$2500 is NOT acceptable, for the simple reason that it need not cost you a dime... The best coaching is free and comes ideally from an experienced trader who you sit side by side with... failing that, find an online mentor or a group of experienced traders who you can have private chats with on Yahoo Messenger, Paltalk or MIRC... probably the best way is to go into the various free rooms on Paltalk or MIRC and strike up some conversations... once you get to know a handful of credible traders, maybe you can set up your own conversations in MIRC, Paltalk etc, or even better, put them on your buddy list on Yahoo Messenger, and hook up via webcam if you so desire... Trading the plethora of technical set-ups is in itself a simple and somewhat boring procedure if done properly... what complicates the process are psychological issues leading to an inability to keep small stops etc... being online with fellow traders who have traversed the journey that the newly initiated to trading is about to commence helps the newbie to deal with the psychological issues...
How charitable ... I just gotta wonder whether these are the words of a caring philanthropist or the words of a hardened snake-oiler... flip a coin and make ya choice, hehe... If you're a newbie and you for some reason feel compelled that you have to pay vendors to learn how to trade, a good yardstick is that you shouldn't pay more per month than 0.25%-1% of your account value (i.e. don't pay up more than a daytrading stop loss)... so if a newbie account value is $50,000 , then don't pay more than $125 to $500 per month... there are several guys out there that charge within these parameters, so you gotta choose the credible ones and not the one night wonders... I have a great deal of respect for the services to newbies that realitytrader.com and tradingfrommainstreet.com offer... threei from realitytrader.com used to be a great contributor to siliconinvestor.com, before Elitetrader.com took over as the trading internet board of choice... I also occasionally briefly chat with Brandon from tradingfrommainstreet.com via my Yahoo messenger during the quieter parts of the day; I can recommend him as a guy of integrity... ask around for others, if these two services don't fit your needs... both Brandon and threei are members of Elitetrader...
I charge $5000 for a week, just so I can see that they are serious about wanting to learn. Very reasonable considering the value of the information they get. Of course I give all of that money to Gamblers Anonymous.
Do you usually sign a contract when paying a coach? Maybe get a lawyer to draw it up??? Wonder how it should be worded..... Seems hard to have much legal recourse if someone you pay to coach, just takes your money and you never hear from him again
i still wouldnt give him any money unless he sent you his personal trading account records to prove he is long term profitable.
This really depends on the amount of time the Coach will spend with you. It also depends on the success the Coach has had with previous students. Make sure that you get a track record from Him. How are his students doing???? Ask him if you could speak to his former students? If they are doing well and he is spending a FAIR amount of time with you, then $2500 is worth it. A good Trader will think that his time is worth between $250 and $600 per hour. If he spends dedicated time with you and you can measure it: I would use $400 an hour as a Guage. If he spends over 7 hours a month with you and he is REAL GOOD, it may be worth it. Past results are the measure of the Hourly rate. Risk Less
You seem very worried while providing few details about your situation. If your this concern about someone your already watching... move on to another mentor. Also, re-read what Risk Less saids...some good tips in there about how to explore payment arrangements. Simply, you should contact this mentor and explore different fee schedule that may be acceptable to him/her and you. Also...as a few before me have mentioned...get a resume of traders he/she has already coached... talked to some of his customers...no email crap nor live chat crap. Talk to some past clients via phone or in person. (I don't think any profitable trader that was mentored would have any problems in allowing his/her mentor to release contact info on them to future clients) You should be able to interact with past and current clients prior to any exchange of funds. In fact, if your mentor is in the same city or area as you... ask to be allowed to sit in on a one-day mentoring session as he/she is mentoring another client. (I know an options trader mentor that does this and he ain't cheap) If he/she is unwilling to provide such...this is not a mentor for you. Also...because he's in the business of mentoring...you can check public better business bureau records via his business name to see if there are any complaints. Also...if he's a member of any professional trading organizations...you can contact them also. _______________ You have a lot of options to explore prior to getting a lawyer involved. Further...when was the last time you bought anything that cost a few thousand dollars...did you get a lawyer involved then? What did you do...when paying a few thousand bucks to convince yourself that this was a safe and secure purchase? My point is this...follow the same procedure you normally do for expensive items...no lawyers needed. _______________ If I have a mentor...he/she better be able to do the following: 1. Mentor me in realtime...one-on-one in person or small group...during actual market conditions... via his/her own trading account prior to coaching me through some trades in my own account from start to finish. 2. Free follow-up educational material or seminars and workshops. This can be done online if needed...but only after in-person mentoring. 3. He/she better already have a good reputation among traders. If not...then he/she should be mentoring for free until that reputation develops. We are talking about several thousands of dollars here...the above to me is reasonable... anything less is unacceptable in my opinion. Good luck and remember... if you have doubts or deep-seated concerns... this mentor is not for you. P.S. ET has some good info in the Hook Up thread...you can explore that and try to find a mentor for free or someone that's willing to allow you to pay for their lunch or delivered pizza or delivered Chinese food... in exchange for some one-on-one in person trading help. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=28 It's been done...but has a lot more drawbacks. NihabaAshi
Sounds like the cost of any course that comes with a lifetime of support, emails and phone calls. If you know he is what he claims, then go for it They're all tax deductible.
As others have said, make sure they are profitable and have references. In the end, if you will be successful, cost has little bearing.