Aren't there any drawbacks about getting Series 7?
At least for the rest of your life you will always have to answer "professional" whenever you apply for software, a broker, datafeed, etc, and always pay more than the retail price.
Money may be to be overcome, but what about all regulations, won't you be under all sorts of regulations that can make trading or even normal life more complicated?
What if you give your mother-in-law (or whoever) some advice about the stock market and it turns out badly, couldn't you be sued for that? Couldn't they take disciplinary actions against you? May you even give such advise without charging the particular person for your "services"?
Couldn't they let you take exams every year or so or who knows what they may require you to do or not to do.
Will you be under special tax regulations and will they be advantageous or disadvantageous?
Will foreign traders still be eligible for the W-8BEN form that exempts them from US taxes? (Series 7 can be taken on outside US locations as well, ask Echo)
So: once you are registered, can you ever UNregister if you wish so?
I don't want to be pessimistic or so, or scare anyone off, but these are just a few questions that come up in my mind when I think of the word "professional".
Until I get more clarity about the legal status of a "Series 7 trader" I won't take it. (And luckily, for the time being, I don't need to

)