Philosophically ... Nothing worth while comes easy. Say NO. There is plenty of time in life to fall back on the self serving life of trading. There is one single purpose - to make oneself money. There may be many great minds that are WASTED trying to extract money out of the markets ... or OPM. But what good have they done? Is mankind better off? Some of the most brilliant scientific minds of the 21st century have made Billions in the market. But, I suspect they regret their selfish orientation of their careers. Be careful, don't be afraid to put up obstacles
If you wait to they are 18 to instill a love for learning and to pursue worthwhile goals (many of which coincide with careers), it is too late to tell them anything. That said, mixing trading and programming is not so bad. But what he should do is go to Goldman Sachs etc to see what the typical resume looks like. That may affect his outlook. nitro
ROFL that's sounded like me, 5years ago. its like looking through a mirror. but I didnt consider trading as a viable option that early. I also like being w/friends even though I did other things that kept me mentally challenged. I programmed alot in high school. Advanced Placement CS class/exam was a joke. I had published my FTP GUI client(adware) in 1999-2000. soon I realized that people hated adware. anyway... long story short. i'm more of a EE, because of all the little electronic gadgets me & my dad built when I was 6 to 9 yrs old(more like my dad built). but I went to school as CS major, even tho i knew the jobs were going overseas. i did it because CS is the only major that can help me start a company in the future with very little initial capital. and i also wanted to goto business school after. i really didnt want to be a programmer for life, but I like the idea of being high up in the management food chain with a technical mind. i learnt later on that I can apply things I learnt from CS to other things in life. I thought it was the most versatile engr major. ... I started swing trading, read alot of books, during late sophomore year. I opened an account with freetrade, then joined a prop a little after a year. I did it as a challenge, and also knowing that I have little chances of getting noticed by IB, being on the west coast. sure I wanted the reward, but I was more realistic. I knew it was going to be hard. I join a prop shop during the summer between my jr & sr year(2004). I did that because I got into the masters program in my school, and i know i don't need an internship, so I can get a real job(just yet). i leveraged it & use it the time (next 3 years) to trade and see what I can do with it. ... ... fast forward 22 months (w/2mo break) I am still not profitable. but I am still at it. I think its the best decision I've ever made in my life. it opened my eyes, even though i lost a good portion of $$$ I graduated with a BS in CS last summer. & still continuing with my MS. as far as job goes, this is the best job market i've ever seen. all the tech companies are hiring left & right. in 2002, i've been told that the CS enrolledment in my school dropped like 25% compared to my year. i just got an internship for the summer with a very popular tech company. my advice: he should go to school, learn stuff he likes. hopefully useful, none of that psych & philosphy stuff, unless he really want to party alot. trade on the side. since he's so fortunate to have parents that understand the process, and can help him along, at least with trading. that's something I didnt, and still dont have. make sure to party hard at least during freshmen year, most grad school admin tends to over look that.
Hehe, it just dawned on me, but so far everybody missed it. In the original set up, BOTH mom and dad were SUCCESSFUL traders, so if they are not able to teach their son in 3, max. 6 months what they know, the son is clearly not cut out to be a trader....
I would support his decision 100%. But I would make him earn the money to start trading with. I would pay for the kid to go to college first though.
I'd tell him if he wants to feel alive to go to Las Vegas, its a lot cheaper and more fun then chasing a rush in front of the computer screen 12 hours a day.
Answer your own questions... 1)What good have you done? 2)Is mankind better off because of you? 3)Do you regret the "selfish orientation of your career"? Not flaming....just wondering.
Well, not because the Bush father and son are President and other family member could not become the President, actually they are or will be eligible as well. However, one thing needs to keep in mind, there's no age required for the Market but for University age is so important. The younger your are the better to earn a grade.
"We wake up in the bed each morning, eat the same breakfast and drive to work down the same road. We see the same dull faces in the office, and shuffle papers on our old desks. We drive home, watch the same dumb shows on tv, have a beer, and go to sleep in the same bed. We repeat this routine day after day, month after month, year after year. It feels like a life sentence without parole." There's a lot of wisdom in the quote that this real/hypothetical son gave. You gotta take risks and try to have a little fun. I'd encourage it if he persisted. Give him books, personal knowledge, and information in general. Try to get him to agree to a timeframe so that if the trading isn't working out then he should look for a job/higher education. I also liked the earlier suggestion about forex trading in the afternoon (after school/work.)