Are you STILL excited/happy with being a daytrader as the day you first started?

Dude- your folks shelled out that dough to provide you with the best education they could. This will always benefit to you in society.

Does anybody "use" their undergraduate degree in their jobs? With the exception of those professions that require x amount of education and licensing, theoretically a college degree isn't much preparation for a lot of jobs. In fact college really isn't a job training program, although many of us consider it to be. Hey, there are CEO's who never went to college as well as those who dropped out.

bottom line - your folks wont think they wasted the tuition if you actually are doing something you love doing, have an aptitude for it, and are making a living doing it. (easier said than done)

law school will always be there!!- You should read Jim Cramers biography- he did end up going to law school.
 
Quote from volkl23:

Thanks for all the response guys! Is it a bad sign that my parents are very against it? I think they are against it for the wrong reasons though. They feel that I dropped $120k in education for nothing and that "anyone" can just be a trader. Pssssh.

How long did you guys trade before you decided that you were going to do it as a career?
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Doing four years to get a degree is just the warm up drill.

Better get the law degree behind you asap.

You may be able to find out about the value of trading in law school. You haven't found out so far.

Trading is just an adjunct to your life style, etc.

Try to see trading as just a way to harvest an endless supply of capital for doing things that are important.


There are "needs" and "wants". Making a lot of money in trading is never more than a "want" because it only satisfies a couple of things: having a lot of money all the time and having fun getting that money over and over.

your parents got the 120,000 to send you to school and support you all of your life so far just so you could get a foundation to consider various professions. Law came up one way or another. There are many other professions.

If you were to take a job, you would be what is called a "trainee" in some labor application of some sort. Check out your buddies who are going into the work force.

Law school is an interesting stepping stone for a lot of reasons. There are other similar stepping stones.

Here is a for instance: You do not have a business plan for anything right now. some people do who are in your place. Probably several of the women you date have business plans; they know you do not.

Your parents threw 120,000 bucks at the wall and it didn't stick. You are just making noises about "wants" so far. Maybe get a steno pad out and start thinking about "needs". You need a profession and trading is just a way to make piles of money to use for your life style.

By what point in the next few years will you have paid your parents back?
 
Quote from Jayford:

Burnout at times, but then I just take time off. I also trade in blocks of only about two or three hours most days.

Original motivation was the freedom it provides to do anything I want, and live where ever I want. Still stoked as far as that is concerned.

Can't think of a better career.

I've been a full time day trader since April, 1987 (yep, just a few months before that little episode in October of that year). I have taken sabbatical of up to 5 months on a few occasions though, where I did nada.

Jay
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curious - how much capital did you start with and what did you start trading?


thx

-kk
 
As a parent...we could always use a lawyer in the family.....however the truth of being an attorney is that it sucks...most lawyer's will say they hate what they do...so go for it...be what you WANT to be!!!!
 
AND you do not OWE your parents ANYTHING...YOU did not ask to be brought into the world...what they gave you was their choice...do what makes you happy.... you owe your parents NOTHING
 
Thanks again for all the replies. As far as my parents paying for my education... they did not as they cannot afford it. Right now, Im around 70k in the hole with student loans. This is not saying my parents did not help. They did what they could.

As for finishing school, I did graduate already and had planned to go to law school (already took the LSATs and did fine), but this trading thing has thrown me in the loop.

I didnt (for some reason I cannot type apostrophes!) start with much- 7k before I was PDTed out. I borrowed 20k from my mom (0% balance deal. Yes I know, I know), but paid it all back within 4 months (read: made over 20k in 4 months).

I figure I can apply to law school anytime, so I am going to give this trading thing a year and see where it takes me. Im still trying to figure out if my streak has been purely luck or if I actually have a decent edge.
 
well, there is a yes and a no,

although in my case was on a prop desk, decided to take a break and start up some websites .. it becomes so mundane after a while, could i do it on my own, I really admire those who do, you have to do so much. And those who make it, well my hat goes out to them ..

wil i go back to it .. hell yeah .. although i wasnt very good then again not many are very good.

but then again when i lost money it wasnt mine so did not really care ..
 
Wow, what a nice mom! They must not disagree to much about your career choice to give you 20k!

Hope it works out for you bud...What do you trade, and what type of strategy do you use?

-Kastro
 
Donna, Ive been getting a lot from my lawyer friends about advising me NOT to go to law school.

Im just afraid of dropping $120k-$130k into something and later find out that I hate it. What a waste of money that would be. My logic is to try trading first, which I enjoy and if it pans out to stick with it. It seems from a risk/reward standpoint that it's better to drop 10-20k in daytrading to see if it's for me than to "risk" over 120k for law school. Hey, if trading doesn't pan out, I can still try law school. :D
 
Volk.....

If you're $70,000 in the hole right now, then it ain't the time for you to "take the plunge" and begin full time day trading. Trust me.
 
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