Full time trading versus part time...

Problem is i haven't a clue what i'd enjoy as i've always assumed full time trading is what i want to do.... but er, i can stil trade anlongside a job. i don't want to end up with no education/degree 10 years down the line if i was **** and even more broke than a student. but im waiting for an email from my friend so...

Trading is as **** as anything else once the curtain is pulled IMO.
Since I've been learning I now wake up not only worrying about normal stuff like work, quals, bills, family, etc but also what's happening in markets I'm making f-all from and whether I can find time to hit up my excel to work on my approach. There are only so many hours in the day and the constant trade-off became a real burden a while back so I stepped off some - hence my mainly lulzy postings in recent months as opposed to my normal prying and trying to understand the universe posts.
Trying to trade while working is proving to be a harder slog than I ever thought it would be.

wonderful the internet innit?

Don't worry about "making it by 18", you've got bags of time - although I dare say you think 30 year olds have got one foot in the grave already. Get yourself to uni, learn, enjoy and have the time of your life. The market'll be there when you want to buckle down to it, if that's where you still see your future.

jon

The thread has thrown up some interesting thoughts and I'm glad we seem to be past the entrenched position that you have to be daytrading every hour markets are open to be called a trader.

Can we go a few steps further?
Suppose you're now a successful trader, trading is your sole significant income, there's no mortgage or outstanding loans, a modest pile of cash but no salaried income.
1. Does this cause any problems getting a SB account / DMA account / sharedealing account?
2. What about a new credit card, a loan, a mortgage?

Broad brush stroke sweeping generalisation alert...You part timers should not be trading, you should be investing. Whether that be TA, FA or a combo you should be position trading and nothing else imo and it's as easy to do with fx as any other security.

OK, so to start off simply position trade 2 currencies, simply take (as a first step) a proportion of your 5hitty sterling savings and *convert* them to a basket of other currencies. Now here's the rub, if you havn't got: the wit, the balls, the time and or the technique to do that then give up the game now, it isn't for you.

Jus be patient with (for example) cable and the Euro, wait for the next position trade swing 'off the dailies' and off you go..

No.

Are the full time traders advocating that the only way to get your head in this game is to pack in your current job and go balls out in your 'new profession'?

Or is it prudent to develop skills on a part-time basis, get yourself well capitalised in the process and then go for it?