I think it is great that you are taking an active interest in increasing your finances and getting them to work for you. The days of just parking your money in the bank are over. However, let’s consider a few things and put this in perspective before taking the plunge.
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You said that you have decided to trade for a living, not as a hobby, but as a living.
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Are you even practicing?
What is ‘doing it for a living’ going to involve?
What does your entry and exit plan look like?
How are you going to cover yourself, not to mention your family, if the first years are tough ones?
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Trading for a living is a serious career change and requires careful thought and planning, as would any similar change of that order. Hopefully you have or will consider these questions and many more, before diving in.
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So, you’ve been studying about investing for the last four months and you plan to start doing this for a living from next year, giving you a total of roughly 12 months of video watching experience.
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What has your studying been like?
Does it consist of more than passively watching a handful of videos each week?
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Understanding how to do something and being able to do it are two completely different things. If you have ever watched a major sport with friends then you probably know what I mean.
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We can all identify when athletes make a great shot or screw one up. At times, we can’t believe the stupidity of their moves. But that is not to say if we were on the same playing field we would be able to perform at a level anywhere close to theirs.
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They are professionals and we are not, regardless of how many games we have watched.
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If you are going to go through with your decision and begin trading for a living in 12 months, I hope you are doing more than just watching videos and paper trading.
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I hope you have a track record of successful trades that is the basis for your decision to begin trading for a living.
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As in the sports arena, when you step into the trading arena, you must accept the fact that even with a few years of real experience you are still going to be a beginner, especially when compared to professional investors who have years and years of experience, mentors, and access to tons of information on which to make their decisions.
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You are going to be going up against the best.
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It is definitely not going to be easy.
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It may sound like I am saying give up your dream or that you won’t be able to make a living at trading, but you would be wrong.
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I am saying follow your dream and become a full-time investor, but do it in stages. Don’t give up your day job or your other sources of income just yet. Create a track record. Prove that you can do it consistently over time on a small scale before you give up your day job.
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First, do what it takes to set yourself up for success in this field.
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Would you hire someone to professionally manage your money through investing with only a year’s worth of YouTube experience?
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I’m not knocking a YouTube education. You can learn a lot there, and you can learn a lot in a year if you combine it with paper trading and some real trading. However, if you are planning on giving up your main source of income to do this, you might want to slow down just a bit.
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How many of your friends and relatives would give you control over their life savings to invest with that much experience?
How much of their life savings would they give you to invest?
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Probably not many and not so much.
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It doesn’t mean you can’t do it or that you don’t have talent. It just means, unless you have a track record, people are not going to have faith in your ability. You do need faith in yourself and your abilities, but that faith should be based on something first – a track record.
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A number that is tossed around the internet regarding retail investor failure rate is 90%.
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A bit more looking around and the numbers are 90% in 90 days.
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What is being suggested is that 90% of all retail investors, the layperson, blow up their accounts in 90 days – 90% in 90 days.
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If these numbers are even close to being correct, the odds are not in your favor. Set yourself up for success. Prove that you can do it.
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The idea of becoming a millionaire trader is extremely tantalizing. It sounds easy. It sounds like anyone can do it. But why is that?
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I would venture to say that attracting investors into the market is itself a lucrative business, and if you think that you, too, can become rich after a few months of watching YouTube videos, then those marketers have been successful.
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Confidence in your ability to beat the odds and to become a successful trader are not enough.
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Easy money is a thing similar to a miracle.
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It takes more than technique to consistently make money investing.
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It also takes the ability to control yourself. It requires the ability to work hard, and plan things out.
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At the four-month mark, where you are now, if you are already champing at the bit, it is a sign that perhaps you may have a bit more to go before you are ready.
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If you are getting into trading for an easy buck, think again, or prove yourself.
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When you can do it consistently over time, when you have a track record, make your move. That’s when you will be successful.
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As my friend Zizo often says, “What’s the rush?”