GAMBLER. It's only a pejorative if you are a chronic loser. Otherwise it's what it is. I speculate, therefore I am. You , you clown , on the other hand, spent 20 years working for some megacorp and all you have to show for it are your walking papers, and a cheap watch.
if you live in vancouver,growing pot in you r basement is a legit job! then you can say you are a gardening engineer.
Another post said that over 90% of traders fail. This is a higher failure rate than starting up your own business.
According to Webster's Dictionary: Investor: Someone who invests Invest: to put money to a use expected to yield a profit or income When I finally become a full time trader and people ask me what I do for a living, I was just going to call myself an Investor. If they ask what I invest in, I would just reply, commodities, index futures, options etc, anything that they would likely not be familiar with. I assume that the questions would end at this point. If the person actually knew what index futures were, then I'd probably enjoy further discussion with them about it anyway.
The term "index futures" is the key. I always make sure it is in my description. People either give me a blank look and change the subject or they are genuinely interested and a good conversation follows. If people don't understand the term, it's harder for them to jump to the "gambler" image.