Should I take the leap and quit my job to trade full-time?

that isn't the question.

should he quit his $90,000/year job to daytrade or trade?

of course not... do you see Obama quiting his job to trade? obama makes $300,000/year plus bonses..

do you see vice presidents or presidents of companies quiting their jobs to trade. NO.

people choose this job or profession because they don't have a choice...it is just another way to make a living like any job. you don't have to like your job to be trader..man you can hate trading and still do it cause you need the money.

and the goal of work is to make and save enough money and retire early and not have to work do the 9-5 grind.
when i was 19 me and my friends were talking about retiring at age 30.

Someday when you are much older you will understand better where I am coming from. I didn't make trading my sole source of income until I had accumulated between $250,000 and $300,000 in trading profits. That was over 15 years ago and turned out to be a wise choice. Now the choice is when do I retire and begin enjoying the fruits of my labor. [/QUOTE]
 
I cannot say that I completley agree with that, but it may be true for many:

people choose this job or profession because they don't have a choice

ES
 
I can't given an opinion to the OP whether they should or not, but I can contribute that whenever one is contemplating a major business/career change, one should expect a highly negative bias in the feedback of friends/coworkers. No one feels the pain of your situation. Everyone fears uncertainty.

A common themes from those who have voluntarily made big career plunges is that they didn't realize how much their prior empowerment was due to their circumstances rather than themselves (How easy would it be to regain your current job if no one was willing to return your call anymore?) and that the jumper didn't train/prepare as much as they wish they had (Try an austere budget befitting a losing streak while you still have an income. With a family, this is alot emotionally harder than one may expect. Are there any classes/books you really should take/read first?)

That said, there are always a 1000 reasons to hesitate. Do you have a passion for this new life? Life is short. It can evaporate so quietly. Make peace with your choices and their consequences, and then take ownership of your life. Its hard.
 
Quote from Steven.Davis:

I can't given an opinion to the OP whether they should or not, but I can contribute that whenever one is contemplating a major business/career change, one should expect a highly negative bias in the feedback of friends/coworkers. No one feels the pain of your situation. Everyone fears uncertainty.

A common themes from those who have voluntarily made big career plunges is that they didn't realize how much their prior empowerment was due to their circumstances rather than themselves (How easy would it be to regain your current job if no one was willing to return your call anymore?) and that the jumper didn't train/prepare as much as they wish they had (Try an austere budget befitting a losing streak while you still have an income. With a family, this is alot emotionally harder than one may expect. Are there any classes/books you really should take/read first?)

That said, there are always a 1000 reasons to hesitate. Do you have a passion for this new life? Life is short. It can evaporate so quietly. Make peace with your choices and their consequences, and then take ownership of your life. Its hard.
More...

Very insightful post.
 
Where is the edge? If your trading cant handle QE 2 or FOMC, you need more experience to build a trading edge.

From my experience, a trading edge comes with 10 years of market study handling complete bear-bull-bear-bull life cycle at least 2 times and understanding mass psychology behind the prices.
 
Quote from kingfisher3210:

Where is the edge? If your trading cant handle QE 2 or FOMC, you need more experience to build a trading edge.

From my experience, a trading edge comes with 10 years of market study handling complete bear-bull-bear-bull life cycle at least 2 times and understanding mass psychology behind the prices.
More...

Thanks, a voice of reason. Why do so many on this forum think trading is unlike any other profession and that any JoeBlow can waltz right in and make a living at it?
 
The fact that the guy asked this question in a public forum shows that he wants to REALLY find people in his condition and find out what happened to them who took a similar plunge. Or just enuf OKAYS for what he wants to do.

Even though we all are giving him the million dollar advices, I dont think we can tell what is exactly going on with his mind.

I have been through this situation once in my life and i can say from my experience that HE is not sure about if he will be able to manage an income out of trading. Basically he THINKS that the reason for his losses might be linked to Lack of FULL TIME devotion and that he is not able to take advantage of all the opportunities present in the market.
His growing passion and excitement has pushed him to the point that he is ready to take the plunge and Find out for himself.

It is a tuf situation coz,
a. its tru that trading while working takes away a lot of much needed screen time and SOME opportunities forcing the individulal to take trades at the time he is able to log in to the account.

b. If he is able to work full time in a prop firm or a mentor he might be able to learn what not to faster and may start floating faster that all by himself.

c. We all know that there are only few days a week when we hit big winners that make the 80% of the paycheck. He need to realize this by himself. he needs to know that taking a plunge is one thing but when he does he will have to be equipped with full arsenel - time/ enuf capital/ risk management/ mentorship/ right environment.


nuf said.

gud luck
 
Quote from kingfisher3210:

Where is the edge? If your trading cant handle QE 2 or FOMC, you need more experience to build a trading edge.

From my experience, a trading edge comes with 10 years of market study handling complete bear-bull-bear-bull life cycle at least 2 times and understanding mass psychology behind the prices.
More...
i might remember 5% of what i've learned over the years,i know i can trade my way out of a loss and that the edge is getting harder to spot, i think edge might be knowing how not to lose which lately has been not to trade,the op at present is probably making more dough than a lot of traders,good thing about a real job ,you never have to give your paycheck back
 
I just read this whole thread, and there are a lot of good replies.

I'm not sure exactly what step I lie at on fjpenny's list. As someone said, I suspect it will be easier to tell when I see it all in hindsight. At one point I thought myself to being just short of #37. Now I know I was wrong.

That was after 6 years of trading(three part time retail, three full time with a prop firm). I believed I was on the way to making it because for a full year of that I was averaging more in a day(losing days included) than my corporate employee friends were making in a week.

But things change.

The trading environment got more difficult, and I adapted but slowly. I was still making money, but the prop-firm costs were making it very difficult. I had money saved from my limited success, so I was not worried...until this went on for 6, 7, 11 months. You REALLY have to try hard not to get emotional about your trading when you have been living off of savings for almost a year.

I know you said you're single, and that is probably a good thing for what you are hoping to do. My ex had a hard time adapting to our smaller budget when things slowed, which was still higher than I should have set it. Long story short, with my trading only treading water, we blew through most of my savings. The rest she took with the split.

During that time, I took a sabbatical from trading. To re-evaluate, and also to get my head straight due to outside distractions as mentioned above. That was over a year ago, and I am only now planning my return to trading. It has been difficult to find a good job since I began my sabbatical, to say the least. I am an intelligent person, I have a Bachelors degree with a good GPA, but employers just don't take you seriously when they see that you have been trading for the last three years. No matter the levels of dedication, concentration, analytical thinking, multitasking, and risk management needed to trade- they just don't like you. Period. It's more true now than ever with the way the media and certain members of congress have used "traders" as a scapegoat for many things up to and including our entire economic situation here in the US.

But, I digress. The point of all this is...I would strongly warn against giving up your current job for trading until you have SUBSTANTIAL money saved up. For example- add up your current monthly expenses, and multiply it by at least 24. Then cut your costs to the bare minimum, live as cheaply as possible, and save that money up.

When you're financially ready to trade, a few tips from my perspective:
-Maintain that cheap living while you go through the pitfalls of learning how to trade. Don't get the spending bug just because you have a few good months, or even a good year.
-Stay single...you'll think it sucks when you lose 10k in a day, try hearing your spouse's reaction. Also it will help you keep your budget.
-Don't assume that you will be able to get your same job or similar if you decide to go back. Work on the assumption that you wont be able to. This will help you keep your costs low and avoid taking on things like car payments, mortgages, higher rent, etc...and it might be true. I'm serious.
-Start with small share size and keep it that way until you see consistent success. Then step up slowly.
-I really recommend equities over futures, especially for a beginner. I've seen tons of people who can't trade successfully and they think it means they should try futures-WRONG. Another friend had a knack for trading stocks but thought he wasn't making enough so he switched, and lost his shirt while everyone was making money.
-I would highly recommend maintaining some type of part-time employment while trading. Income is good for the psyche. If you are money driven like most traders and myself, not having some steady income will tend to affect your trading decisions negatively.

I know this is more conservative than some people's posts, but it's just my perspective. You're considering quitting a solid job to join a profession where many seasoned people are dropping like flies right now. Colleagues of mine that were making more than I did, several million a year, are now only making in the 100-400k range. I know that sounds like a lot, but that used to be an OK month for them, and they're pushing way more size than you will be for the next 10-20 years. It's all relative.

A couple of things to think about, some negatives of trading...
-No health/dental/life insurance, some props will provide but it's still not cheap.
-No 401k or any other tax-deferred retirement account. So take what you were putting in to your 401k or IRA per month, roughly double it, and that's how much you'll have to save for retirement in a regular non-qualified account.
-Self-employment tax, for most traders. 15% as opposed to the 7.5% you currently pay in SS tax.
-Losing years are not deductible as far as I know.
-On a lighter note- I don't know if you drink, but right now you may be able to work just fine with a hangover...try going out for drinks all evening and trading well the next morning :p

End of rant...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top