(Poll) Those who make more than USD 100k p.a. trading, how much trading capital did you start with ?

To those who make more than USD 100k p.a. trading, how much trading capital did you start with ?

  • USD 1k to USD 10k

    Votes: 6 20.0%
  • USD 10k to USD 50k

    Votes: 4 13.3%
  • USD 50k to USD 200k

    Votes: 4 13.3%
  • USD 200k to USD 500k

    Votes: 7 23.3%
  • USD 500k to USD 2m

    Votes: 5 16.7%
  • > USD 2m

    Votes: 4 13.3%

  • Total voters
    30
"serious programming skills" - Hmm I am not sure what is meant by the adjective there as it can be interpreted. But I do have some basic level programming skills in some programs and better at others. No genius but I understand programming to a medium level is what I could say for this.
 
I ask because that skill is capital in this business.

"serious programming skills" - Hmm I am not sure what is meant by the adjective there. But I do have some basic level programming skills in some programs and better at others. No genius but I understand programming to a medium level is what I could say for this.
 
Compared to what - scalping 100 shares of SPY?

It’s all relative and scalable, and that’s why this thread is for all practical purposes useless.

That both doesn't sound capital intensive?
 
that’s why this thread is for all practical purposes useless.

Do not understand why someone would respond in a brash and obtuse manner to a stranger on a random thread for no reason, especially when there is no compulsion to respond to it !
 
Thank you for the replies guys.

Looking at some of the replies, perhaps the point that I was making was not what some of the replies understood.

I was not asking whether a certain amount of effort is required to make USD 100k. That effort is required is known.

What I meant to ask was from the perspective of the phrase "it takes money to make money". That was what the question was around. I am looking to know if there are those who started with let us say up to USD 50k or less as the most they could put into their trading, were they able to able to, by putting the effort required, go to the point where they could trade for a living by making "consistently" over USD 100k per annum. That was the intent of the question. Not whether they can do it with no effort or whether they can do a one of trade on a big swing to make $100k on one of the index trades.

RoR is limited by the frequency of opportunities/setups, and most of all the need to keep your risk low enough to manage drawdowns. You see examples all the time of traders taking big risks and making huge returns, especially on social media and venues like wallstreetbets - but once risk exceeds about 2% of capital per trade, you're highly likely to suffer a crippling drawdown at some point. Averaging 20%/year consistently over years and decades places you in the hall of fame.

If you don't have to pay living expenses then you can start with pretty much any amount. If you need to pay living expenses out of trading funds then I'd say 500k is the bare minimum to make it as a solo operator, and even then you're banking on a run of good years right out of the gate. Once you cross the seven figure mark, it's enough capital to pay yourself a decent "salary" and grow the account at a reasonable pace, while keeping risks dialed way down to ensure you stay in the game.
 
Thank you Spefterx.

What about using leverage and good risk management - Do you think that would help with the above constraints you have mentioned ?


And of course, in the question meant to ask, it does not have to be USD 100k p.a. to start with, but rather - start with < USD 50k and build the account size to have appropriate risk levels to then do it.
 
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Do not understand why someone would respond in a brash and obtuse manner to a stranger on a random thread for no reason, especially when there is no compulsion to respond to it !
Same reason some kids in high school beat up some other kids for no reason other than they enjoy seeing others suffered.
 
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