This is not a brag post. Please save the flaming. Long story, cliff notes summary at the bottom. I consider myself to be a very lucky guy. I had the opportunity of a lifetime four years ago when the Internet poker bubble was at its peak. I profited massively and made between 1 and 2 million after tax, having made an average of just over 2000$ per hour. I became a millionaire at age 18. I played poker in the evenings and early mornings, then went to class in the late afternoon, barely having time to do anything else. Because I am somewhat of a bright kid, I managed to BS my way through college (a top 3 school in my field of EE and CS). I did graduate in two and half years, but in the process destroyed all hopes of graduate school and landing a great job with my subpar grades and zero job experience. I was still a college student at the time, but I was very confident in my abilities and I turned my attention to the markets. I figured if I can consistently beat the highest cash games online, I could also be successful in the markets. I did massive research and experimenting, designing trade systems and such. I was too naïve at first, and my trading blew up in my face several times, including one nasty 30% drawdown. But later on, as I got better, I enjoyed more success. My returns for 2006-2008 are -7%, 45% and 36% YTD respectively. I feel like Iâm still a kid at heart. Now Iâm 21 years old, and Iâm still living with my parents. I have been thinking about moving out. But where the heck should I move to? I donât know. I bought the house we are living in, having paid off the 600k mortgage that my parents borrowed after their down payment. My parents have sheltered me for most of my life, and Iâm beginning to feel like I should break away and start my own life. I know I canât afford to buy another house now, and wonât it be strange to park my $100,000 sports car next to an apartment. In a way, life is becoming a little boring and easy. I canât feel the stress and the pain of the ânormalâ people who work the 9 to 5. Of course the social life is a problem. I hardly have any friends anymore who are still around, as all my best friends have moved on to med school and grad school. Iâve made only a few friends in the last year. I donât have a girlfriend either even though Iâm a reasonably attractive guy. The only new people Iâve met recently I have all approached them randomly. I am disgusted at how desperate this is, so I end up not going out much at all. Iâm not a drinker, so I donât go to bars and clubs. People arenât going to line up outside my house to make friends with me. Age might be an issue here because Iâm only 21 years old, which is young to connect with most 9 to 5 people, but I feel my maturity towers over those still in college. Trading is taking less time nowadays. In fact I have so much time, I donât know what to do with it. Sometimes I would take strolls outside during market hours. Staying home all the time, which used to be so fun in the beginning, is finally getting old. When I meet new people, they would often ask me what I do for a living. I tell them Iâm a trader, or I manage money, or I started an internet business or whatever sounds good. While they pretend to be interested, I can see the disdain in their eyes from associating me with some petty daytrader. I can see the difference clearly, especially when Iâm out with a friend, who had just landed a job with Google. While you might tell me to not care what others think, I cannot do that. So what do I think the solution is to my aforementioned problems? Iâm now thinking about joining a hedge fund, which will give me a chance to see what it is like in âreal lifeâ. The cons are, obviously I donât like to take orders, I consider earning 100k a year little, and doing bitch work is not fun. Of course, the alternative is to continue what I have been doing for the last 2 and a half years and hopefully make +20% a year until I retire. On my current net worth of over two million plus home equity, this will likely exceed any income I can get in a real job while taking less effort. In the end, I will make my own decision. But Iâd like to hear what the board has to say, other than Iâm a cocky kid who got lucky. Cliff notes: I have a bunch of money, mostly from poker. I have been trading for 2.5 years with decent results on my own, avging a few hundred K a year pretax. Should I continue doing this (which is becoming less interesting as we go), or try to switch to a real job like working at a hedge fund (which might generate some positive stress in my life and make me feel less lonely).
you sound like the lucky kid I dreamed of being. If u can join a hedgefund (is it that easy?), it'll be a worthwhile experience and it'll certainly take care of the boredom issue. It'll also help you manage your fortunes better in the long run. how come u stopped playing online poker? maybe I should join a poker site...u know any good ones?
not that i play it now, or ever played it. but i believe it was made illegal quite some time ago. good ol' gummint!
start going to lounges not night clubs! At first it will be awkward but eventually you'll get used to it and slowly develop a social aspect to your personality! at first buy your friends and slowly trim down and over time stop spending money on them to keep the good ones and chuk the useless! Find yourself a girlfriend... spend quality time!.. Refocus on work (as the above ) will give you more mental energy to refocus on work! keep 1 -2 friends + 1 gf. Work work.. spend time with your gf. get an apartment with her afterwards! That was my "trading plan" about a year ago.. and it worked out like a charm! Now Im happy personally and I get work done !
not illegal, although there were restrictions passed about a couple years in the USA limiting transactions. Also still money to be made, although not as easy as a few years ago.
I mean sure what I mentioned above might seem "whack" or what not.. but my #1 priority in life as of 10 years old is to be rich! So maybe it does seem odd .. and absurd to the normal human being.. but for me it was the fastest shortcut to be able to refocus on work! I suggest you follow through!