"This whole needing to have a million dollars to trade is complete nonsense."
Starting with a few assumptions:
1) You won't make more than 10% a year in the long-run. Anybody who says they do should promptly provide a verifiable track record, and longer than 5 years since everybody and their dog made more than that in the last 5 years so that doesn't count. My guess is nobody here will. Feel free to prove me wrong and provide long-term proof
2) If you make 10% a year, that's 100,000 trading profit
3) Deduct taxes
4) Deduct all other expenses you'll need to pay yourself now that you have no employer to pay them for you
5) Deduct an amount you want to keep in the fund each year, so the principle actually grows.
What's left? 50k at best, probably closer to 30k if you leave something significant in the fund. Awesome, 30-50k a year spending money. BIG PIMPIN !
So, if you're doing it with less than 1 million to start, that means you're going to have to have really high returns year in and year out, forever.
* and not just in the great bull market of the last 5 years, it means FOREVER, in all market conditions including all your bad years as well.
** It also means starting TODAY, in 2015. The past bull market doesn't help you now. Stocks already at all time highs, you think you'll make 10% a year forever starting today so easily?
Again, provide a track record if you think that's easy