When I left my job 14 years ago I had a small framed poster that simply stated: RISK You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. That framed poster still sits on my desk above my computer. Life is short. If you don't take any risks then you never know what might have been. As you said -- you're young and can re-establish a career. If you stay in a job you may not enjoy you think 'could I have succeeded?' Only one way to know ........ Good luck in whatever decision you make.
The decision to switch becomes easier especially if you don't like your current job. I mean, how much can you regret leaving a job that you are not happy with in the first place ?
You got a lot of good advice from the folks in this forum. We all face doubts -- whether part time or full time. The best way to prepare for the best case scenario is to think of the worst case. Take calculated risks, see how you've done on a part time basis, put some safe amount aside to last for a few months or years if you fail with the rest of the capital, and use the time on your own to learn, create, meet new people. For every goodbye, life gives a new hello. Enjoy!
It was plain simple: The pain of getting the job, certainty that comes with a paycheck, and the idea that someone decides my income level... This pain was much greater than the fear of loosing everything in the market. That helped.
Part of what you should understand, is there is a big diff between trading on the side and trading when you have some expectation of living off the income - that is called "scared money". You become irrational when the expected money is a source of income. The 1% chance is not a mirage and it is not something where you can expect/will yourself to be in that group. The hole in your resume when the 99% chance you will be back looking for jobs is not a mirage. It makes you much less desirable to employers in a hellhole job market. The people who encourage you just to "go for it" are anonymous and really have no stake in your success/failure. Many of the people who are telling you to keep the job and trade on the side first to prove your concept are likely doing so out of knowing or experiencing the realities Your likeliest outcome, is to perhaps burn through your trading capital and burn through your personal savings (guessing you will likely lose $50K or up), punch a 1-2 year hole in your resume that is hard to explain away, and go scrambling for any sort of job when it does not work out, wishing you were back at that previous job.
"Bullverine" is probably a troll, but I will give this a shot. Why quit your dayjob right now while unemployment is high? Why not wait at least 6 months...preferably 12-18 months...and wait until the economy is on solid footing? All that time devote to reading, studying and practicing... My belief is the economy is rapidly improving, however, jobs are still difficult to find and unemployment high. If after a few months it did not work out, then you will be inserted back into a bad job market. So my advice is to wait it out in your current job at least until the end of this year and then consider your exit in 2011. The way things are going we may not see a good job market until 2012-2013. Right now everyone is jockeying for jobs still and the conditions, although are much improved from last year, seem to have a ways to go...
To be fair, the risk/reward for a situation like this has changed dramatically versus 14 years ago. It's just not worth it nowdays. If I were the TS, I would explore other opportunities and maybe look into incorporating his trading strategy (if he has any) into his current schedule.