Full-time trader. Are you okay?

You can work wherever you want, when you want, how you want. Warm countries, cold drinks, a deckchair, a beach and only a computer with Internet access ... You don't have a boss, subordinates, or even clients that you would have to fight for. Quit your job and work only for yourself? Full-time trader - sounds like a dream? The theory looks beautiful. Before you let your imagination run wild, go down to the ground, look in the mirror and calculate coolly if you are ready for it.

Full-time trader

A full-time trader is definitely not a job for everyone. Not everyone has personality traits that would support such a lifestyle. But what features are needed or maybe even necessary?

Below is a list of 10 features of an effective trader.

1. Discipline. You get up in the morning, analyze the market, wait for a signal consistent with your strategy. And everyday. You must be damned disciplined, stick to your plan and have a goal in your head that you are aiming at.
2. Balance. Trader has to deal with work and personal life. Stress created in private life can not affect trade. And conversely.
3. Patience. Waiting for the right moment to enter or exit a position is daily bread. There is no question of an "itchy" finger in a full-time trader.
4. Trust. You must be confident and have confidence in your own strategy and your abilities.
5. Independence. You think alone. Nobody affects your choices and decisions.
6. Resistance to stress and failure. Losses are an inseparable element of this game. You need to be able to deal with it.
7. Self-criticism. You must be ready to admit your own mistakes. This ability to draw conclusions from them speeds up the learning process and optimizes the results.
8. Hard work and learning. Possibly analyzing diagrams on charts, continually expanding knowledge about markets and psychology, and developing / improving strategies. It's the everyday life of a trader.
9. Fast and logical thinking. It happens that the seconds will play an important role. Analyzing real-time changes in the market often saves and even makes a lot of money.
10. Flexibility. The ability to adapt to changing conditions? Indispensable.

Do you think you have all these features, or at least the vast majority? So we have a series of difficult questions for you. If you answer yes to all of them, you have a chance… 🙂

10 test questions

1. Can you set goals yourself?
2. Are you ready for the fact that in a given month you will not only not receive a predetermined payment, but will even return a part of the previous month?
3. Will a series of failures cause you to have a logical thinking disorder and will not negatively affect your decision-making process?
4. Are you consistent in achieving your long-term goals?
5. Are you irritated by waiting?
6. Are you ready to get up every morning and be 100% committed to action?
7. Do failures affect you motivatingly and you can draw conclusions from them yourself?
8. Can you adapt to changing conditions, even to the extreme, by reversing your reasoning by 180 degrees?
9. Are you immune to the suggestions of others?
10. Are you not scared of the possibility of failure?

Have you answered all affirmatively? So there is hope :-).

Factors other than psychological

There are more problems to solve. But in this paragraph we will address the simpler ones, because perhaps, after all, it is more difficult to properly shape our character than to cope with the logistics of action or financial aspects.

Strategy

You do not have to have her one. Oh, it does not even have to be yours. But you must have some. And the problem is that it must be profitable, you must understand it and be able to stick to it. It will also be useful to adapt the strategy to the changing market. In the end, we look long-term, and the market can evolve to a significant extent over the decade.

Capital

It is a trader's basic working tool. You have to have it. How much? It depends. But a full-time job requires a lot more deposit than an "after-hours hobby". If your capital is too low, you will not be able to properly manage your risk and position. In addition, internal pressure in the form of earning a sufficiently large amount per month required to meet your own needs will force you to regularly earn high rates of return (which is very difficult).

READ NECESSARY: Choosing an effective capital management method

Credit? The worst option. Once that you must have the ability. Two that in the event of failure you do not stay with anything. You still have to pay the debt.

Really calculating. If you plan to earn 5 000 a month, you have to earn 60 000 annually. If your strategy and risk management allow regular and stable earning of 20% annually, the initial capital must be 300 000 PLN. A lot.

Of course, numbers can be manipulated. A higher rate of return will reduce initial capital, but also increase the risk. Lower expenditures will reduce the rate of return, but also lower the standard of living, and so on.

Additional costs and conditions

Insurance. You are not insured without being employed. There is an additional cost. ZUS voluntary contributions amount to PLN 400 per month. With a different variant, it probably will come out even more expensive.

Pension. If you believe even a little bit in ZUS, you can say that the trader is having a harder time again. You have to put down your pension contributions yourself. As far as we earn ...

Workplace. You can work from home if you have the opportunity. But if there are children running around the house, a dog barking, your wife asks for help with shopping, and you are waiting for the publication of the NFP ... It will not work in the long run. You need to rent an office.

Vacation / sickness. If you don't work, you don't get paid. This means that if you need an amount of X for your life to be able to "afford" vacation or sickness, you have to earn it in less time.

Career in an institution?

This is most often a dream of young traders. There are many films that promote the profession of a "broker" or trader as extremely easy and with the prospect of huge earnings. Anyway, who has not heard of multi-million bonuses paid for results to employees of large financial institutions? Unfortunately, get ready for an arduous career path, starting with not necessarily the most interesting positions and tasks, little freedom of action, relatively small bonuses and available capital.

This career path solves many problems in the form of insurance, office, capital, vacation ... You also have access to unique knowledge, experienced people and you get to know the industry from the inside. At the same time, it is a great facilitation and at the same time a compromise. After all, you've just said goodbye to cold drinks, palm trees and working for yourself. You jump in a suit and you go to work for the corporation every morning. There are psychological questions - will you be able to? You will