For those that are full time now-how'd you do it?

[Reaver]

Definitely. Thanks man. And yeah the part you said about having a partner that is down for whatever is necessary is an invaluable asset. My wife is definitely in it too. She even puts 10% of her check into my savings to open my "big" account. She is completely supportive and that's priceless. ( I use the word priceless too much ).

[TinGull]

Thats awesome man. You'll be fine!

[Reaver]

Thanks for the encouragement! This fast paced stuff is scary for a slow-poke trader like me. ha ha

[darthtrader]

Reaver, I can maybe give you an interesting perspective as i'm not full time yet, actually i'm going broke right now. I thought about going to school to become a nurse so I could get a job off market hours to fund my account last year but that was absurd. Then I stopped working in jan, went back to school to get a degree in economics so that i could be a broker/financial advisor to eventually work up to trading full time. My courses were a disgrace compared to what i learned on my own. I finally said screw it, i'm all in, trader or poverty. I just emptied my stock account to buy a cheap house, looking for a shit second shift job that i can save, get expenses down to nothing then save a grub stake. maybe it takes 3 or 4 grubstakes before i stop ever working but if this is your life there is no option.
Brownsfan's little "treat trading like a business and it will pay you like a business...treat trading like a hobby...."
This is such a tough business to break into, the idea you don't go all in and bet your life doesn't make any sense.

[Reaver]

	Quote:	darthtrader
	Reaver, I can maybe give you an interesting perspective as i'm not full time yet, actually i'm going broke right now. I thought about going to school to become a nurse so I could get a job off market hours to fund my account last year but that was absurd. Then I stopped working in jan, went back to school to get a degree in economics so that i could be a broker/financial advisor to eventually work up to trading full time. My courses were a disgrace compared to what i learned on my own. I finally said screw it, i'm all in, trader or poverty. I just emptied my stock account to buy a cheap house, looking for a shit second shift job that i can save, get expenses down to nothing then save a grub stake. maybe it takes 3 or 4 grubstakes before i stop ever working but if this is your life there is no option. Brownsfan's little "treat trading like a business and it will pay you like a business...treat trading like a hobby...." This is such a tough business to break into, the idea you don't go all in and bet your life doesn't make any sense.

That is serious dedication. There's nothing like going balls to the wall man. I respect that big time. You're right, if it's your life, then there is no other option. That is pretty inspiring. Especially because alot of people I know of who have traded in the past started out with like $100G's they either had from their six figure job or from an inheritance or whatever...that's not even remotely inspiring to me. That's not to knock on them at all, as there are some excellent traders out there who didn't bust their ass to get their trading account built up..I am just saying that their story isn't inspiring to me....It makes about as much sense to me as thinking some kid in high school is cool because his parents bought him a brand new convertible. lol

Once again-to reiterate, I am not knocking on people just because they didn't have to go to extremes to fund their account. Nothing wrong with that. It is still hard as hell to be a successful trader.

I just think that going all out to get a stake makes you appreciate it more because you have a much more intimate understanding of what you had to go through to get it.

Good luck Darth Tradar.

[The Bear]

	Quote:	Reaver
	Thanks for the encouragement! This fast paced stuff is scary for a slow-poke trader like me. ha ha

Hey Reaver - maybe you want to consider swing trading in the beginning too? This way you could use share sizing (to trade stocks), pay low commissions, and just get your feet wet to get the feeling of the buying and selling action...just executing trades.

At the end of the day, it is our ability to make money that counts, so considering different time frames maybe good to see if it fits your personality. I'm not saying avoid intra-day futures at first....but when I started I did swing trading at first, and used very small risk on each trade. Most of my trades are intra-day now, but I still keep swing trading and even longer term monthly positions too.

The swing trading helped me alot to get around the emotional stress of holding onto a position overnight that was out of the money.

Hope that helps and answers the question on where to start first....this is just how I started. As for your other question, was I independently wealthy before going full time? No - I was flat broke. In fact I had debt...credit card debt. I went many periods with as little as $10.00 in my bank account. The last year in high school I knew I wanted to attempt to be a speculator, but I didn't know how to do it. I was a C average student so I couldn't get into the true commerce program at University, so I ended up going into Business Management (Arts). It had nothing to do with the capital markets so I stopped going to class and dropped out of university. Then I got into high alititude mountaineering...even attempted to climb Mount McKinley (19)...failed....climbed numerous other smaller mountains.

Then through some speculative activities later on, I was able to build enough capital to pursue my original goal...that was left unfulfilled, but the stock market books were always under my bed for years left un-read getting dusty.

[Reaver]

	Quote:	The Bear
	Hey Reaver - maybe you want to consider swing trading in the beginning too? This way you could use share sizing (to trade stocks), pay low commissions, and just get your feet wet to get the feeling of the buying and selling action...just executing trades. At the end of the day, it is our ability to make money that counts, so considering different time frames maybe good to see if it fits your personality. I'm not saying avoid intra-day futures at first....but when I started I did swing trading at first, and used very small risk on each trade. Most of my trades are intra-day now, but I still keep swing trading and even longer term monthly positions too. The swing trading helped me alot to get around the emotional stress of holding onto a position overnight that was out of the money. Hope that helps and answers the question on where to start first....this is just how I started. As for your other question, was I independently wealthy before going full time? No - I was flat broke. In fact I had debt...credit card debt. I went many periods with as little as $10.00 in my bank account. The last year in high school I knew I wanted to attempt to be a speculator, but I didn't know how to do it. I was a C average student so I couldn't get into the true commerce program at University, so I ended up going into Business Management (Arts). It had nothing to do with the capital markets so I stopped going to class and dropped out of university. Then I got into high alititude mountaineering...even attempted to climb Mount McKinley (19)...failed....climbed numerous other smaller mountains. Then through some speculative activities later on, I was able to build enough capital to pursue my original goal...that was left unfulfilled, but the stock market books were always under my bed for years left un-read getting dusty.

Hey that is great information. Thanks, I appreciate it.

[walterw]

My 2 cents here : when you want something so badly, you do just about anything until you get it... and you know what : YOU GET IT...

so wanting I believe here is the key...

the rest is history... cheers Walter.

[Soultrader]

	Quote:	walterw
	My 2 cents here : when you want something so badly, you do just about anything until you get it... and you know what : YOU GET IT... so wanting I believe here is the key... the rest is history... cheers Walter.

Yep... thats the bottom line. You want something badly, you will find a way.

[TinGull]

And not even just wanting it, but knowing you can have it and understanding that it IS something you deserve. I often remind myself that I will attract abundance in my life be it through trading or be it through other means. Whether it be monetary or it be emotional, there's so much out there for all of us to acquire, it's a matter of knowing deep inside you that you can have it, that you deserve to have it.