I exchange emails with "NoDoji" couple times a year. Am not going to share the whys she left nor where she lives now or how well she doing. Bottom line she doesn't want to come back here. I think many come here for reasons of either learning or looking to add nuggets from old posts or people trying to steal to sell. Times have changed radically on the forum, it use to be an exchange of ideas was first, and now it is an exchange of trash talk for most part. Most of the time, it is post something then be attacked or "where is stats or proof", people want you to bust your ass in programming and share your findings or they want me to send them data, screw that. I could care less if they prove it or even show brokerage statements, cause I don't trust anyone, don't know how they traded it to get findings or their accounts whether real or paper trading. Matter of fact, I get more ideas from beginning traders than old farts cause they share little of value not to come close to how they trade. I am entering new stage of my life, it is called being well again by end of Spring, I be on the road RVing then thinking of going from private trader to being more. “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Handle123, many here don't deserve a public explanation...each year the same question. Reminder, this is a shallow forum that whenever an active member doesn't post for a month or so... Folks show their true skin about how shallow they are when they say the person must have blew up, trade method didn't work, person must be in hiding, banned or whatever. They just can't handle that some may have just left the forum because they just don't like it here anymore, someone has died or very ill or even moved to another social media via a different user name. The real scumbags will even go as far to make up gender, racial, religion, sexuality reasons. Some just can't handle the fact that some folks just leave without saying goodbye as if they deserved to be notified prior to departure. Seriously, if someone really did retire or hanging out on beaches or traveling the rest of their life on cruises...people not in the know will fabricate any stupid lie in an attempt to degrade a user name out of jealousy. Kind'uv reminds me of a story when I was a kid when I was on my parents stairs listening to a poker game my old man had with some buddies when someone asked another guy "What happen to Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates". I heard replies like the guy couldn't handle the big leagues, washed up, kicked out of the game, probably went back to Cuba the communist s.o.b., in jail or whatever. Roberto was from Puerto Rico and had died in a plane crash while delivering aid to earthquake victims...he'd died two years earlier prior to that poker game. He was a famous professional baseball player and he even had volunteered to serve in the Marine Corp reserves...serving in the Marine corps he thought was one of his greatest accomplishments. Today's social media in some ways is like those drunken guys playing a game of poker.
Donna (NoDoji) was an extremely honest, intelligent, positive, inspiring trader contributing to these forums. Her leaving is a testament to just how much negativity one person can withstand from years of trying to help others. I enjoyed Redneck's posts immensely too.
You have a point, and I would have totally agreed with you fifteen years ago. But external factors force you into altering your decision making. Do you really trust that your "number" will hold up with the Federal Reserve actively crushing your purchasing power? Do you really know how much money you need before you can abandon your trading career given all the current uncertainty in the world? Can you really retire when interest rates for savings accounts are 1% or less?
Even with all those uncertainties you can still have a number. Eventually, you will have enough money for the rest of your life even if you are earning nothing on savings. Have you ever gone through your closet and discovered a piece of clothing you bought a year or two ago still unworn with tags on? How did that make you feel? And yet, at the time of purchase you were excited about it and were certain you needed it and would wear it. I think about money the same way, except in this case the consequences are much worse as you are spending time to earn it, time you can never replace or earn back. Not my place to tell people how to spend their lives. All I am saying is that there is a lot of value in figuring out what all this money is for and that giving up on "more" doesn't reflect badly on your character or drive. In fact, I believe it's the opposite as I personally find that feeling of Zen priceless.
The problem is, what if you are wrong on your number? What if the government decides to do a bail-in and 30% of your account goes up in smoke? There is so much debt all over the world that eventually everyone is going to get hurt. Maybe it won't happen before you die, maybe it will. But it forces you to keep track of your finances even after you've hit your number.
I had watched Clemente play several times in Wrigley field, much spoke of his hitting and running abilities, but WOW, he had an arm, no one would tag up from 3rd much cept Brock or other world class speed. And he was so generous man with his time and monies, something you don't hear much of cept for Tim Tebow, sports players making millions and soon be making 40 million n baseball, reasons why you have to have bucks just to get the cheap seats. I like reading your posts wrbtrader, your knowledgeable and not afraid to help others.