This is my first post and I have yet to progress beyond demo trading but I have thought about this question alot over the past couple of months. The answer to this question is probably unique to each person. For me to give up my job (38k per year) and do nothing but trade I would have to meet the following criteria: 1) No long term debt (house, cars, student loans) 2) One years living expenses in a saving and/or bank cds 3) Enough trading income to pay my bills and entertainment with 30% of my average trading profits to allow for growing the account with the remaining 70% (this is after taxes). A simpler answer would be about 1K per month assuming the above 3 criteria are met. But if I can achieve the above three conditions, I will be making much more the 1k per month. To some on this board this is highly conservative. I have a wife and two kids who I am responsible to. Therefore I have to ensure that my family is taken care of limit the risk of losing everything because I quite my day job to trade and couldn't make enough to pay the bills.
I gave up a very stressful, high-paying job to trade full-time for 1/3rd the money I was making with the job plus trading part-time. I've never worked as hard as I do now, but I am happier than I've been in a long, long time. I also see far more potential in trading since I now have the time and will to develop strategies and technology. With regard to stress, for me it seems to be about managing size. I have to find a balance between positions big enough to matter, yet not so big that I get stressed out over them. It's a fine art, and has taken me years to learn, but I think I'm there. ObTrade: I ended up putting out 1500 shares of HUM Thursday night into the panic-buying on the misunderstood contract report. I went to bed and didn't give it another thought until the next morning. Enough size to make it worthwhile ($2500 win), but small enough to keep from being stressed out about it.
That's not a question that a trader should ask himself.. The answer should be obviously from the very start.. AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE..The sky is the limit... If you need a figure or something concrete to strive for.try 20 million if you just started out... but you shouldn't be even be thinking in dollar terms because you can easily relate it your everyday life. how would you feel if you lost a amount that is the value of the house you are living in at the moment? Only think in percentages and your benchmark should be the buy-and hold return.. If you have any doubts then you shouldn't be trading because you are wasting your time..Why? because you simply won't make it with that sort of wage slave mentality... Unless you can accept the uncertainty that trading brings into your life and forget about the stability that a paycheck represents, This fear is always going to hold you back and you are simply never going to reach your full potential.. I see a lot comment about lifestyle/emotional consideration. None of that should come into your trading, I believe there are certain sacrifices you have to make to become a trader and you can't have it all...No Pain, No gain.. as simple as that..
As far as stress goes, each to their own tolerance, however: If you have a proven trading system, then I would assume that the stress level goes down being that you know that sometimes it wins and sometimes it loses, but in the end (since it is a proven winning system) you know that you'll come out ahead. If you are still finding out whether or not your system is a winner, then yes, the unknown could be the stress. On the note of education/fulltime job vs. trading: I have a fulltime job, currently. Education got me this job. It pays very well, more than national averages. BUT, my sole motivation for trading is the burning desire to get away from the Corporate BS and ratrace. I will accept $20k to $30k less per year to get away from the stress of rush hour traffic, routine hours, working with idiots and overall numbing effects of the Corporate atmosphere.
Couldn't agree more, you could almost say that the only thing which makes trading worthwhile is the unlimited potential in what one can earn and the freedom with which one can live his or her life. Trying to compare trading to any other 9-5 job does not do justice to either the rewards nor the risks involved.