That's strange: I made a profit in my 3rd month of trading. In fact, i'm profitable right now as we speak. It's not the maount of capital or the years of experience, but how well defined your trading strategy is: how well you understand the markets, etc. You could be trading options and making a killing within 3 years!! So, no, I don't agree with 3- 5 years to make a profit. You just have to know what you are doing in regards to risk, exit, entry, money management, and how to add to profitable positions when you have one!!
Don't ever, ever give up on your dream of being a trader full time!! That has been and still is my ultimate goal! What i'm doing right now is trading as I learn how and when my capital, not the time, is right, I'm out of there like an Amtrak train!! What I would do right now is get my trading system down to a science, continue to be a student of the markets, learn all you can right now while you can still trade and have a job to go to. Then, when you are comfortable with your level of trading skills and money management, then you can make some really good decisions. But to just find a reason to quit a job and have no real plans as far as trading goes, I wouldn't do it. I would set a goal, say 3 years from now and maybe a couple hundred thousand dollars in my trading account. That's another goal you could have: to learn trading from the REAL pros and not just from the seaqt of your pants so many do! and then see what happens then. By the way, a hundred thousand dollars to make trading is nothing, believe me when I tell you. I personally know some option traders wh o make a couple hundred thousand in maybe 2-3 months time period.
Why do you have to quit from your job in exchange of trading? You can do both. It's just a matter of time management.
Your business plan should include the fact that you probably have a 99.%% chance of failing to support yourself well in both the short and the long run... Leaving a job in this economy, with bad health, planning to support yourself trading makes little more sense than counting on the lottery as your retirement plan.
tHERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE WHO SUPPORTS THEMSELVES TRADING!! PLENTY!! iF YOU KNOW HOW TO TRADE, HAVE A GOOD STRATEGY, HAVE ENOUGH CAPITAL TO RISK AND CAN STAND A LOSS OR 2 OR 3 OR 4 THEN YOU CAN MAKE IT TRADING!! a GOOD STRATEGY COUPLED WITH KNOWLEDGE OF ALL OF THE MARKETS IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER CAN MAKE ONE A VERY SUCCESSFUL TRADER. YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO TRADE !! THERE ARE PLENTY OF OPTION SELLERS, AND TRADERS WHO MAKE A VERY GOOD LIVING TRADING ON A FULL TIME BASIS!
You should try to slash your monthly living expenses to the bone and build up 1-2 years of cash reserves (not your trading capital) for living expenses. Once you are relying on drawing every month from your trading account in order to pay your bills, the pressure to produce starts to build. If your monthly nut is too high, you will begin to cannibalize your trading capital, creating even more pressure to push your risk too high. I went through the same issue with a chronic health issue that insurance companies wouldn't touch. I was rejected for coverage and I really couldn't afford to pay for a state-mandated plan like you are considering. Your lack of retirement savings is also a concern. Try to build a monthly allocation into your budget for your retirement savings when you are trading as an independent. Bottom line: unless your monthly expenses are lower than the amount of trading income you conservatively predict to earn, you should hold back on your plan and continue to save $$. Good luck to you!
Respectfully suggest you keep working on your goals for another 5 years....then reassess I wish you well with your illness... NiN
thank you for yelling. Unfortunately, the only value in this post, was showing what capital letters look like...