Very true, and something I've had to come to grips with myself. Trying to trade for income and work full time resulted in failing at both. Like it or not, trading is only a hobby for me now, and you know what? Now that I am comfortable with that reality my occasional trades work out better and I actually enjoy trading again. That might have something to do with actually making profitable trades again. Less stress = more profit.
Well, Marty Schwartz, a trader's trader if ever there was one, didn't quit his high-paying DAY job as a pharma stocks analyst at E.F. Hutton's Institutional Research. Even though his wife also had a good, management job, which could've supported them both indefinitely. No, he waited until he fulfilled Goal #2 on his 5-point "Become a Trader" plan ("Pit Bull", ch. 2): "Accumulate a grubstake of $100,000 within one year." In July of 1977, $100K was obviously worth a heck of a lot more than today. At that time, he was "already" 33, 7 years out of B-school, had just become debt-free and had all of $5,000 in savings. And he had not "developed a methodology for trading that fit [his] style" yet (that was Goal #1). It took him 2 years, until June of 1979, to meet that goal (among others) and earn that grubstake. (That would be a roughly 2,000% return in 2 years, while holding a full-time job with plenty of cross-country travel involved.) He was a profitable trader throughout that time. Then he quit and went out on his own, on the AMEX. Inspirational? You bet.
This thread caught my eye last nite while I was at work , and I was going to give a very salient reason as to why traders most definitely should have a second income, but late_apex beat me to it. It's prudent to have a "nite job" until you can build a solid amount in the bank which will give you the mental and psychological freedom to trade and not worry about an income. Actually, there are a tremendous amount of traders who have gone this route, and, as there is nothing new under the sun, I looked back through some old threads to find this link for the OP: Any part-time trader here with a proper day job? Mastering any discipline is a journey of self wherein you attempt to learn the truths of whatever path you are following, be it dance, baseball, calligraphy, chess or trading for that matter. It's easily a journey of 6 months (really quick at the game, have a mentor) to 5 years (you've gone through all the options to figure out what works for you) to being able to trade for a living. Good luck getting there. Jimmy Jam P.S. ... and since we are talking about trading, believe it or not Luck most definitely does play a part in it!
If you're profitable in trading, you're going to have all the psychological freedom you need. My point is that those that have second jobs, well either their not as profitable as they need to be or are not as confident in their abilities as they need to be. I have no problem with those that are transitioning and are putting together cash for their trading..... it's called investing for your future. If you MUST WORK A SECOND JOB in order to have a psychological crutch (something to fall back on) then you're not ready to become or call yourself a trader. Part of trading professionally is coming to grips with your decision and going forward with it. This brings us back to the original question.... WHY IN THE FUCK WOULD I WORK IN A GROCERY STORE IF I WAS A SUCCESSFUL TRADER? That's like a doctor asking other doctors if they work nights at Toys R Us just for the extra cash. More accurately the question should be, what are you doing to get together your grub stake for trading, as obviously many here still are doing. Until you pay all your bills and start financing your dreams, you aren't trading full time and aren't a trader. A hobbyist - yes, trader - nope.
So everyone comes out of the womb a professional major league baseball player, a soloist level dancer in a major company, a MSG ring ready fighter or a professional commercial pilot? No. I think years of work are put into getting there, having some experience with one of the categories listed above, but I'll leave you to your world of absolutes. Good trading in them. JJ
Algo my friend, you are wrong. I AM a FT TRADER, not hobbyist. Why did I get an interesting PT job? It certainly isn't because I NEED money. 1) remote trading can be (and for me, is) a very isolated business. 2) I have talents other than trading, and the time to contribute my expertise to those in need of such. Would you have the same attitude if I was "volunteering" time and talent , au gratis? 3) It assists my home life... getting away from the spouse, even for short periods has beneficial results. And regardless of the amount, the paycheck generates sense of security for her when she sees the cash being stashed. 4) And lest we forget, in my situation, tax benefits. Yes, I consider tax to be an issue. Not because tax exists, but because I don't enjoy paying 40% or so of my trading earnings, OUT OF MY FRICKIN POCKET! So for now, reducing my out of pocket tax bill by a few grand, AND sheltering and deferring taxes on a portion is a good option. 5) Maybe meet some non-attitudinal people. Osorico
Iâve been volunteering some evenings/nights/weekends for charities for more than a decade now. No risk with priceless reward. And having pictures in papers/mags are also rewarding
Why work a job at all, just do what this guy suggests: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=144113&perpage=6&pagenumber=4 "Instead of working a part time job for $5, $6, $8 an hour wouldn't it be much easier to take just one tick an hour out of a market like the ES (or any market of your choice)? Maybe do one tick every half hour? Maybe one tick every 15 or 20 minutes? Do the math of capturing small gains."