Hi, Not sure if this is the right forum, but long story short, 8 years ago I started to get the "investing bug" and in the past off-and-on I tried to invest with a small amount of capital, and each year I tried and failed, mostly due to poor strategies (not being diversified, buying crap penny stocks or buying leveraged ETFs, and so on in the hope of having fast money). I realize that back then I was gambling and not investing. Now I am finally realizing that long-term I can make money with stocks, but I need more capital and need more time. In my retirement account, I have stocks like UNP, DIS, XOM, AMZN, LVS, F (large-caps with dividends), and I'm done with owning risky stocks. I've found that I am now a lot more patient than I was 8 years ago, and know that it takes time for stocks to gain value, and the fast money game is hard even for the pros. But, to the bigger issue; To be blunt, since I am now 32 years old, is there any way I can get into finance without getting an MBA? Or for that matter, how could I make a career out of working in asset management or international trade/banking? In the past I never followed my dreams of being a stock trader or working in finance since I had low self-esteem and didn't think I could succeed at it since I have ADD and didn't go to an ivy league school. I also got nervous about being able to hack it in NYC. Again, I don't believe in being a victim or limiting myself, so I want to turn my life around, and as cliched as it sounds, I know that one day I will die, and I want to make the most of life while I'm here. Up to this point, following the stock market and investing has been an avid hobby, but I want to turn it into something more. However, I am unsure if I have limited choices on how to accomplish wealth accumulation through the stock market, such as saving up on my own and investing/day trading with my own capital, or if I could work with a financial company as a career. I'm good at remembering a lot of facts about stocks and companies, but I'm not the best with using advanced math and formulas (I have an ESFP personality type, if that helps at all). Thanks again for helping out this newbie! I'm disappointed for not following my dreams earlier in life, but realize that being 32 isn't as bad as being 52, or what have you. Any helpful advice would be appreciated.
Wow... you didn't make money during the last 8 years, which was/is an 8 year bull market? You do realize that 8 years ago was the low in S&P500? Looking at this chart... on this day exactly at 676 and we are currently 3.5x that?
Yeah, not something I'm proud of by missing out on the big bull market. But, hey, maybe that was a big enough sign that I should just focus on B&H for the long run and stick to quality names.
Why don`t you try short term trading by subscribing to alerts service?There are a few decent ones with the record.invest your time in social life then.
And for the record, I realize that since the meltdown of '09 or what not the markets have recovered and prospered, so I was hoping we could all avoid the obvious, "How could you not succeed in an upmarket?"
At one time getting a series 7 license would get you a job right away. I don't know if it is still true. Like with many careers, its more who you know than what you know. Also like many careers, there is more money working for yourself than someone else. If you lack self confidence you will have a hard time of it. Most people will have no more confidence in you than you have in yourself. Private message me and I'll tell you a trick to help you get started. A lot of states don't require any (or much) in the way of education / certification to become a financial adviser. Some years ago I had need for a CPA license. I made my appointment before cracking open a book. Studied over the weekend and passed the test the following week. A better route would be to ask yourself, what are you good at. Or more to the point, what can you convince others you are good at. Most people are cattle. You have to do all the thinking for them. Egotistical cattle, you also have to make them think it was their idea all along. Good luck!
Thanks, poorboy! I am actively improving my self-confidence, so I'm confident in that regard (heheh). Thanks, I will analyze myself and see what it is I could truly do well within the investments world.
So you're essentially going to track the S&P 500 over the next years without really over-performing it on a beta-adjusted basis and you want to get a job at an asset management firm to do this ? I think you should travel a bit and discover the world, there are many great places where you can make money, including the middle-east, africa and latin america. You're going to try to get a cent here and there in an industry that's dying whereas in these countries, if your skin color is white, you will be considered as a semi-god already.... and life quality is actually much better there than in the USA, but that's just my personal opinion.
TJ, don't travel outside the U.S. Canada England and whatever your ancestral homeland is. In most third world countries the national past time is putting shit in peoples food. I'm not joking. It includes third world people in the US going into multiple generations. Even here in the states, if you care about your health, cook your own food. In third world countries you can't even buy food in the grocery store that has not been tampered with. Another popular sport is using ether or chloroform to anesthetize tourists and rape them in their sleep. It does not matter if you are young or old, man or woman, they will do it and brag about it to their friends. And you will never know until you get the results of your blood test. Which is a joke because even here in the states getting a decent blood test is like pulling teeth and if you retest a few times with different doctors and made-up names you realize someone is just making it up and not running the test. Unless WG is a captain in the military he probably entertained a lot of people on his travels.