I'm not quite sure how you put it, but I don't think you have any idea how hard it really is.
I mean, not everybody makes 6 figure incomes, so you probably must have done something right and work ethic is always part of it...but I can tell you that you have not done anything in your entire life that is so difficult.
To put you in perspective: In terms of energy consumption, short term trading is right after professional sports. You work every day 10-14 hours, also weekends and you have to reinvent yourself all the time because nothing lasts forever. It will likely take you 3 years of daily grinding to become profitable and after 5 years you can make meaningful cash.
When you're 35+ you're considered too old for many prop shops to even get into trading because it's more or less a 24/7 venture.
When you've found an edge you can be happy to last 2+ years untill you throw everything over board and start from zero.
Thinking about "retiring" to spend more time with the kids and daytrading is a pipe dream, really. What you are doing now is retirement, the work starts when trading comes into your life.
I've done it long enough to come out on the other side of the valley of tears but if you asked me to do it all over again, I'd say no. It's in no way worth the effort untill you're really a freak about it. Your back gets sore, your eyes will suffer, your stomach will go bad from the permanent stress and when it's time for friends and family you have to say No, because you will be sitting in your office to either prepare the next day or review the current day.
When you're successfully managing your long term portfolio stick to it. I promise there is much more to enjoy in life than being glued to the screen for min 10 hours per day.
You're not experienced, so you're allowed to be naive. But from my perspective your interpretation and evaluation of the job is either hubris or effrontery.
Do.Not.Do.It.
It's discouraging to read these bleak posts. Well, I suppose that's what they're meant to be. As far as being time-consuming goes, as long as you are your own boss you can spend as much or as little time as suits you. You will not have to become a physical wreck from day-trading. I find that with a simple system, adhered to religiously, you should be able to make an average of one to two percent of your account size in the first hour or two. Spending more time will not be to your advantage; you will get tired, and frazzled; you will suffer all that Mr Muppet describes.
