In this episode we welcome back long time community member Dave (alias in chatroom, “SuperDave”). Like some trader’s goals, Dave wants to eventually quit his full time job so we can work from home and be his own boss as a full time trader. While Dave has not yet accomplished the goal, he is well on his way and has actually cleared a key hurdle – that being, going from “full time hours” at his job to now only “part time hours”. How did Dave know when to make this jump? How will he know when it’s wise to make the move to “full time”? We talk about this and much more. Whether you are looking to also quit your job to become a full time trader or just want to pick up some nuggets of wisdom, this conversation has something for everyone. Let’s get to it!
Notes:
Today we speak again with community member SuperDave. To recap, Dave joined the community first to test the waters. During his earlier times here, he recalls being called out for trading without a true proper education or background. This led him to step back and reevaluate what his overall goal in trading was.
After opening and closing 3 different accounts, Dave decided to focus on only trading SPY because it is extremely liquid and presents trading opportunities almost every day. He would use his account value to determine the amount of contracts he needed to trade. Dave started slow and steady one contract at a time and now is able to trade quite a bit larger.
Dave had an ideal time frame in which he wanted to transition away from his job, retire, and trade for income. He missed his first two targets due to personal and family events but has maintained his longer term plan regardless.
He has a strict routine and criteria for trading which he utilizes daily. It is this amount of seriousness that has set Dave up for success and why he is getting very close to his longer term goals of full time trading.
Quotes:
I knew right away that I was being called out because I didn’t really know what I was doing.
It’s all about controlling your emotions. You’ll figure out a trading style fairly quickly but then you have to discipline yourself to stay with it and trust it.
I don’t take a lot of risk with my money. Now is not the time to take on risk… now is the time to take on growth.
Over time, things change and you become more comfortable from looking at it over and over. It becomes much more predictable.
I’ve had some pretty large losses that were hard to swallow. Wondering why I was still in there and letting it go further and further.
