I believe quitting one's job and becoming a full-time trader has been discussed a number of times on this forum. It is a dream for many. I do not want to talk about the financial aspects as it is easy to determine whether a person can pass the financial test of becoming a full-time investor. Just do the numbers based on past years of expense and investment gains, then add a conservative margin of safety. It is an objective exercise. I am torn about the non-financial and social aspects of becoming a full-time investor. I would like the sensible folks here to share their opinions openly and harshly, if you need to. Just speak your mind. I will speak my mind as well. Here are my reservations; - How would society view someone who is still reasonably young (early 40s) and quits his job to become a full-time investor? I do not view investing highly as a socially useful activity. Little useful stuff is created from the buying and selling of securities in the secondary market. I admit this sounds hypocritical given that I am harbouring thoughts of becoming a full-time investor. - Investing is a lonely activity. I operate alone. When I have a job, I still have a group of friends and colleagues to talk to. After I plunge into full-time investing, the loneliness is going to be acute. - Am I setting a good example to my kids? "Dad is always staying at home. He is always telling me to work hard and yet he just quits his job to do his own thing. His so-called passion. Why can't I quit school to do my own thing and play computer whole day?" Will my children work less hard in life as a result? Will my children look down on me? - How do you answer relatives who will be surprised at a person who quits your job and staying home all day picking stocks? I don't feel comfortable revealing my financial condition. Neither do I want them to think I am not able to find a proper job and resorting to investing as a final resort. "Why doesn't this guy find a proper job and contribute to society instead of staying at home all day clicking buy and sell?" Don't want people to think I am a loser. Would it be a good idea to start a shell company and tell them I work for this company? Christmas is going to be dreadful.
I expect that you care too much about what others think. You will be a self-employed businessman running a trading business. If you don't want to trade alone, find a partner or someone else in your area that you can share an office with. I traded for 25 years, but not from my basement. I came across none of the negatives you describe. The biggest issue is finding an edge and exploiting it. Then, managing risk and growing your capital base. Maybe in the future look for ways to profit from the efforts of others.
@Robert Morse is correct... you are engrossed in care and worry about what others think. Most/many people would gladly take an opportunity to "trade for a living", IF they thought they could do it, especially, particularly, if they thought they could do it with even minimally out-sized success, in relation to their lives. With the exception of loneliness, which can be dealt with and even reversed though personal and/or business invention and growth, I have not experienced what you scribe. Instead of worrying about YOUR PERCEPTIONS of what and how others think, look inward, find the root of that concern, and change it!! Or maybe worrying about what your broker thinks when you make a trade, makes you a better trader. Become self-reliant, and better YOUR world and those around YOU, all the while doing what YOU enjoy. Real or utopian, or maybe real utopia, YOU decide the answer, not anyone else.
All that's really important is that you go to work and make a living like anybody else.... hopefully it's a good/great living. When people ask me what I "do", I say "I trade the financial markets". Most then just glaze over. Not only do they not have a clue what that means, they don't understand money, finances, or the market, so that's usually the end of the conversation. If you decide to go full time in trading (and haven't confused brains with a bull market), you need to believe, through style and discipline, that you can "handle/survive whatever the market throws at you". Rest assured if you trade long enough, the market will take several shots at bankrupting you.... and you'd better be ready to at least "dodge the bullets".
Bob is correct, trading is very much a mental game. The last thing you need going in is thinking that you may in some way be not worthy if you trade for a living.
- I do not view investing highly as a socially useful activity. - the loneliness is going to be acute. - Am I setting a good example to my kids? Will my children look down on me? - Christmas is going to be dreadful. With those beliefs you are doomed to fail as a trader, before you even start. Instead you should be thinking like this: - Trading (capitalism) is an awesome activity that benefits the whole of society. - Trading will give me the freedom to do what i want. - With the money i make trading i will provide better everything for my children. - Every week will be like christmas as i can spend much more time with my family.
That's kind of what every aspiring trader hopes. Unfortunately, not reality except in a small percentage of cases.
all good questions and they all have good answers if one underlining assumption would be correct - you expect to be able to trade for a living.... then how society will view you will soon become truly irrelevant, you will not have time concentrate on your loneliness, rather on whats going-on on the screen, as soon as kids realize that dad is not playing games but making big money they will not ask stupid questions (kids are not stupid), ==I don't feel comfortable revealing my financial condition.=== what condition? you making money a lot and fast... is it not that why you quite your job in the first place? all relatives and strangers will shut up very soon, instead men will spread their arms meeting you , women their legs..., everybody loves and envy rich and successful... but again all this more or less is true if one monumental assumption is correct - you will be able to trade for a living, unfortunately its incorrect assumption.... you won't let me tell you why you quitting your job - to become a wannabe trader, it will take ton of time, ton of money ,and ton of efforts.... years of constant struggle to develop a method that works (and you may never develop it)... and while all those years of struggle you will be a moron in the eyes of people around you: your relatives, your kids, your wife, your friends.. you will be lonely, you will be in the dark, you will struggle financially , you may loose every one around you, you won;t be able to explain nothing to no one about what you going through... no one will understand... by the time you will be done (regardless if you will become successful or not) you will know the true measure of people and yourself
You begin talking about "full-time trader" than you changed it to "full-time investing". People react differently to both types. Regardless, if it truly is a big concern...don't quit your job. Instead, trade or invest part-time, do it on your vacation time, schedule days off from work, take a leave of absence and so on. Thus, you can have both worlds...the social aspect and the lone wolf aspect. I say this strongly because its becoming more common place for hard working people to have two jobs at the same time...one more full-time and the other more like part-time. The only way people will think you're a loser is if you're not making any money or you quit your job without having any proof you'll succeed at trading/investing...the latter can easily be determine via trading/investing on your days off, vacation time and so on as explained earlier. With that said, you have to do this the right way because you have a family to support. Best for you to go the "two job route"...family stays happy and you just have to work a little harder and budget your time off from work much better. Guess what, if you were wrong about trading/investing as a career...you still have your job and family remains happy. Holiday's only dreadful if you make it as such...keep your job. By the way, every time someone comes to this forum and talks about quitting their job and then someone tells them to keep it and trade on their days off... They usually fire back with the I hate my job, its not my passion, my family approves and so on. My reply back to them...get another job that you're happy with and then trade/invest part-time until you have consistent financial proof for your family the this can be done profitably...proof as 1-2 years worth of earned profits. P.S. Others like you were also one post wonders...never to be heard from again. I hope you stick around to read the advice and then comment about them before disappearing.