I ask this because I have been in a bit of a soul searching mode lately. A bit about me: my main source of income is my RIA - for those unfamiliar, RIA's manage client portfolios and/or sub-advise portfolios of other firms. It has been a decent way to make a living for the most part but lately there seem to be headwinds. The past year has been tough on many diverse model based strategies; many RIAs including myself have experienced some amount of client redemptions. An added irritant is the 'robo-advisors' who do plain vanilla strategic asset allocation ('SAA') for zero fees or almost zero fees - we tactical RIAs have lost a lot of business to the robos. Another depressing thing looming is the potential new SEC regulation banning or limiting derivative based ETFs and funds, which is the bulk of what I trade for clients. I am left wondering if I might just be better off closing shop and going to work for a large firm (in what capacity I have no idea). Or should I continue running my RIA but purchase a second unrelated business to smooth out my revenue stream through the lean times. So I am very curious what you guys are doing to earn a living? Are you living off your trading gains? Do you work in the industry? An unrelated industry? Are you a business owner? What kind of business? Anything you can share would be helpful in generating some fresh thinking in my own head. Thanks.
Swing trader and real estate investments or as a good friend likes to say, I'm long bricks, land and myself.
ever considered going into fiduciary services....great way to make RIA relevant again...interned at a firm that specialized in this, and they are doing quite well...pretty new business model
Computer Programmer / general anything IT!! 3 1/2 months then hope just Day Trader, we shall see, had ENOUGH!!
@Autodidact: what do your real estate investments look like? Do you own properties where you collect rent from tenants? Flipping homes? I have dabbled in investment property in the past, earned slim profits. May look at it again though if worthwhile. @Turveyd: are you a contractor? I have thought about doing consulting on the side as I do have some coding skills (need to brush up on the latest technologies though). @romik: can you elaborate what activity within the Real Estate biz. I have been researching pre-existing businesses for sale in my area and there are some that look interesting where they could generate passive income with minimal or moderate involvement. I have seen laundromats for sale. I have also looked into buying a Car Wash (I can see myself as the guy from Breaking Bad!). These types of businesses are pretty much immune to recession, automation, globalization.