After reading the comments and responses, I wonder..... To make a living of trading with average returns of 8%-10% annual (I think this is doable in a consistent manner with a lot of stress) you must have between 500K and above depending on your lifestlyle and where you live. I'm sometimes ask myself... why not to think in other businesses. If I have a large capital like 500K or more, it is relatively easy to leverage this money supported on a project and cash flows to run a startup and more profitable business. Or more simple solutions, for example, a friend of mine told me that some financial instruments in Chile paid around 4.5-5% annual on your money! without any stress! I would love to hear any comments from somebody who trade for a living and if it is not indiscret the average annual ROI.
Operating businesses are better than trading from home. More sustainable cashflows, easier to get financing, can employ financial and operating leverage to reap higher profits, real "edge" as you generally sell services at a profit, and better tax deductions. If you had 500k, you can open 2 Subway franchises with minimal debt and make 150k/year (pre-tax cashflow) based on your ability to pick good locations and keep your costs down.
'If you had 500k, you can open 2 Subway franchises with minimal debt and make... ' Why do I need to pay for a franchise to open a sandwich shop? We have a sandwich shop at our local mini-mall that sells sandwiches, pizza, cheesecake etc. and does a booming business. It's not a subway or anything else... but who cares? I need Subway to make a hoagie or a steak sandwich? When I was a kid in north Philadelphia in the 50's a family in the neighborhood opened a sandwich shop at 29th and Alleghany (inventing the Philly steak sandwich) and sent four kids through college on the proceeds. They operated an Italian store in an Italian neighborhood. They worked hard and they did fine. The big trick is to source the rolls. Opening a business is FAR better then beating your head against a CRT trying to beat the market. I can tell you how to make a steak sandwich, a cheese-steak, a Hoagie (also known as a submarine sandwich), lasagna, pizza, ravioli or whatever you want... you don't need no stinking franchise. You just need to know how to cook... and make a sandwich. (meatballs are good too). e.g.This store made ravioli on the weekend and customers would line up on Monday morning to get some ravioli before it was all gone. Their ravioli was to die for.
Seeing a reply like this is comical. Your comparing a guy with 100K account to a Hedge Fund managing billions. No comparison.
You don't need a franchise. I offered it as a suggestion as it's the most turn-key solution to starting a business and thus the most comparable to filing out a few forms and opening an brokerage account.
Substitute trading from home with any of the below: 1) being a successful quarterback in the NFL 2) being a successful neurosurgeon 3) being a successful politician Bottomline: If you don't have the TALENT for what you want to do, IT DOESN'T MATTER....you won't make much money doing it. I've met so many talentless traders. Operating a sandwich franchise : a monkey could do it. You can do it and make money, but compare to anyone with talent for the above, it will be a fraction of their income.
Boston Sandwich Shop closes after 87 years Portland Sandwich Shop closes after 69 years Subway Sandwich Shops close in DC Quiznos files bankruptcy