first, if you work for someone, you shouldnt be trading at work, thats not fair to your employer. not coincidentally, both your work & trading will suffer anyway. if you can follow an EOD swing trading strategy and allow for a check of positions at lunch, then that might work. i might also suggest you learn to play opening gaps - "Trader X" has a blog and he and his crew just trade opening gaps - you could trade until work starts and then put in a OCO order for profit target & stop loss. if you can work as a consultant or get contract work, that might be the ticket, you can work around trading hours. you are young and single and im pretty sure that even though great jobs are hard to find and may be even more scarce in the future, if you decide to go back to work after trading for a spell, you will be able to land something. you can live cheaply as a single guy. please consider that as most people age, their options narrow, so if you are having doubts at 25 yo, what do you foresee at 35 yo with a wife & 2 young children to care and provide for and a mortgage to pay?
i posted here years ago on this subject and they ran me off, thats okey, i stuck to my plan. i own my own job (business) and i have only been working 8-9 months a year for past 2-3 years. i have 2 children to put through college and a medical issue, so im afraid to entirely let go of my biz just yet. i earn very good money in my profession but im kinda done with it, and i can always go back, although i will be less "connected", so ill earn less. if one of my children care to take it over, they can step right in, so im coaxing it along. im debt free with a healthy net worth and i have been increasing my passive income over the past 2-3 years. make no mistake, it takes time to move stuff around, not to mention opportunity costs, commissions, costs and yes, taxes. also, yields have been crappy, so it takes patience and displine to get a good yield w/o exposing capital to too much risk.
luckily, i can trade most every day and work at night & evenings, or trade until 9 am or so *NY lunch); and ive 22 years experience in my profession, so im pretty efficient when i do work. i am out of the office on average 1 day a week, but i usually try to make it sat/sun. so far this year, my trading income has been greater than my work income and i had planned to stop working in june, but i think ill take it thru the summer doldrums and stop in august (after a ski trip to chile). i have had 2 slow work months this year, which i attribute in part to losing touch a bit with my cleints as my sabbaticals increase and to my waining motivation. i clients i am taking time off, i do not lie to them, perhaps this is a mistake? also, i have gotten pickier abut the assignments i accept, so i produce more per hour, but work less, so my bottom line suffers - my life, however, has not suffered at all.
one last point. i have a buddy who worked a municipal job into his 50's, then retired to a resort area and pursued his dream of trading. he has been diagnosed AGAIN with the same life threatening disease and he may not make it this time. he spent 50+ years in an area he didnt love, working a job he was ill-suited- for and reached his dream for about 1 year. please do not assume that you have an eternity to follow your dreams; do not live life pretending that "its just temporary, that one day ill be a successful trader"; and whatever you decide, do not live your life in fear of failure and ruled by fear.
signed,
Father Time
i posted here years ago on this subject and they ran me off, thats okey, i stuck to my plan. i own my own job (business) and i have only been working 8-9 months a year for past 2-3 years. i have 2 children to put through college and a medical issue, so im afraid to entirely let go of my biz just yet. i earn very good money in my profession but im kinda done with it, and i can always go back, although i will be less "connected", so ill earn less. if one of my children care to take it over, they can step right in, so im coaxing it along. im debt free with a healthy net worth and i have been increasing my passive income over the past 2-3 years. make no mistake, it takes time to move stuff around, not to mention opportunity costs, commissions, costs and yes, taxes. also, yields have been crappy, so it takes patience and displine to get a good yield w/o exposing capital to too much risk.
luckily, i can trade most every day and work at night & evenings, or trade until 9 am or so *NY lunch); and ive 22 years experience in my profession, so im pretty efficient when i do work. i am out of the office on average 1 day a week, but i usually try to make it sat/sun. so far this year, my trading income has been greater than my work income and i had planned to stop working in june, but i think ill take it thru the summer doldrums and stop in august (after a ski trip to chile). i have had 2 slow work months this year, which i attribute in part to losing touch a bit with my cleints as my sabbaticals increase and to my waining motivation. i clients i am taking time off, i do not lie to them, perhaps this is a mistake? also, i have gotten pickier abut the assignments i accept, so i produce more per hour, but work less, so my bottom line suffers - my life, however, has not suffered at all.
one last point. i have a buddy who worked a municipal job into his 50's, then retired to a resort area and pursued his dream of trading. he has been diagnosed AGAIN with the same life threatening disease and he may not make it this time. he spent 50+ years in an area he didnt love, working a job he was ill-suited- for and reached his dream for about 1 year. please do not assume that you have an eternity to follow your dreams; do not live life pretending that "its just temporary, that one day ill be a successful trader"; and whatever you decide, do not live your life in fear of failure and ruled by fear.
signed,
Father Time
