Should I quit my job and trade for a living?
- Thread starter BillySimas
- Start date
LOL thanks
I do regret not taking trading more seriously at that time but traveling to China and South America multiple times was pretty damn fun too.
It takes a long time to find a strategy that has a mathematical edge that completely suits your personality in terms of time frame, win rate, etc.
Thanks for the assumption, that's some really valuable feedback.
My answer is yes, if you have an edge and money management, then quit your job and trade for a living.
If you are not sure or want to test it, then why not take say a couple weeks of vacation time, to verify it.
If you are not sure or want to test it, then why not take say a couple weeks of vacation time, to verify it.
Thanks, I do plan on doing this. I definitely need at least two weeks of real profitability with this, otherwise I'll never have enough confidence to quit. Creating strategies that have a backtested edge in every stock just doesn't mean much until you put some real money behind it to make sure you have enough determination and confidence to stick to the plan.
OP, kudos to you for actually admitting (on the internet) that you live at home. I think you probably have big enough balls to make it as a trader. 
Let it be a hobby until you have a good enough track record to give it a go. Paper trade, then small bets. Hell, I haven't even opened a real trading account yet, but I'm learning a ton on ET, reading books, practicing after work.
Never heard the term? It means how much you need each month just to pay the minimum to live; rent, phone, child support, gas to/from work; does not include any fun money, adding to savings, Xmas presents or the like. I guess it comes from squirrels, who must gather so many nuts each day/week/month just to stay alive.
Let it be a hobby until you have a good enough track record to give it a go. Paper trade, then small bets. Hell, I haven't even opened a real trading account yet, but I'm learning a ton on ET, reading books, practicing after work.
Never heard the term? It means how much you need each month just to pay the minimum to live; rent, phone, child support, gas to/from work; does not include any fun money, adding to savings, Xmas presents or the like. I guess it comes from squirrels, who must gather so many nuts each day/week/month just to stay alive.
I think in your situation quitting your $50k/year job to trade for a living is extremely risky.
1. You are very undercapitalized. $10k - which is not even enough to meet the requirements for Pattern Day Trader - can burn very quickly. Then you are in a situation of having no job and no cushion to live on.
2. Underexperience. While your semi-automated strategy may look good in backtesting or simulation, nothing like testing in battle conditions.
3. No buffer. You are assuming that your $10k can get you off the ground and your trading experience will get you somewhere. You should think about the "what if", which in this case there is a very realistic possibility, it doesn't work out? What will you do then? Without a $50k/year job. How easy is it to get back another full time job to pay the bills? In this economy with unemployment being over 10%? You are competing with others who just lost their jobs.
I had worked full time as a salary staff and traded part-time until I had gotten to a point that I was comfortably having enough funds and proven consistency in extracting money in the market before I quit my "day job". Now I trade full-time for a living.
Ambition, you should have. Because that's what drives you forward. But I think you should also think about some not-as-ideal scenarios. In short: It usually a good idea to make sure you have a parachute on before jumping off a plane.