Day Trading & Forex Forum

jmreeve

hopefull-

I was in a techy job and the company was not doing so well so decided to go it on my own.

However, when I did this I had no commitments, owned my house and had a decent amount of trading capital in the bank.

I also do not depend only on trading but also started a small company and write software.

__________________
Tomorrow anything may happen for no reason.

mutantcar

hopefull,

You have my sympathies, though I wish I was sitting on £500k of equity, though I don't have your commitments. I'm facing a similar decision myself, but very different circumstances.

Have you considered selling the house, and moving to a cheaper one, possibly in a cheaper part of the country, though you don't say where you are located.

You could get a cracking house in some parts for £200k, use a conservative amount to develop your trading, invest the rest as safely as possible, reduce living expenses as much as possible?

Could be a lot worse off - good luck anyway.

Buk

excellent advice all thru the thread (specially Brambles!!)....we've all been there hopefull. Your psychological approach, coupled with your trading plan & strict MM will put you leaps ahead on your desired path to a long term career in your chosen occupation....you're starting a new 'business' that's all, and like all new businesses, as long as you approach it with due diligance & in depth research, you have as much chance of success as any other!.....doesn't seem too much wrong with your 'approach' by your recent trades (in the fx room)....and good trading y'day by the way

just keep on doing what you're doing mate!!.....if you really 'want it' & you go in with your eyes wide open, that's all you can ask of yourself!....stick to YOUR rules!

ps: you're also NOT on your own, this board offers a good sounding platform for bouncing idea's/obtaining advice & opinions....use it as a "business advice centre"

__________________
I have seen the enemy - and it is me!

ChowClown

...blimey, I read this hopefull and it describes my situation almost exactly, same age, same size/age family, large equity in the house etc - I'm still plodding on though in a relatively secure/profitable IT Rec business, but the passion is with trading -some great advice above and I really hope you make it. Keep us posted with how you get on - I for one will be very interested in following your progress.

Good luck!

__________________
Simon

SOCRATES

Dear Hopeful, do NOT go for it. I will explain the reasons why.
Currencies are very dangerous because of their unexpected volatility. Hear me out. You have been involved in currencies for 4 months you say. 4 months is not enough for you to have given yourself the opportunity to experience every variety of market condition possible. You need to give yourself time to mature.
By this I mean to mature in your approach to unexpected opposite scenarios that have a nasty habit of developing rapidly.
This is the most important and difficult part of trading and it comes from having a string of meaninful experiences, you have to give yourself time to have these experiences ~ you cannot have them all at once. It is only after you have had experiences repeatedly that you will force yourself to learn, that is one reason why you need time. There is another reason. You place emphasis on hope. Hope is an emotion. Emotions do not help you to reason.
In fact, they are instrumental in impairing or even destroying the ability to reason, just at the time when the faculty of reasoning, or if you like, the application of reasoned judgement is most needed. This leads us to the third factor, which is the imposition of pressure, whether real or perceived. you cannot afford to be under pressure of any sort in this game. The emotions attached to and caused by pressure will disable you. You ought NOT to take any money out of the house for this venture, to the contrary, you should be looking to clear out your mortgage instead, and then to proceed with safeguards along the route you wish to follow, not hindered by worries, which are emotions of the worst sort. I can understand your posture, but I do not advise you to proceed in the direction you suggest because also of your cash flow requirements, the resulting ratios would be disadvantageous, strangling actually, having the net result of instead of helping you to go forwards, to actually achieve the opposite result. This is dreadful if it is imposed upon you if you have no choice but unpardonable if it is self imposed.

ivorm

I often hear this said , but I don't understand it.

Surely the only way you can trade for a living and not be under any pressure is if you have enough money to live indefinitely without needing to earn any money from trading. In that case, why bother trading anyway ?

If you have decided to trade full-time, then I don't see how there cannot be some pressure on you.

Just my thoughts ........

trendsignal UK

I'm not going to give you any advice either way. in terms of "do it" and "don't do it". Ultimately only you can make that decision.

The one thing I would do is write down a proper business plan. Discuss the ramifications with your wife of taking £100k or so out of the house as a trading pot. Why £100k? Because £20k is simply not enough trading capital. Add to that £25k to live for a few months and you are at £45k anyway.

Its easy to say "you'd still have a small mortgage" but to me £178k would not be small - especially with no way (other than trading) of paying it back.

Scared money never wins. I'm not saying you will be scared, just that emotionally its a different feeling when you kick it off full time.

The other main thing (and I speak as someone who has a mega understanding wife) is to make sure your wife is totally aware of the risks etc. in what you are doing.

It may be for example that she dreams of a little cafe somewhere by the coast etc. I know of one couple that did just that. She wanted a cafe, he wanted to trade. They sold their $1m house and moved to cheap property on the coast. She has a cafe, he trades. Both happy, and I think he trades better because he knows that they will get an income from the cafe. I only say this because in my experience you will need an understanding and supportive partner.

Either way, give yourself a couple of weeks off. Being made redundant is traumatic (whatever you may feel etc.). Do not leap into anything. Go and sign on the dole. Consider ALL your options. Make no decisions now. You almost certainly have many more options than you think you have. I once trained for 3 months as a plumber after a particularly horrid City job. It taught me I have options, and after 3 months at the local college I knew that I was not going to be a plumber, and my wife understood how much I loved trading. Still a valuable insight though, both into myself and to the lives of other people.

Apologies if this is a bit of a ramble, I have a lot of thoughts on this. I have seen so many people try and fail.

If you decide to trade full time, then my best wishes go with you. If not, then they still go with you!!

hopefull

When I wrote my message this morning it was with a degree of hesitancy.

I am normally someone who deals with decisions such as this alone, but felt some unbiased advice was called for from people who could relate to my situation and maybe have been there themselves(a cry for help perhaps..)

Look at the responses I have received..Outstanding.I am humbled.


Thank you all for your well wishes and advice along with the many meaningful points which must be considered before a final decision is reached.

Trying to cover some of these points..


Yes - downsizing the house has sprung to mind.I currently live in the North West and could move down to a decent 4 bed detached for c£2 -250k..ironically Mrs H. has complained that our house is to big anyway and she is sick of cleaning it.

I am personally loathed to make a move based purely on launching myself into the trading arena full time.

Mrs H. is behind me all the way- I am extremely lucky in this aspect.However whilst I may be prepared to wear rags and live on beans on toast for next year I cannot expect my wife and children to do the same so I intend to do a very candid analysis of how much equity I need to take out of the house to ensure no serious drop in lifestyle..this in my opinion is key to the whole project and once working out how much I will need - and am I comfortable with it !

I am not intending on coming to any conclusion today - don't wish to trade in haste,repent at leisure ! But all of you who are sharing your own thoughts and experiences with me are helping me in considering all the options..and it is for this reason I posted in the first place.