So to get to the point, being in the financial world has been a huge passion of mine for my entire life. Unfortunately, I spent my 20's touring the country in the music industry with a touch of success. I'm 32 now, on my last year and a half of finishing my degree in finance. I want to trade so bad I can taste. I'm a GM for a 3.5 million dollar restaurant business, so I have a strong management and fundamental business background, but no experience actually trading. Yet I'm hungry to learn. What advice can anyone offer me about this career change I plan on making at 34 years old. I'd appreciate any realistic thoughts.
Read books, take courses, study, LEARN. Open a demo/paper trading account with someone and practice. While making a profit paper trading does not guarantee success with real money, if you can't make money on paper then it will guarantee failure with real money. Also it is usually best to start out if you pick one instrument, one equity, and learn to trade it before looking at multiple things. For instance pick one stock, one commodity, one index, or whatever you want to trade and learn to trade that one thing first.
Clearly there's no stopping you. But you will lose money at first. Nothing in your experience will prepare you for trading; many of the habits that make you effective in music and management will work to your detriment in trading. Maybe open a small account, blow a few bucks to get the feel for how hard it is and what your specific issues are. Then STOP TRADING and figure out your strategy. Whatever you do, PLEASE don't throw away all your savings before figuring it out.
Focus on Support & Resistance. Leave the indicators & oscillators to the amateurs & retail traders. GL!
" So to get to the point, being in the financial world has been a huge passion of mine for my entire life. Unfortunately, I spent my 20's touring the country in the music industry with a touch of success. I'm 32 now, on my last year and a half of finishing my degree in finance. I want to trade so bad I can taste. I'm a GM for a 3.5 million dollar restaurant business, so I have a strong management and fundamental business background, but no experience actually trading. Yet I'm hungry to learn. What advice can anyone offer me about this career change I plan on making at 34 years old. I'd appreciate any realistic thoughts." quote by unklezors School yourself on technicals as you will be day trading and make sure you have at least 3 years of living money ( I am assuming you want to do this full time) and don't belive the success hype i.e. 90% of traders blow their accounts within the 1st year.
What is it you want to trade? Stocks, Futures, Forex? Depending on what you want to trade and the hours of your real job, you can start doing one while still maintaining an income flow until you have been successful enough to start swapping part of that income.
assuming you are not the vilage "60 alias" cold/c-kid/jasonn (whom this sounds like) Your chances of making a longterm (10+ year), lucrative living and reasonable stats (sharpe, PF, max DD, etc.) without blowing out are probably about 2 or 3 in a 1,000. You will probably understand this better 5 years from now). Most of the ET people here are dreamers or paper traders.