My neighbor is a luxury used car salesman. Last year at our block party he shows up with a 2004 mercedes. I proceeded to ask, how much is it? Well his answer i find perfectly appropriate in this situation for you cash. "IF YOU HAVE TO ASK, you cant afford it" so in your case if you really have to ask if your ready to handle a 200k account then the answer is without question no. I am not familar with your posts and your ideas so i cant confirm or deny if you consistently make or lose money. If you were performing even slightly better than your money manager then i have no doubt that you would take out atleast a small portion of the account. Based on the fact that you are asking a public forum if you are ready is reason enough that you are NOT ready. You mention that he is not trading the same size that you are, ever consider thats why your not making money and he is? 17k or whatever you said is more than enough to build some sort of foundation to see if you really can trade for a living. If you cant double your 17k you cant double 200k. My parents have a large amount of money with their broker and i honestly feel i am better suited to manage it than him but I have no track record, my only track record is blowing up trading options in 10 months. Things change, i think im ready to give trading another shot, i feel i have learned from my mistakes but i dont think im ready to go in with 200k. I dont think you realize the effect that say a 10% downswing in the portfolio equity is really going to do. When you lose $20k of real money it has an effect on you and at 21 that effect is even worse. Bottom line: Work on your own trading account and when you double it on a risk adjusted basis as your money manger than consider taking out a small portion. DOnt take it all because what if you really just witnessed dumb luck. When you double it again take out a little more and so on. 200k is a very nice nest egg for a 21 year old it will provide leverage for the things you can and cant do for the rest of your life so make good choices.
Oh and to dwitherell, I worked at Legg Mason in their brokerage unit which is now smith barney I know what your saying about the compliance and regulators. I realized i wanted to stay the hell out of sales and go more for trading. I owe them that!
It's a tough, but rewarding job helping people reach their financial goals for the reasons that are important to them. We stay away from any sales processes, and only accept new clients through referral. All of the major wirehouses/banks still think of the industry as a sales process. We think the industry should be handled like a doctor would run his practice. Meaning, putting people's $ in investments that are right for them, not just the firm's profit.
cash69, you are biggest moron. check your ego at the door. that 10k will be gone in months. i'm only 21 as well but i am in a totally different mental world of trading from you. trading is 90% mental and 10% pressing the trigger, you lack largest chunk.
Hey no need to insult him. He's clearly a beginner at this, my advice is to keep doing what you do without adding more money in yet, when you turn a 25% return on your portfolio, match that with funds from your nest, and keep shifting more assets on a result oriented basis. You shouldn't be excited by unrealistic and imaginative gains. Start with a risk tolerance level you are most comfortable with and try to make the most money possible with that risk level as a bottom line, don't throw your 200k at the markets without even considering the consequences.
i think the first 6 pages of this thread were subtle enough for him to get the hint, but obviously not, sometimes people need to be hit with a blunt object.
Check my ego at the door?...wtf is that susposed to mean?..I guess making the post about adding money to my account makes me have a big ego?..uhh, no. As far as the money goes, I've made 15k last over a year (dispite all the mistakes I've made), which by most standards is undercapitalized as it is. Many traders blow up the first year or quit. Im still here. Dont get mad cuz you blew up your account, and wanna come to ET and whine like lil a b--tch. cm