Don't confuse being super smart with being a really good trader. Yes a certain level of intelligence is absolutely necessary to have success but at a certain point I'd even argue that it's a detriment if trading manually. After one has a certain level of intelligence and experience, it comes down to discipline, stamina and the ability to put ego aside. There are a lot of people who are massively smart but also think they are gods gift and therefore can't accept being wrong. It's a fatal flaw in this business.
Obviously you have never owned rental property or run your own business. You want easy money? Learn chess and get yourself a low USCF rating and enter this tournament. http://millionairechess.com/tournament/prize-fund/
+1 His story does reek of high implausibility. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3928871#post3928871
What did you do before you got into day trading ? Simply, is it possible for you to re-enter that prior career even at a low wage to regain some new experience in that career for use to land a better job ? Work/Job Suggestions: 1) Try your local employment office. 2) Network with friends and people in your neighborhood. 3) If you're former military with a honorable discharge...go to your VET employment office. Note: May be located in the same place as the above recommendation 1) 4) Take any job you can get to slow down dipping into that 6 figure savings you mentioned. By the way, I don't know how high you're in that 6 figure savings but a friend of mine bought a duplex last year and is renting it out for extra income. He's now planning on doing the same with a few more duplex because the income is good.
Every large city has a list of entrepreneurial events each month. In San Francisco/ San Jose area there is an excellent list at: http://webwallflower.com/ Find something that looks interesting and attend and just start talking to people. Get a business card and make a linkedin.com account. Every day you do not have something you must do, go to a new event talk to people and collect cards and network. What do you like to do outside of trading? Can you think of something that would be more than a job ---- A little book on Amazon 'Two Weeks to a Breakthrough' has a nice simple process for breaking out of a rut. I might be helpful. http://www.amazon.com/Two-Weeks-Bre...6&sr=8-1&keywords=two+weeks+to+a+breakthrough Each quarter Inc magazine lists 500 fastest growing companies. Get a copy and look through the list of companies and see if something is interesting. http://www.kickstarter.com/ is a great place to see what other people are doing to escape 'corporate office cube hell'.... The more outside the corp/business profile you are the more creative you are going to need to be.... Call a local business broker and ask for a listing for 'net revenue greater than $100k, no auto, no food service, so beauty shops' and review the list. There may be something in your back yard that is interesting. The business environment is terrible --- which is a risk but also a great opportunity if you see something that may have potential. Everything is risky --- staying where you are is risky. Good luck
As far as what I did before - I was in accounting and financial reporting. I tried to get back in the field and was told by recruiter I would have to start at the bottom (which means near minimum wage). I told him I don't even mind starting at the bottom because I know I can prove myself but he never responded to my messages. I will try other recruiters. I know lots of people in this field without college degrees and zero experience going in. But got their jobs in the 80s/90s when corporations were willing to hire anyone off the street and train them. Now you need to already have the job you want. Yesterday I met with a courier service that is looking for independent contractors. But I suspect it is a below minimum wage job with no benefits. Companies are now rapidly resorting to independent contractors as a way to offer below minimum wage jobs with no benefits. This is becoming the new reality. Most daytrading firms have been doing this for years, they offer "jobs" to guys with deposit money to trade a full day all year long and the guy usually walks away with less than minimum wage and maybe loses his deposit as well due to no training or mentoring being offered. Look at postmates, taskrabbit, uber - a distributed workforce of independent contractors making less than minimum wage with no benefits is the future of jobs in America. Globalization, outsourcing, robotics, AI, and automation will all ensure that this is the future. As far as trading. I'm not done with trading. I'm done with Daytrading. There is no skill in daytrading and no one will give a daytrader a dollar to manage. All the stereotypes of daytrading are sadly true. However if you have skills in asset management, investing, hedging, trading a portfolio of macro trends with fundamental support then people will beg you manage money for them or trade for them. There is a tremendous demand for money managers that can produce high returns at low volatility. These are the highly scalable skills I'm focused on developing.
so what's the problem? you have plenty of cash to support yourself for a while.. develop those skills and there you go.
PS ....... low volatility, high volatility doesn't matter. What matters is high returns no matter how they are achieved.
Let me get this straight because the above seems like a contradiction. You're not good at trading but you're now focus on developing skills to become a money manager instead of just restarting your career again in what you were doing prior to day trading. Am I missing something here or what. By the way, you said you're focus now on become a money manager...what exactly are you doing now to accomplish that goal ? Secondly, what background is needed to become a money manager ? Lastly, if you couldn't manage your own trading account...please explain why someone will give you money to manage their money ? Maybe you should just leave the markets alone and try a new career even if its doing mindless low wage work for awhile instead of burning through the remainder of your savings considering you said you now have a family to support.