I was just wondering how most traders saved up for their first trading account i.e. put aside money from their paychecks, etc and how long it took them to afford enough to begin trading. I have been saving money from my work for over 18 months and I finally have enough for some tuition funds and a decent sized account after that. So what about you?
I did it the old fashioned way, I earned it. I lived well within my means and was fortunate enough to get a GOOD job through my education and skills. I always devoted money to my 401K, Roth and personal investing/trading account. No matter how much or little I made I always saved and invested, constantly studying the markets. Building wealth and capital is a process and doesn't happen overnight. There are many ways to do it, but the easiest is work hard, live well within your means and learn the value of a buck early. Don't learn by ruining your credit before you even get out of school like so many do. I also worked hard every summer and was able to graduate from higher education pursuits with less than 10K in debt. To this day the only debt I carry is the necessary debt of a mortgage, and I also have enough liquidity to pay that off if I had to. It's all about having a plan and executing that plan. The earlier you start, the easier it can be done. Good Luck!
How do day traders and position traders assign their funds? For example, if a position trader had a total of 100k to trade with, would he only use 20% (20k) and leave the remainder for a rainy day, or would he trade the whole sum?
I once used a $2500 tax refund check to fund my futures account ... ( no I did not blow up this account )
300 bucks left over from college plus 50% of salary for about 3 years (starting salary was 135/week at IBM). This began in 1957.
My "commissioned paid real job" gave me a big month. So instead of paying everything ahead like I usually did, I opened up a Retail Spot Forex Account in July 2004 and was very poor for a long while. This was my third restart, and I have never looked back. I finally reached breakeven a year later and do not owe any money. Wifey and I have been able to buy a studio condo in Metro Denver with 10k down and am working towards paying the mortgage off early. We are a "one-income family" thus far. I think this third time will be my last restart. There are always up's and downs but I have passed the survivial stage and into managing income streams now. Next stage is to deal with the reality of a lot of money and how to keep it producing at the same yield it had the year before. There is one more thing I need to take care of however and I will not grow until I do. But I will post that another time. Thanks for this thread. Michael B.
5k Good Trading to You... but remember I have lost much more than that in my past two restarts. I have been trading on and off since I was 18 years old. was trading during the online revolution and before. I am 47 years old. I think the hardest part, is to build when you are under-capitalized. Everything must be perfect. Trading is the hardest thing to develop....more so than to open a business...invest in RE...etc... If you have the passion anything is possible and never give up. trading gets into your blood...i am not talking about gambling either. Michael B.