...I'm a part time evening student at a university. My grades suffer because I'm not focused on school. I'm distracted by family business, stock trading, and home needs.
 
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