The inability to stop trading might be a good thing, because trading requires the engagement of your brain, which probably can delay or prevent dementia.
Found your life story fascinating. I have over 300 trading books all collecting dusts. Just checked, don't have yours. Will buy one to help you out. It is hard to kick the trading habit even if you don't need the $, better than crossword puzzles or blackjack.
Very interesting. I am a great fan of your book. One question thou; are you not afraid of credit risk with all this COVID for junk bonds? China had severe credit problems, should we not expect the same?
I follow price and only price so pay no attention to the fundamentals. My response above was several years ago. Now only trade junk bond funds after massive selloffs and a subsequent Zweig 9 to 1 double buy signal ala late Dec 2018 and late March 2020. My primary bond trading category the past several years has been the mortgage funds more specifically IOFIX. That fund has made the difference for me between a $2,000,000 retirement nest egg and a $3,000,000 one. I will be 74 in a few months. Being debt free and having low living expenses, I am not a shining example of how to spend money in retirement. I should have focused more on the spending aspect than the obsession with the continual accumulation. While I still enjoy excellent health and hike almost everyday, I wish I had spent more of my money when I was in my 60s. But that is a story for another time.
I hear you... I doubt the FEDs will be raising rates anytime soon so on average that aspect of the trade is pretty safe. I am 64, so I cannot play the stock market the way I used to. I have no stomach for it, I play equity options and ETFs (long and short). As for spending money, I have a daughter in college so my needs are subpar to my wife's and hers.
Despite that mistake, you are living far better than most people in your age group. The average American don't even begin thinking about retirement until around 50, which in my opinion is very late. But hey, "better late than never," right? Further, I was looking at a couple of YouTube clips where one man was months from retiring from McDonald Douglas, in 1994, before he was laid off. Now, he's 80, waking up at 6 a.m. to go to work at Wal-mart. Another man, age 59, was laid off from his managerial job where he was earning six figures. Now, he works three jobs, just to earn $40,000/year. I am sure that COVID-19 has ended the careers of many older Americans. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones who got into investing/trading, early, and took the time to learn and do it right, as opposed to older Americans, many of whom are senior citizens, who enroll in so-called trading education courses, out of desperation, only to get fleeced.
The perfect example of when to become an ex-pat. I bet his social security is good enough for a number of US expats/retirement places. Even India would be better than Walmart when you are 80 (my wife's gf works there BTW)
Absolutely. My goal is to get to South America before 55. I'm in my late 40's. I got into the trading game late, around four years ago. I had meager success, because I was under-capitalized. Then COVID-19 happened, which provided the perfect opportunity to liquidate my trading account and get a loan to execute a buy and hold strategy in the equities market. I grew my money faster than I ever could trading futures. I already returned the principal on the loan. Long story short, I'm gonna hold until the end of 2021, after which time, I will return to trading.
Appreciate your generous sharing, Gary! Besides the Luck Factor, Would you please mention some other books you think great, among the 20-30 on trading psychology, self-improvement, and success/achievement "? Thank you very much!