Can't bring myself to leave my job.

rimshaker · May 9, 2006

Quote from Traveler:

The signs are...

1. You've already made your year's salary and the year is not even halfway over.
2. You start noticing all the money your real job is costing you by not being at the trading job.

I can vouch for #1 since last month (knock on wood). #2 is harder to judge.. I'm more worried about not being able to execute at crucial entry/exit points than with making more profits.

Traveler · May 9, 2006

I almost forgot. When I was on the cusp on success I took a 3 month leave from my job to try it out fulltime. If your company has a policy for leaves it won't really matter what you tell them, as long as it's not to go work for a competitor.

rimshaker · May 9, 2006

Quote from FaderTrader:

Take a 2-week vacation, tell them your mother died or something - then trade for that time. If you think you can handle it after 2-weeks (since you say you already have trading experience, but simply lack the full-time routine of trading), then it'll be an easier decision.

You also may find that it's different (harder) than you thought.

Thought about that already. Problem is... 2, 3, 4-week vacation wouldn't change my perspective much since I have positions on monthly/yearly timeframes. Hell, "daytrading" for me is a roundtrip on a weekly basis

Perhaps a 6-12 month sabbatical would do, but very few employers allow that.

jho · May 9, 2006

Maybe you're on "maternity leave"

I would say stay at your current job until you have a few years wages saved up. If you're swing trading it's not like you need to be at your computer all day long anyway.

How does your system perform in bear markets?

ajau · May 9, 2006

Quote from rimshaker:

This is eating me up psychologically. It's not that I feel obligated to my job. I just feel very fortunate to have a decent job the past couple of years. I'm very lucky to have multiple streams of income. I'm 30, still single. How did some of you bring yourselves to put in your 2-week notice to concentrate more on trading? Am I just being a wuss?

I'm an EE also. Do what I did, ask for a buyout from your employer. I didn't get a promotion I wanted, my job was boooring and too easy so I just asked for a negotiated settlement. I used that money and my other savings and capital gains to start trading full time.

No muss, no fuss. Oh, and it helps to be healthy and single. Insurance can be a killer depending on your circumstances. Of course if you earn enough $$$ you will eventually be able to forego insurance. I use an HSA which is a godsend to self employed people.

eagle · May 9, 2006

Trading requires confident but not over-confident. As we see you are still not sure whether to trade full-time or continue what you're doing. It means that your confident is not yet fully established. Continue doing the same way and keep improving your trading skills till your confident is completely established and at that moment you don't even need to ask, your decision for full-time trading will come automatically.

ajau · May 9, 2006

Quote from jtmarlin:

hey you must be on another planet, what do you mean hard to get jobs, according to the government and media, NOW IS THE BEST TIMES EVER! TONS OF JOBS AND A KILLER ECONOMY...

Must be from the Midwest. Michigan or Ohio.... So bad in Metro Detroit that home prices have been falling for awhile. Highest unemployment in the nation and getting worse. OTOH you can like in posh Grosse Pointe for under $400,000 easily.

maxpi · May 9, 2006

If you trade at the infrequent rate you say you do it seems like you could do your job without even thinking about the trading. I don't see much conflict. That sort of puts the answer on the "keep the dang job" side.

What would you be doing with your time if you were not working? Some people get bored and feel like they have no purpose when they are not working.

andread · May 9, 2006

Quote from rimshaker:

This is eating me up psychologically. It's not that I feel obligated to my job. I just feel very fortunate to have a decent job the past couple of years. I'm very lucky to have multiple streams of income. I'm 30, still single. How did some of you bring yourselves to put in your 2-week notice to concentrate more on trading? Am I just being a wuss?

shaker, let's look at it from another point of view: lots of people, like me, would like to have the same problem as you.
Come on, don't talk like that. You are in a good position. Personally, I wouldn't leave the job, but I think any decision in this case is respectable, and you dont't have to hurry to make one. Take your time, take it easy, and things will come. You can afford it.

mhashe · May 9, 2006

Quote from rimshaker:

Financially, I know I could quit my EE job. I'm at the point where the DAILY fluctuations in my trading account dwarfs a single bi-weekly paycheck.... up AND down of course.

What's preventing me from giving my resignation is the fact I know quality jobs are hard to come by nowadays. I read it everywhere in the newspapers, magazines, see it on tv, hear from friends... about how people with college degrees are settling for something far less than they had hoped for. There are sad stories everywhere I turn.

This is eating me up psychologically. It's not that I feel obligated to my job. I just feel very fortunate to have a decent job the past couple of years. I'm very lucky to have multiple streams of income. I'm 30, still single. How did some of you bring yourselves to put in your 2-week notice to concentrate more on trading? Am I just being a wuss?

Could it be you're doing so well in your part-time trading because ....... you don't do it full time? if you have nothing to do you might bored and churn your account more, leading to sub par performance. Reading your post it seems to me quitting your job could in fact be detrimental to your mental and fiscal health.