Teaching a teenager to trade
- Thread starter Yannis
- Start date
JT,
We did that - the simulations were going to be the initial game and the real-time simulator the follow-up. This was going to lead to rewards at some point, but it didn't pan out well.
It may sound silly, but, you see, between Christmas, New Years, birthday and two namedays (Greek Orthodox tradition) lots of loving relatives here and in Europe, there isn't that much that he wants and he doesn't have. He's been getting an allowance for the past 7 years and he's been giving it to charity.
I realized that in order for me to "force" this motivation thing a bit I would have to go negative (take something from him if he didn't do as he was told) which I didn't want to do. We tend to save that (negative reinforcement) for more serious transgressions.
We did that - the simulations were going to be the initial game and the real-time simulator the follow-up. This was going to lead to rewards at some point, but it didn't pan out well.
It may sound silly, but, you see, between Christmas, New Years, birthday and two namedays (Greek Orthodox tradition) lots of loving relatives here and in Europe, there isn't that much that he wants and he doesn't have. He's been getting an allowance for the past 7 years and he's been giving it to charity.
I realized that in order for me to "force" this motivation thing a bit I would have to go negative (take something from him if he didn't do as he was told) which I didn't want to do. We tend to save that (negative reinforcement) for more serious transgressions.
I got into trading 4 years ago when I was 14. I was paper trading and was quite good at it during that 1999 bull run, and my parents finally let me open up a very small account in early 2000, and I wound up losing a very large chunk of my account with a couple stupid tech stocks. After that, I started to get bored with stocks and I became interested in commodites, but I didn't feel comfortable trading them without a fairly large amount of money. I started studying charts for hours after school everday for about a year and a half, and I then came across the forex market. After opening up a mini demo account and trading it for a few months, I decided to open up a very small account with $1k. I still had about $6k in the bank since I never spent much money like most people my age do. Ever since I opened that account, I've been successful at it. I think one of the reasons why is because I was patient enough to wait until I was comfortable with taking losses and because I was risking my own money and not my parent's money. I think any 14 year old can be a good trader as long as they trade with their own money, have a lot of discipline, and are willing to put in a huge amount of time studying the market. You are also willing to support and teach your son which I think is important, because I did not have that support from my parents. My father is a blue collar guy who isn't willing to take big risks and he still doesn't like what I do. The bottom line is let him trade on paper for a pretty long time and keep using the ensign simulator, and when he's ready tell him to open up a small account with his own money. He'll thank you for it later.
My four year old will get on my lap in the morning at the open and watch a few charts with me. I ask him what he thinks one will do- will it go up or will it go down? He is batting about .600. For him, it is a game and i give him a small reward when he is correct. He often tells me when its time to go out and play by coming into my office and saying "is it deadzones yet daddy, it looks dead to me".
You know, as long as anyone has interest why bother trying to encourage or discourage, let the enthusiasm come through naturally.
Peace.
You know, as long as anyone has interest why bother trying to encourage or discourage, let the enthusiasm come through naturally.
Peace.
Yannis,
IMO, what you are doing is overall good. I have seen many parents "push" their kids into football, baseball, etc because they were "stars" at one time and want their kids to benefit from the same experience. Or any other endeavor. The point is to make sure the kids get to be kids but understand responsibility and realize the consequences of all of their actions.
I do applaud you for showing him a way that he can control his destiny, if he chooses to.
IMO, what you are doing is overall good. I have seen many parents "push" their kids into football, baseball, etc because they were "stars" at one time and want their kids to benefit from the same experience. Or any other endeavor. The point is to make sure the kids get to be kids but understand responsibility and realize the consequences of all of their actions.
I do applaud you for showing him a way that he can control his destiny, if he chooses to.
Yannis,
IMO, what you are doing is overall good. I have seen many parents "push" their kids into football, baseball, etc because they were "stars" at one time and want their kids to benefit from the same experience. Or any other endeavor. The point is to make sure the kids get to be kids but understand responsibility and realize the consequences of all of their actions.
I do applaud you for showing him a way that he can control his destiny, if he chooses to.
IMO, what you are doing is overall good. I have seen many parents "push" their kids into football, baseball, etc because they were "stars" at one time and want their kids to benefit from the same experience. Or any other endeavor. The point is to make sure the kids get to be kids but understand responsibility and realize the consequences of all of their actions.
I do applaud you for showing him a way that he can control his destiny, if he chooses to.
Interesting idea, Yannis.
I haven't taken the time to read through the entire thread yet but the title on the homepage jumped at me -- I grew up in a house where market talk dominated virtually evey discussion.
My father, eldest brother and uncle being heavily involved in the securities industry I could hardly escape discovering the markets and thus developed my own interest in them, although it's difficult to say how much of this was a conscious choice and how much of it happened because of some 'hidden desire' to 'live up to' my (what I might have thought were) family's expectations.
At about 15/16 I began to be taught in a more formal, systematic manner about the markets. Personally, I loved it. I was a bookish kind of kid (still am!) and being asked to sit down and study the various concepts being described jibed well with me. Perhaps had my situation been different, it might not have worked so well. As it is, though, looking back, I'm very pleased with the way the whole thing went and really only have positive comments about the experience.
Is your son actually interested in learning about trading and the markets? Interests can be developed, to be sure, but perhaps at his age it would be best if this interest were already there, to some extent.
I did read the first few posts, warning of the dangers of teaching a 14 year old to trade. Overblown, I think. Teaching a 14 yr old to trade doesn't mean sitting him down for lecture after boring lecture and forcing him to pour over chart after chart for hours on end (certainly not handing thousands of real money for him to be exposed to the rigors of real trading); the teaching can take place slowly, over time. If at some stage your son decides that he's really not interested I can't see how any real harm would have been done.
It's probably already been suggested, but, at the same time as you introduce some general concepts, let him read Reminiscences. I think it's an engrossing story -- even for non-traders -- and will quite likely keep his interest high and thus add to any 'formal' lessons you try and teach him.
Good luck!
I haven't taken the time to read through the entire thread yet but the title on the homepage jumped at me -- I grew up in a house where market talk dominated virtually evey discussion.
My father, eldest brother and uncle being heavily involved in the securities industry I could hardly escape discovering the markets and thus developed my own interest in them, although it's difficult to say how much of this was a conscious choice and how much of it happened because of some 'hidden desire' to 'live up to' my (what I might have thought were) family's expectations.
At about 15/16 I began to be taught in a more formal, systematic manner about the markets. Personally, I loved it. I was a bookish kind of kid (still am!) and being asked to sit down and study the various concepts being described jibed well with me. Perhaps had my situation been different, it might not have worked so well. As it is, though, looking back, I'm very pleased with the way the whole thing went and really only have positive comments about the experience.
Is your son actually interested in learning about trading and the markets? Interests can be developed, to be sure, but perhaps at his age it would be best if this interest were already there, to some extent.
I did read the first few posts, warning of the dangers of teaching a 14 year old to trade. Overblown, I think. Teaching a 14 yr old to trade doesn't mean sitting him down for lecture after boring lecture and forcing him to pour over chart after chart for hours on end (certainly not handing thousands of real money for him to be exposed to the rigors of real trading); the teaching can take place slowly, over time. If at some stage your son decides that he's really not interested I can't see how any real harm would have been done.
It's probably already been suggested, but, at the same time as you introduce some general concepts, let him read Reminiscences. I think it's an engrossing story -- even for non-traders -- and will quite likely keep his interest high and thus add to any 'formal' lessons you try and teach him.
Good luck!