My passion is trading, and ive been wondering if the air force could help me possibly pursue a trading career. I know im going to need a grub stake and after reading bio's on other successful traders military back grounds seemed to have helped then gain discipline, which is the most cited factor for trading. Im a junior and im considering joining the ROTC program giving me officer status if i was to enlist. I might consider being a pilot as a backup plan. Is this a smart move? Either way i need a grub stake and the thought of working a boring 9-5 just doesnt fit my personality. Thanks ET
Seems like you are asking a serious question. What are you a junior in, engineering? If so, skip ROTC and finish school with good grades. Contact the USAF and take the AFOQT. Then negotiate for the aircraft type you want to try for (if you wash out of fighter school you can still fly other planes) and accept a commission if they offer you a flight-rated slot. Stick around a few years and get a few thousand hours flight time. Get out of the USAF. Get your commerical license with Air Transport Pilot ticket. Apply to Cathay-Pacific or similar airline. Advance to 747 Captain. Enjoy your life in the clouds, roll in money and women and never trade a day in your life. There, I said it.
commercial lines are not as lucrative anymore, but the fighter jocks hate flying them anyway, they call it being a bus driver. I've known 3 fighter pilots, they all loved their work.
I doubt anything about the Air Force will improve your trading... but a stint in the AF as an officer will likely be a positive to your working career's opportunities. Even if you have to relent and become an airlines "bus driver", it's still good work. About 25 years ago I had client... a captain for United.... said he flew the LA-Hawaii route 6 times a month... about $140K annual salary. I asked him if he ever was involved in a crash. He said, "Yes. Once. In a car on my way to the airport."
1) Your "passion" is to make a lot of money quickly. Don't say otherwise. 2) The ROTC program could be a good way to avoid student loan debt, in exchange for the service commitment. 3) If you imagine you'd have trouble with a "9 to 5 job", you will, in all likelihood, have trouble with the structure, predictability, boredom and rigidity of any branch of the military. 4) People who have military backgrounds haved succeed and failed in the market. It's not a panacea. 5) Try to get as much technical & computer exposure and free master's degree schooling as you can so that you have marketable skills when you return to civilian life.
Try the pipefitters union or some other apprenticed technical trade. They are the only decent wages people can expect going forward. If you are a good tradesmen and you don't mind traveling there are always big projects funded by government money which is nice when the economy has tanked.
I'm impressed with the real advice on ET recently and not the usual knocks!! I'm a man of few written words and many thoughts, so I don't have much to add here but agree with the above statements.
College trader This should be a no brainer for you! Go the ROTC route and get your commission and dont worry about trading just yet..I have a nephew thats a F/A18 jockey and is a full Lt. in the Navy at NAS Virginia Beach. He lives 2 blocks from the beach and makes about 88k/yr with the perks of off base housing and flight/hazard pay has 30 days vacation a yr and weekends mostly off and a spouse that brings in decent bucks...What a life!
CollegeTrader, I would agree with the nazzdack who suggested joining the military is not necessarily the best option for an aspiring trader. The truth, IMHO is that you donât need the military to learn discipline. Many are already disciplined or they are not. If going in to get discipline is there only option in learning discipline, it is already too late. There are other factors that are more important in my opinion. I am not saying discipline is not important, as it is very important. But to me being a competitive athlete is a better indicator of success than the military. This can provide you the discipline, the competitiveness, the drive to follow your instincts, the confidence to follow what may not be the popular path, how to handle pressure situations and so on that are much more important than learning the discipline of a very regimented existence in the military. Now an ex-fighter pilot would have many of those same qualities as that competitive athlete as well. That and the ability to concentrate on your passion, even if it isnât popular almost to the detriment of the rest of your life (Buffet, Gates, etc.) is what breedâs success to many. Donât get me wrong, I believe a happy medium is possible but if you look at many of the very, very successful, many where passionate to an extreme that many in their earlier life thought was a bit odd or weird to others. But those same who thought it was weird probably would all say that they are not surprised by that success now. The point is there is no one path to success, in any endeavor. Follow your passions and you will find the success you seek. To me, the military path would make more sense from the standpoint of putting together a nest egg to begin trading with as opposed to only gain mostly discipline. But to me, there are better ways to reach your goals. But the rub is what is the best way for YOU to reach your goals? That is what being an adult is all about. Enjoy the journey as it will be winding and probably long. Best of luck TM
First off thanks for everyone's responses. The reason im thinking of the air force is to build up a savings or fly. The economy isn't the best and for a student out of school the military is an honest wage. I really do love every facet about the stock market. However ive always been fascinated with flying. I met with the air force ROTC capt. today and she said that to be a pilot carries a 10 year obligation. However other positions carry as few as 4 years obligation. This truly is a huge decision. One side i want the finer things in life. But then another part of me is at the stage where we get 24 hours a day and how can i get the most meaning out of these hours. The most important thing to me is i want to live. Money cant be my only goal. i like the problem solving trading offers. And im passionate about being the best i can be. But can you put a price tag of getting an opportunity to fly for the air force? I mean 10 years kind of ends a trading dream. But opens another one.