This is a poll for the non-pro traders who hold a job and earn a salary. How much is your yearly salary? If you are striving to become a pro trader, do you expect to match your salary, or do you expect to exceed your salary? Would you still become a pro trader if you could only match your current earnings at best? Lastly, I wonder if there's a inverse correlation between what someone currently earns and his/her chance of becoming a pro trader?
I'd hate to get further away from the (worthwhile) subject of this thread / poll, but... regarding that link... for someone obsessed with deriving and presenting all kinds of statistics, his "95% Confidence Intervals" in table 3 are completely wrong, by 2 orders of magnitude. Then again, the survey sample itself is 1) entirely online (enough said), 2) self-selected and 3) self-reported, making its results as soft, err, unreliable, as they come. Now back to salaries, I hope...
I hope this doesn't turn into a penis size thread. The reason why I'm asking the question is this: As I'm earning more salary, I'm getting more comfortable with my lifestyle and savings... And as I'm getting more comfortable, I'm doubting more whether I can replace/exceed my salary from trading full-time. I still love trading and the idea of trading, and I'm also a practical guy... Anyway, just wanted to toss some thoughts around. Just wondering if anyone else is facing these types of issues.
Unless you dedicate yourself solely to trading, you will never fully excel and if you dont fully excel you will never find the true potential in yourself and the markets. The market offers unlimited opportunities to everyone and only those fully commited to the task can reap the true benefits. As far as I am concerned, if you can make the move to full time and do truly love trading, you'd be a fool not to see what you can accomplish. IMHO.
I admit it'd be difficult for me to replace my current income through trading. I'm not sure that's my true goal in all this however. More than anything I'd like to be financially independent. This means that I'd like to be able to reach a point where being an employee is optional and I could support myself on my own. I think taking a pay cut might be a fair trade for that freedom.
pvtrader I feel like I am in the same boat as u. I have a real passion for trading. I love my job and i actually trade all day at my current job. I feel like it might be tough to duplicate my current salary trading for myself. Ay least for the first year or two. One of my concerns is the whole insurance thing. I am recently married and have a kid on the way. The insurance alone could be at least 1k per month for my family. I guess you could say im comfortable in my current job. Not exactly breaking the bank but my salary has gone up in the last 5 years. At what point does you salary and benefits outweigh the opportunity to be a trader and work for yourself? I feel like I might need make at least an extra 50k per year just to be even with my current job. Insurance, 401k, lunch and breakfast everyday. Plus the security of knowing there a paycheck every two weeks. I do feel like someday something could happen to my current position and I just might find myself wanting to strike out on my own. I sorrta plan for this as much as I can. Keeping my debt low and trying to save up some cash reserves. I guess it just depends on how badly you want it. Anyway, I can totally relate to your line of thinking pvtrader. Jim ps. how do I start a new paragraph? duh