How much do you aspire to make per year trading

[virtusa]

Can you explain opportunity cost? Is that the trades I could have made but didn't?

No, the time and money spent on development without making any money.
I could have spent that time and money (that i wasted) for other things instead.

So it is the difference between two options:

• spent time and money for building a trading system
• use that time to work somewhere else making money

For me it is the difference between:

• 10 years spending all my time for trading and investing money in it
• 10 years working in a job making money and save also the money that I invested in trading.

In numbers:
10 years lost time ( at 50k per year?) and +- $200,000 costs. So roughly 700K.

 

[2rosy]

Can you explain opportunity cost? Is that the trades I could have made but didn't?

a person can become a doctor, lawyer, start a business, ...
It is what you give up to do something else. If you have no opportunities then might as well try everything; nothing to lose

 

[nooby_mcnoob]

It is a bit like fishing.

Oh my gosh... It is EXACTLY that.

 

[KGTrader4]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but once you figure it out, it's literally the most boring thing you've ever done.

it will still make me use my brain

 

[deaddog]

No, the time and money spent on development without making any money.
I could have spent that time and money (that i wasted) for other things instead.

So it is the difference between two options:

• spent time and money for building a trading system
• use that time to work somewhere else making money

For me it is the difference between:

• 10 years spending all my time for trading and investing money in it
• 10 years working in a job job making money and save also the money that I invested in trading.

In numbers:
10 years lost time ( at 50k per year?) and +- $200,000 costs. So roughly 700K.

Did you actually spend 10 years without an income?
Did you set out to be a full time trader?

 

[virtusa]

Did you actually spend 10 years without an income?
Did you set out to be a full time trader?

No, I was not without income. I spent all my free time to trading (8 hours on working days and even more in the weekends) so the 500k was no cost for me. But opponents in my discussions considered it as a cost as I could take a second job and work these hours.
The 200K was the only real cost.
I became eventually full time trader with no other job. But only after many years.

 

[deaddog]

No, I was not without income. I spent all my free time to trading (8 hours on working days and even more in the weekends) so the 500k was no cost for me. But opponents in my discussions considered it as a cost as I could take a second job and work these hours.
The 200K was the only real cost.
I became eventually full time trader with no other job. But only after many years.

So it's more a case of "If I only knew then what I know now". I know the feeling.

Without experience you make bad decisions, but the only way to get experience is to make bad decisions.

 

[virtusa]

I would not call that an "opportunity cost" but an education fee you paid. Viewing those losses as a fee or investment makes it sound a lot less negative.

I agree. But my opponents (even in my family) saw it as a cost and tried to convince my (then) wife so that she would stop me.
For me it was an investment I made after being convinced that I could make money. Unfortunatelly the road was more difficult then I expected.
But the reward was also much higher then I expected.

 

[2rosy]

In numbers:
10 years lost time ( at 50k per year?) and +- $200,000 costs. So roughly 700K.

are you saying 70k/yr is acceptable to trade fulltime?

 

[virtusa]

are you saying 70k/yr is acceptable to trade fulltime?

Why 70K?

When I became fulltime trader, I had enough passive income to cover my living expenses.
I also was sure that I could make 10K per month, and as long as I did not need that money I compounded it in my account so that profits grew almost exponentially. So in a very short time I had enough capital that nothing could harm me anymore.

But for each person the situation is different so there are no general rules.