Go back to school or continue trading

Hey man,

I am in the same boat, almost.
I am 18, still in school and trade. Although, I do not make 50K by no means. I do ok, lets just say for myself. (I dont pay for anything thats why I do ok for my self. )

I find time to trade, spend time with friends (party), trade, and learn some slightly useful stuff on a side.

What I do is, trade the YM and NQ in the open. 930-1030 and same times ZC 1030-1130. Depends on a schedule. But, I always leave 7-1030 am free of classes and everything else. Forex is the most volatile in the mornings and how I stated previously you need that 1 hour to trade.

Then I usually go to class. If I want to keep a position, I exit the class henever feeling bored and quickly check on the position. Now, there is nothing going on during night time, and usually there is nothing like a party is happening on weekday (by that I mean mon-wed) Thursday night is party time, no classes on friday. If you go to college, you know what I am talking about. SO friday is all trade and hang day. Saturday is whatever day, and Sunday is study day. Repeate the cycle.

See I still have time to trade and go to shool plus some more.

Whatever you choose good luck with it.
Depending on where you live that 50K will look different. Surely, it aint much in NYC, but I go to parties not clubs. $5 -10 for the whole night, drinks included. By that I mean cheap can beer from China...LOL

PS Although I believe that education is the most important thing, but it is your life. But it would be good to fall on something if trading will just go kaput.
 
Quote from baller1069:

I took a year off after I completed my first year at a solid university in a finance and business program. I had high marks and did well but I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do with my life. I kind of fell into trading and it has been pretty successful. I have been doing it for almost a year and have made just under 50000. Not huge money by any means but decent money for a 19 year old. My question is do I go back to school or continue to trade. My family, friends, and society is telling me to go back and just get the education done with. Would it be smart to have a solid degree in my pocket in case trading doesn't work out down the road. Or should I say screw it and continue to trade. I probably would be able to trade on a part time basis if I went back to school but the majority of my time would be put towards school.

PROS about going back to school
-getting a solid degree
-become more employable if trading doesn't work out
-able to work on trading skills on part time basis
-have half of my tuition payed for because of remaining scholarships
CONS
-not put enough time into trading, stop making $, put trading on the back burner while I focus on school
-lead a more stressful life because when I am in school I tend to stress a lot about grades that are somewhat necessary to land good co-op jobs


any advice is welcome and appreciated.

thanks for your time
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Your question is impossible to answer without knowing what you have been trading. If you've been trading either US equities or futures you have to realize you're in the midst of a huge bull market. It's always easy for noobs to make money in a bull market.

My first year of full time trading was '98. I made a big old bag of loot and figured I was pretty darn smart. When I look back on those years now, I know that in regards to trading I didn't have a clue. I truly learned the markets years after I started trading.

You have some very young people on this thread advising you that forgetting education and delving into trading was the best thing they ever did. They simply haven't seen the other side of the coin yet.

Everyone's personal situation is different. You have to look inside yourself for the answers. Keep in mind the markets will always be there. If you can still trade part time while completing your education then I think your choice is rather obvious.

The old axiom is true "Never confuse brains with a bull market"
 
Go to school. It is one of the best times in life. You'll make friendships that will last the rest of your life. You have 3 more years to be carefree and enjoy life without worrying too much about money, and you can still trade part time while at the univ.

You may find down the road that you grow tired of trading and want to do something else. Trying to get a college degree in your 40s sucks.

FC
 
Quote from Red_Ink_inc:

Your question is impossible to answer without knowing what you have been trading. If you've been trading either US equities or futures you have to realize you're in the midst of a huge bull market. It's always easy for noobs to make money in a bull market.

My first year of full time trading was '98. I made a big old bag of loot and figured I was pretty darn smart. When I look back on those years now, I know that in regards to trading I didn't have a clue. I truly learned the markets years after I started trading.

You have some very young people on this thread advising you that forgetting education and delving into trading was the best thing they ever did. They simply haven't seen the other side of the coin yet.

Everyone's personal situation is different. You have to look inside yourself for the answers. Keep in mind the markets will always be there. If you can still trade part time while completing your education then I think your choice is rather obvious.

The old axiom is true "Never confuse brains with a bull market"
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Thanks for the great post.

I don't think my strategy will fail in a bear market but I haven't seen a bear market so I don't know. I'm not sure if price moves a lot differently in a bear market than in a bull market. But one thing I have learned is that intra-day price oscillates and I will assume price will continue to oscillate in a bear market but that is just an assumption.

a good point when you say the market will always be there - but so will the universities. However, I say now that I wouldn't mind going back to school at age 25 but I might not feel that way when I am 25.
 
I am also 19 years old and currently going through the same situation. After much deliberation, I have decided to get my bachelor's degree. My class schedule is arranged so I can still trade. Admittedly, life would be easier without the classes but as the saying goes, "the harder choice is usually the right one".

The primary reason I have decided to stay in school is that I have heard too many stories of young hot shots wipe out in there 30's with no where to go. Do not get me wrong, I am confident in my ability to yield returns but I would still like to have more security. Just to put it into perspective, would you take a trade based on 5 days worth of back-test data? I would hope not since that is too little data to justify taking a risk. I too have been trading for around a year and that is not enough data for me to justify taking a risk such as dropping out of college.

I have decided that I will not allow myself to drop out unless I have $1.5 million in the bank in which case I could just live off of the interest. Until then, I will be keeping myself enrolled although I am considering becoming a part-time student after this semester. That way college really doesn't interfere with my trading at all.
 
yeah. i'd say get that piece of paper.

but I guess it all depends on your personality and what you value. I currently work with a 28 year old that stopped going to school after his freshman year cause of his job. He always said, "i'll just make some money for a couple years." Well, 10 years later, he is finally going back to get his undergrad. He's making bank and i asked him, "why even go back? who cares now?" He said, "I can make all the money in the world and would still feel like i haven't accomplished a damn thing in my life. That drives me crazy. I can't think of a single thing that i have started, then completed in my life. I mean shit...10 years? I'd be a doctor right now."
 
Quote from naifwonder:


I have decided that I will not allow myself to drop out unless I have $1.5 million in the bank in which case I could just live off of the interest.
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You're 19, so it's forgivable, but there's actually <b>no such thing</b> as 'living off the interest'.

Say you invest in T-bills. One year later, you've made a 5% return. Congratulations.

The government taxes away 35% of your 'profit', leaving you with a 3.25% 'gain'.
Over that year, the CPI rises 4.25%.
I still can't understand why most people consider that a 'gain', when you've actually lost purchasing power. $100 in 1997 bought more goods and services than $127 does in 2007.

Sorry for the brief hijack... and now back to our regularly scheduled thread...
 
Going to school teaches you to be an indentured servant...other than studying for a specific career that interests you...ie medicine, cpa, law etc etc... if you can make 50k trading you can make 500k....if your goal is to generate money to pay the bills and to live life on your own terms then I'd suggest trade as long as you enjoy it and and are making money at it.....at 19 you have nothing but time to go back to school, night school etc....learning to be self sufficient gives you the best thing in the word you can fall back on ...yourself! :)
 
I am nowhere near as profitable as you, but am also 19. Didn't know we had so many younger guys around here...

I would definetely stay in school even if I was making 100 K + a year.

Shit... pay your way through an Ivy if you can keep making that kind of money. Get tons of contacts and stay in touch with intelligent people that will make lasting friends.

I regretably couldn't go because I couldn't afford it and didn't want to take out loans. I go to the University of Arizona on full scholarship, which has a pretty good business school (Eller), but it is by no means my dream school.

Anyways, I definetely wouldn't drop out. As someone has said (and as I've been told many many times), the markets will always be there.
 
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