Would you rather trade on your own making 100k yr or trade for a firm making 500k yr
- Thread starter discrat
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Quote from whitster:
i've become pragmatic
if i could have a guaranteed 500k (a salart) for one year - i'd take it.
i can always go back to trading my own money, which of course, always involves risk - no matter how good i get
500k would be worth it for me to take a year or two off of (at least on a fulltime basis) trading my own money
i'd concentrate more on my investing and swing trading, and make 500k (or 1 mill for two years), and be happy to go back to my own trading forever.
i love trading, but i also love financial security
an extra mill would do wonders for financial security.
Exactly my thought. Unless you can already at least live frugally off interest alone, you are better off taking whatever route which is the fastest to secure your "critical mass capital". I wonder how much capital the poster use to generate 100k per annum. If he has only 100, 200 or 300k, then I don't see how one can live a "worry free" live. And not living a worry free life is not financial freedom, cause in trading your edge is never guaranteed, no matter how long your trading record. Only enough cold hard cash can give you financial freedom.
I dare to disagree. I would borrow 1 year from my life and make 20 years' earnings in 1 year. If one doesn't do it, then he is not an entrepreneur. I don't know what he is
Nobody is talking about slavery, right? Hours have to be put in and ass kissed and being talked down at, but that's nothing. Think about people that live off $50 a month in some countries, now THAT is hardship.Gosh this Thread has really gone way beyond what I intended it to do. And in such a short amount a time........Its really interesting to see such a wide range of views. All seem to have pretty decent Merits.
I have noticed a tendency or trend if you will (no pun intended) with many of the responses. It seems there are a few of us here who are the freedom seekers and are living out our dreams while we speak.
And conversely I see a group of people here who just have a hard to accepting this. They feel for some reason this shouldn't be. Their thinking is that a person should not be allowed to do this with so much freedom on their own and making a good living from the comfort of their home.
And thinking about my own experiences in LIfe this is a common theme among many people towards not just independent traders but entrepreneurs in general.
Case and point :When I first stopped working for the man a few years back I started a sign business on my own. I was layed off from a sales job with a big Corporation.
And was so disgusted with corporate America I decided to NEVER work for anyone again. On a shoestring and $150 I started this little sign Biz . People laughed at me at first thinking i had gone crazy. Well the Biz mushroomed and I made a great Living on my own for 3.5 years. Operated it right out of my house. People around couldn't believe I could start this thing for so cheap and make it my sole form of Living. They would shake their hands and argue that people had to work for someone to survive. I proved that theory wrong.
And I do feel similiar aura with people on this thread. Some people just cannot get it out of their head that you have to work for someone. They feel this way mainly because of their own insecurities of not believing they could do it themselves. So sad really.
But the fact of the matter is to do trading solely on your own NOT only do you have to be a skilled nimble trader but you also have possess the entreprenurial talent and psyche that will enable you to succeed as the sole propreitor of your business (Trading).
Most people including Traders just dont have this last characteristic..
Thats why many times a guy making 2 million as a Trader at GS will not necessarily find success on his own. It takes a different mindset when you are the sole determinant of your success. No salary !! No sick leaves , company perks,or 401k. If you dont produce you dont f@cking eat. PERIOD !!!!!
And 99% of the people just cant handle this
But Gawd D@mn I luv it
I have noticed a tendency or trend if you will (no pun intended) with many of the responses. It seems there are a few of us here who are the freedom seekers and are living out our dreams while we speak.
And conversely I see a group of people here who just have a hard to accepting this. They feel for some reason this shouldn't be. Their thinking is that a person should not be allowed to do this with so much freedom on their own and making a good living from the comfort of their home.
And thinking about my own experiences in LIfe this is a common theme among many people towards not just independent traders but entrepreneurs in general.
Case and point :When I first stopped working for the man a few years back I started a sign business on my own. I was layed off from a sales job with a big Corporation.
And was so disgusted with corporate America I decided to NEVER work for anyone again. On a shoestring and $150 I started this little sign Biz . People laughed at me at first thinking i had gone crazy. Well the Biz mushroomed and I made a great Living on my own for 3.5 years. Operated it right out of my house. People around couldn't believe I could start this thing for so cheap and make it my sole form of Living. They would shake their hands and argue that people had to work for someone to survive. I proved that theory wrong.
And I do feel similiar aura with people on this thread. Some people just cannot get it out of their head that you have to work for someone. They feel this way mainly because of their own insecurities of not believing they could do it themselves. So sad really.
But the fact of the matter is to do trading solely on your own NOT only do you have to be a skilled nimble trader but you also have possess the entreprenurial talent and psyche that will enable you to succeed as the sole propreitor of your business (Trading).
Most people including Traders just dont have this last characteristic..
Thats why many times a guy making 2 million as a Trader at GS will not necessarily find success on his own. It takes a different mindset when you are the sole determinant of your success. No salary !! No sick leaves , company perks,or 401k. If you dont produce you dont f@cking eat. PERIOD !!!!!
And 99% of the people just cant handle this
But Gawd D@mn I luv it
I will gladly clarify.....
First off,I live in NYC and am applying my cost of living to the equation.
Second,the term "promised land" = 100% Freedom...No more,no less....
If your goal is to have complete freedom,as in do what you want,when you want and how you want,then I would strongly reccomend one go the Goldman route.
The point of the discussion that needs to be clarified is exactly what does it take to make that 100,000 on your own...Are we essentially talking about a hypothetical annuity that requires 2 hours per day???Or are we living in reality and having to study the markets and put in the necessary time to earn that money..
That is my point...I have done the Goldman/Salomon thing and I have been on my own.I think that there is a perceived fallacy that once you are on your own,you have significantly more freedom.I dont buy that...
You dont have to agree with me...
Independence comes in many shapes and sizes..if you are of the mindset that the accumulation of $$$$= ultimate freedom,than i would reccomend the investment banking route
I like the idea of trading for oneself.
No pressure to perform for someonelse.
If you ever lose that Goldman job, I feel you may have wasted valuable time that could have been spent developing strategies for yourself that could last you for a lifetime of trading on your own.
As someonelse mentioned in the previous post, what you learn at Goldman may not translate at all to the strategies you develop for yourself.
You may be starting totally from scratch if you decide to pursue a personal trading career after Goldman. This could take years for you to perfect winning strategies. Therefore, Goldman in my view is a waste of time. No guarantees as to how long they will let you stay.
To the guy who called the 100k income trader a pansy -- who says he going to stay at the level?
He could be above the 500k mark by next year for all you know.
It's all about having consistently winning strategies.
No pressure to perform for someonelse.
If you ever lose that Goldman job, I feel you may have wasted valuable time that could have been spent developing strategies for yourself that could last you for a lifetime of trading on your own.
As someonelse mentioned in the previous post, what you learn at Goldman may not translate at all to the strategies you develop for yourself.
You may be starting totally from scratch if you decide to pursue a personal trading career after Goldman. This could take years for you to perfect winning strategies. Therefore, Goldman in my view is a waste of time. No guarantees as to how long they will let you stay.
To the guy who called the 100k income trader a pansy -- who says he going to stay at the level?
He could be above the 500k mark by next year for all you know.
It's all about having consistently winning strategies.
You just say this because nobody has ever offered you such a package, so you are happy with what you have, debating about quality of life, etc. Most $2m traders retire early in their lives, while you will still HAVE to plug away as $100k p/a is not that much nowadays to just stop and retire. N.B. I used to operate a relatively large restaurant, built from scratch, so I know quite a bit about lack of freedom vs reward.
Quote from romik:
I dare to disagree. I would borrow 1 year from my life and make 20 years' earnings in 1 year. If one doesn't do it, then he is not an entrepreneur. I don't know what he is
if sucking ass & being spoken down to is acceptable behavior to you,i feel sorry for you.i don`t know where your level of pride stands but i`ve never taken unnecassary shit from an employer in my life & never will for any reason.i`ve never respected an ass kisser in my life.....if anything, i was shown more respect by employers/peers because i took the opposite stance.
we`re not discussing living in a third world country so we`re not talking about hardship here......more to the point, this is about a man that has options & where his sellout point lies.
the true entrepeneur seeks his own path....the one less traveled & the one with most resistance........NOT the path of least resitance & not relying on the corporate paycheck to get him by.....being at the mercy of corporate america.