I say AMMO nails it. There is a fallacy in your thinking. The fallacy is that you need to trade all day to make more. You are already profitable, just keep the winnings in the account, slowly and conservatively increase your trade size, always maintaining losses @1% or less. You need to be able to draw $50 K out of your account per year and still have the account growing. The year you do that .. deposit those winnings directly into your wife's account (if she has a private one.) All the while keeping your job. That'll prove it to her. The key is, $50K needs to be "chicken feed" to your account but "plenty" for the family. Meanwhile, slowly wean yourself off your job, perhaps negotiate with them to go part time, most companies are looking to trim anyway. I'm in the same spot, only years behind you, but have thought about this everyday for years. Think of the job as a very good trade, for now. Treat it like any other career change/business venture. Any job where you can trade even 4 days from market open to lunch is a freaking goldmine!!!!! When I go full time, I know I will work in the afternoons anyway just to keep fresh, get away from the screen and keep that money rolling in smooth as my baby's bottom. Go slow, you've already got it if you are making money!
Sam's advice is spot on. Maybe even extend it to 2 or 3 years making 75k. You'll find the job is not so bad if your trading goes well. You're young. Take your time. You can take the plunge in the future.
If you have a proven trading history and maybe a few years savings, that'll probably be enough to convince your wife to trade full time.
why not just let her read this thread...seriously...she can read all the great input and insight on this topic...
Thank you to everyone that has contributed to this thread. No matter if you have offered support or tried to talk me out of it, I take everything with a grain of salt and understand that ultimately it is my choice that I have to make. I do intend to keep my job or a job and continue to trade on the side to build my nest egg. I just was throwing the idea out because come July there is a real possibility that I won't have a job. I like the idea of and what I will probably do if I do lose my job is trading in the morning and job searching in the afternoon. I think I might have given the wrong impression of my wife when I started the thread. It isn't that she isn't supportive of what I do it's just that she is extremely cautious when it comes to matters of money management and investing. She is the type of person who would rather put all of our money in savings accounts and just sit on it rather than putting it in the market. She looks at it as if the money is there we can't lose it, but I am of the opinion that 1 to 3 % a year on our money from a savings account isn't going to get us anywhere. So that is why you can see she was skeptical when I told her I would like to trade full time. I believe that if I continue to get results and increase the amount of money in my account she will hop on board. I might even let her read this thread to see what everyone has to say. Again, thank you to everyone for the input and keep it coming.
Find a divorce lawyer, because not only will staying home to be a day trader stress the hell out of your marriage to the breaking point, if you have kids, count on rarely, if ever, seeing them again when the shit hits the fan and she leaves to live with her parents. Straight up. That was my life ten years ago. Now I do whatever I want. But I paid the price for rolling the dice. Flip a coin.
TRY makes an excellant point... Sounds like your in a jam cause u dont have a wife that is free enough in the mind for u to pursue what u believe in...therfor a big gamble if u go for it! I believe even if u had 3x the past positive results your wife sounds like the type of person who would always be nervous-which would eventually put a lot of pressure on your marriage. Could be best to have that long talk with her and ask her what her financial goals are for the next 5 years and then develop a plan around it
Like I said before I may have painted the picture that my wife isn't supportive at all when really she is, just a little skeptical of the stock market. She has moved all over the country with me while I work with the kids in tow and has maintained our household while I am working and often times on the road. She has given up or atleast put on hold her educational and career aspirations in order for me to pursue mine and more importantly has given me three beautiful healthy children that mean the world to me. I have come to the realization that she is extremely cautious and careful with money, but that might be a good thing to provide a balance for our lives if I were to trade for a living. Utlimately when I decide to show her the numbers in black and white she will get the picture that I am trying to paint. A few posts have addressed the issue of me being at home trading with the wife and kids will cause added stress, distractions, and may convey the wrong picture of what daddy does for a living to the children. I have thought about this and have already decided that it will probably benefit everyone involved if I do decide to trade full time it won't be sitting on the couch in the living room. I have friends and relatives that have empty offices in there places of business that should be able to provide me with an affordable and professional place to trade without the added distractions of home.
i had 3 side jobs when i began trading,it was actually theraputic,you could make 3 k in a day and give it back tommorrow, the side jobs, they were real money, you earned it ,you collected it and it was in your hand,sounds like you are going ahead with this, i hope you have a second skill that will bring in some cash, going full time today means watching the screen 15 hrs a day,it will burn you out,if you have another job, you wont be able to,this will be a plus