What does it take to make a living trading securities online?

September 17th, 2008 | by Adam |
trading
AP asked:


I’m not talking about getting filthy rich, but I’m also not talking just about investing. I’m talking about making a decent living through making online trading your self-employment, taking the place of an external job.

So, is it extremely difficult, or can most people with the willingness to learn be successful (along with a reasonable level of intelligence as well)? If it IS realistic to make online trading your job, how much risk and initial capital does it require?

  1. One Response to “What does it take to make a living trading securities online?”

  2. By slavaret2 on Sep 19, 2008 | Reply

    1) Capital: obviously, the more you have, the less risk you need to take to earn a living. Ideally, you should have at least $25K to get approved for a daytrading account. Daytrading may be incidental to your method but you need the approval to get in and out fast. Otherwise you need enough to open a margin account.

    2) System/method: there are several good trading methods; you need to pick one that suits you best and get really good at it.

    3) Commitment: it takes a lot of time, effort, and knowledge to produce profits consistently.

    4) Personal qualities: you have to be a loner and a corporate misfit to be able to make your own judgments and change them fast. You also have to be humble and able to learn from your mistakes: arrogance or blaming others gets you nowhere; you are right only when you are making $$.

    Good luck!

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