The Reality of Full Time Trading.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to write a bit today about the reality of becoming a full time trader. This is seen as the ultimate goal, to quit your 9-5 and trade everyday.

However, I think there are some significant downsides that many people overlook.

The reality of trading is that it is not about Lamborghinis or exotic travel, instead its about setting up yourself and your family for a better life down the road.

If you rely on the markets as your sole source of income it can lead to extremely high stress. You may feel forced to take trades outside of your system because of the need to make money every month to make ends meet.

Let’s take this year as an example. For classic CANSLIM style traders, there have only been just a few weeks to trade to the long side effectively. The big money for this style is made coming out of corrections as the market trends for months on end.

If you are a full time trader using CANSLIM, you likely haven’t been able to make much headway (If you focus mostly to the long side). This can lead to stress and poor decisions.

The market will do what it wants, just because you need money doesn’t mean proper opportunities will show themselves.

This is why for as long as possible, until you have multiple years worth of money set aside and a large portfolio, a separate income can decrease stress immensely.

I’d highly recommend watching my interview with Tom Canfield who dives deep into the topic and his personal journey.

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I hope you found this quick article interesting! Let me know your thoughts in the comments on this topic.

Answer this in the comments: At what $ amount would you consider going full time?

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Have a great weekend!

Richard