Quote from Brianharvey: Traderzones, why do you think he doesn't stand a chance? I mean, he's ALREADY been doing it for 3 years, no? Making money every year. You dont know whether he has been "doing it on paper", had terrible money management, had a lot of luck along the way and a lot of other things. What if he made $75,000 on 1-2 trades due to extreme fortune and meandered all the rest of the time? Do you know his Sharpe, Profit Factor? max DD? you see his broker statements? Do you know whether he is trading with a $5,000 or $500,000 account? without a lot of information, this is almost meaningless. If he started a thread 3 years ago about whether to start trading part time, you would have definitely told him 'No!! everyone fails. you'll lose all your money' Well...you'd have been wrong, and cost him $75k so far, lol! obviously, you know nothing about this trader, you are making many assumptions. What if Are you saying that the added pressure of it being his only source of income will lead to him failing? 3 years is a long time. He obviously knows how to trade. Others have already said that in this thread. If you doubt this, you are a long way from being a successful trader yourself. And no it is NOT obvious. I know trading is very hard with a high failure rate, but I think you're being overly negative. I think I am being very accurate. You seem not to grasp what is really involved in moving into a "support yourself, 3 kids and a wife" arena. Some people ARE able to make money trading. $50? For 3 months? Or $70,000 annually for 10 years on a $40K account? You are so nebulous, your statements are almost irrelevant. From your assesment, I doubt you are one of them, in a longterm, lucrative POV. If his post was about how he'd been trading 5 years fulltime profitably trading, and was asking advice as to whether to take a good job offer or carry on trading, id assunme you'd say stop trading? you make many assumptions. What I said was dead on. You should try and read all the other posts in this forum, and you will see many people giving him similar advice. The cheerleaders here, who are likely paper traders, are not helping him at all. The more you know about trading, the more you will become like those telling him not to jump out into the abyss and drag his family down with him. The less you know, the more you will say "go for it, dude...!"
Wrong, assuming that you don't have a paid-for house and a nest egg of at least $250K. With a wife and 3 kids to support, do not even think about quitting your job. Trade as you trade now and save your money. When you have built up a substantial nest egg and you know that you have your kids' expenses taken care of for whatever you intend to help them with (i.e. school), either negotiate 6 months leave or quit your job and try full time trading for 6-12 months. You can't throw all your chips on the table and play in the big game if you have 3 kids under age 7. How old are you?
It's simple, show her your account records, broker statements and explain (remind her) what you guys did with the money you made from trading. However, if you can't prove that too her...she's not going to support you even if you manage to get her to say she'll support you because she really won't believe it. Some women you can make promises and they fall for the nice talks. Other women want to see proof via past actions. Also, if and when you do lose your job, start trading part-time while you're actively looking for work. Simply, she'll be happy that you're looking for a job and you'll have a little more time to convince her that things aren't bad via showing her your current trading profits. My spouse was the same way until I gave her access to my trading accounts along with paying myself (withdrawing profits) a biweekly pay check along with treating it like a business via a business account with the bank, credit card, tax accountant, health & medical insurance plans et cetera. Simply, you may need to show her that trading is a business especially when kids are involved (I got two kids). However, if you're currently not making profits via trading in current market conditions...you aren't going to get the support you need from her if/when you lose your job (seriously) and that's why you may need to do this part-time if/when you lose your job while spending the remainder of your day networking for a new job. Mark
don't think it is the right time to jump in now, many experienced traders at assent and lightspeed that i know are falling like flies due to the low volatility and liquidity
How about this: Instead of trading your own account full time, set up a proprietary trading company. It won't cost much and you can have you own LLC. That way, if you are any good you can expand beyond trading your own account. It increases the possible ways you can make money vastly. You can hire employees if need be, or be the only employee. You can also sell it to your wife that you are starting a business, not simply turning over your own brokerage account.
Before you take the plunge do a careful analysis of all debt you have -- mortgage, credit cards, auto loans, health insurance for your family -- do you feel you can consistently make the kind of income you need to have no problems making these payments? I left my job in 1996 to trade with no debt (house paid off, etc.). Thus, I felt less pressure early on to make decent profits. If your 2 years of living expenses covers all the above expenses then if you're let go in July I'd give it a shot.
Trader Zones - I disagree with the above. Why is his belief "dead wrong" that he can make it as a trader? I had the same objective when I left my job in 1996. 14 Years later and I'm still trading and doing well. Having confidence that you can succeed at a venture is a positive. Second, why use the analogy of going to a casino and blowing $40K? He's stated he's made $25K part time in recent years. If he's truthful he's doing something right. And 0.3% chance of success long term? That's 1 out of every 300 who aspire to trade who make it longer term. Those who are truly serious about it, and have aptitude, have a MUCH higher chance of long term success.
One thing I've learned in 14 years is that you need to adapt. Traders who are falling by the wayside are either stubborn trying to "force" strategies that no longer work or else don't want to adapt to current conditions.