so i got millions, now what?

asap · Sep 3, 2008

where is atticus to tell him exactly what to do???

achilles28 · Sep 3, 2008

Quote from thelolo:

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 naÃ¯ve 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).
More...

Go party your ass off and have sex with a ton of hot women.

You're only 21 for Petes Sake!

Travel. Party. Start a Charity. Make Friends. Be SOCIAL.

Enjoy life.

Frig.

imc · Sep 3, 2008

I think you have had success too quickly (not criticism) and have never experienced 'pain' financial or otherwise.

You clearly don't fully realize how fortunate your situation is and maybe never will until you either take a real kick in the nuts in life or snap out off your subliminal 'feeling sorry' mode.

You could, and this is just a suggestion, get involved with the Mafia and get some adrenalin pumping into your veins which would alleviate your boredom.
You could still trade after you've finished a 'hit' for example.

Another suggestion would be to give me some of your money as I haven't had your good fortune.

acronym · Sep 3, 2008

You could alway's bake some nice cookies.

Joab · Sep 3, 2008

Quote from Trader KGB:

I have a good friend making low six figures in online poker consistently for many years now. Nothing has changed.

More...

I don't believe him or you.

Why aren't you doing the same.

In my opinion, online poker is run by third world mafia's and like all other forms of gambling they will let you win for awhile but then take it all back BEFORE you withdraw it.

trendlover · Sep 3, 2008

Maybe op is looking for capitol to start a hedge fund? Better to risk other peoples money than his own. If he fails than he still has his 2 million. If he is profitable, then everyone wins. No risk to him.

Hydroblunt · Sep 3, 2008

Quote from coolweb:

2. Don't invest in anything over 7% interest, all of them are bullshit and fraudulent.

More...

You are retarded but most of us already knew that.

Quote from GermanTrader:

Get a financial planner and do what they say.
More...

Wow, uhm, don't ever listen to this guy about money.

Anyway, whoever actually thought that the original post is truthful, you are very stupid or at best, just plain gullible. It's an obvious troll, another alias.

Allen3 · Sep 3, 2008

Quote from thelolo:

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 naÃ¯ve 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).
More...

Do something altruistic. Join an organization working for something you want to believe in. Spend your time working for something besides money.

Do you have a belief system. Joining and practicing one can bring you more completion than making money.

Get into a hobby/art/physical activity, once you start pursuing something with vigor, you will find cultures and communities surrounding the activities.

Working with people with common goals and interest is the best way to discover new friends. No need to cold call for friends, but you do have to take a first step to put yourself into contact with people.

jim

shakira · Sep 3, 2008

Always bet on black.

GermanTrader · Sep 3, 2008

Quote from Hydroblunt:

Wow, uhm, don't ever listen to this guy about money.
More...

Oh that's right asshat, don't listen to someone whose portfolio exceeds yours in longevity, diversification and size. No... make sure to get your crap advise in there about gambling earnings, yeah! And whatever you do, never, NEVER take financial advise from someone who makes his living by advising the wealthy on how to stay wealthy. And under penalty of death, NEVER take conservative fiscal advise from successful traders. /sarcasm

Hydroblunder, you are a welfare case looking for a place to happen, and are doomed to a life on ET bitching about why you can never really make trading work. You stink and do not create any success around you.

7% or so in locked-up, concrete-secure vehicles is sound advice. Sure, keep a percentage of the funds in liquid vehicles. But if you keep most of it liquid, it will disappear.