you sound like exactly the kind of person that belongs in college.. if you really love learning about something, then its very worthwhile.. most people these days just go because they want a paper to hang on the wall so they can get a job.. or respect.. exception.. i dunno.. i made over 100k my last full year at a day job.. thats better than my assistant who was making less than 30k and has a 4 year degree.. if i had an MBA maybe i could nail down 500k a year.. but, then.. im working on a plan for that right now .. lol.. well, consider the source.. look at your teachers and ask yourself if thats the level of achievement that you wish to attain.. if so, go for it.. if not, then it might be good to ask why they never got anywhere with their degree.. dont misunderstand, there are alot of great people who are teachers.. its just that very few of them have any real economic ambition.. i mean, they might want to be principal one day, but they dont want to own their own business and generate a million dollar a year income.. -qwik
if you guys haven't figured it out yet, college is a big scam and brainwashing machine. save your $$$, save your time, save your sanity and avoid college like the plague. I have a BS in finance, and honestly I cant remember a thing I learned because I've never used the crap they taught in the real world. if you do go to college, make the government pay for it and go there for the women and the drinking. trust me, this is the best advice anyone can give you.
learn while your brain still has capacity to absorb lots of info but I also see others using school resources to do research on trading I think Mark Fischer do paper on his method and then trade it latter on and many others example.
I have more paper on my wall than I care to admit. And my kids will go because I've already paid for it and hate for that to go to waste. The real reason that most people go to school from my generation is that it is a convenient yet respectable holding cell. Gives your body, mind and ambition some time to get in synch. Unfortunately our internal clocks don't always catch up at the same time and most young Americans, guys worse than girls, don't hit any real maturity until their thirties. So, it's a tough call. Don't go unless YOU really want to experience campus life. Otherwise sit it out, grow a little, read alot and improve your work habits on a daily basis. That way, no matter what you decide, you'll be prepared. Albert
Your implied presumption here is that you will be successful enough at trading to make a continuous living at it. You might, you might not. Lots of people go down in flames. Others make some good supplemental cash, but never enough to fully support themselves (or at least the lifestyle they want). The college degree for the most part isn't a magic "now you are intelligent" certificate - it's just your ticket to job interviews, nothing more. You may come out of college like some, not really knowing a hell of lot more than they did going in (which frankly is a shame but for some people - most info just goes in one ear, rattles around long enough to be used on a test, and then falls out their other ear - which is often to say that it falls out their ass since that's where their head usually is - yes, some colleges do still manage to stamp out complete fools with degrees). Anyway, you don't really know if trading will work out for you (it sounds good and attractive, but unless you're pulling in consistently good bucks - it might never be enough for a "living") and you should always have a plan B. $60K is OK bucks (not great, but OK) and if that's enough for you AND (more importantly) you want to be a cop - your Vancouver PD idea might work for you as plan B. Otherwise, stay in college and get a degree in something useful and more importantly - in demand. If you have to go down the plan B path, keep rational - a degree is little more these days than an entry to job interviews (especially if you didn't get any practical work experience in your field while in college). It says to an employer that you're at least educatable and potentially worth their spending a lot of time and money training you. Keep your options open though until you know absolutely that you can make a living trading - which will take more than a few months or a year to determine. Remember that there were an awful lot of "geniuses" during the latter part of the '90s who fashioned themselves as budding Soroses only to find out that during a wild market trend even Homer Simpson can look like a genius. Some of those guys are now flipping burgers at Mickey Ds. Good luck.
i have a degree, but not in anything finance / securities / economics / etc. related. pursue your interests with passion - find something that really lights your fire. if it's trading, cool, give it everything you've got. but if you're not sure, try dabbling for a while. something got you to college. now something is keeping you there. given the option between hope and fear, i would choose passion. i don't pretend to be all goo-gooey about trend lines and MAs. but i do know that no matter what kind of trading day i have had, i literally can not wait to get up and do it all again. passion drives the logic that allows me to trade. if this doesn't help, i hope it didn't hurt. take care and trade well! omni
Wow, thank you very much for all your comments! It has helped me alot... I guess the decision lies in the type of person i am. I see alot of different type of people in here, with many different views on the degree subject... Thanx again for showing me both sides!
dude go to school i have a bach in international finance, i cant help but think that my education has at least had SOMETHING to do with my success as a trader....im only 24....and if it werent for that education, i wouldnt have been HIRED as a FX trader, i wouldnt have been able to be hired to mannage surplus funds for a private ewuities group.....i would be as in tune with the pulse of commerce as i am....yet anywhays.....if you intend to be a trader you should seriously study finance or economics......it will help out TREMENDOUSLY with the learning curve, and you can be like me at 24 and have a lexus coupe, after you sold your porshe boxter because it wasnt reliable enough....or you can not go to school and be like one of the 45 year old bitter morons on ET who didnt make it and never will make it, and will do everything in ther power to bring you down so that you wont make it.....and for gods sake DONT BE A FREAKIN PIG what am i talking about?? if your even considering being a pig....your probably already destined for failure...o well good luck to you anyhow
agree school's great.... good point re best to get a state college undergrad degree, then get a job w/big company that does tuition reimbursement, and get a masters/mba/compusci degree on their nickel while learning Real stuff on the job.. I got an undergrad degree from UCLA ('86) and a masters' from Cal State Long Beach (finished '91), both are two of the best things I ever did, looking back on it.. and it never ends... after advertising and taxes, continuing education (books/tapes/consulting hours bought etc) is my biggest business expense, as I'm always still learning new stuff in business (just turned 40 here in hawaii) .. ken