Trading For A Living - Part 2

In Part 1 of this article I where the financial implications, began the abandonment of the everyday work instead start trading full time for a living to look. There are more than just monetary considerations as we will see later, but now there is something costs more to think about.
Other costs!
Let us move of equipment. You probably already have a PC and internet due to the fact that you are reading this on the internet. But these are both for the job of trading full time? Also, the specifications for hardware and ISP will depend largely on your trading style, but if you rely on a 100Mhz Pentium II and a dial-up service, setting yourself up for failure. So budget for quality equipment, budget, keep it up to spec, and the budget for some repairs - expect the unexpected.
Many traders make the mistake of saying, "That will do me while I begin, and I'm getting a little better if I can make some real money." This is simply false economy, you're probably never real money with an inferior setup (and this applies equally to substandard software and data feeds). This is a cut-throat business and 95% fail, you need to give yourself every advantage you can. You would not be the Indy 500 in a go-kart with the intention to buy a better car if you've won a few races, and the same applies here.
Earnings If you added it all together, you have a pretty good idea of ​​how much money you need to generate from your trading to live. Does your performance in the past suggest you will be able to achieve this goal? It is tempting to say, "If I go full time I make a lot more", but as you know this is the case? Maybe you can get a few weeks of vacation and try it out - if you do not make enough for two weeks, then you're not ready. A few weeks ago is really not enough time to know if you're going to be successful, though. An ideal next step is to cut your job to part-time hours and to act maybe two or three days a week. In this way you know some money, come get you for real action, and if it all goes wrong, you are probably better able to return to full-time employment as someone who completely finish the work world.
The possibility of part-time work is a luxury that many of us do not have, however. So it has to be all or nothing - trade or work? Why not keep the day job and trade outside your working time as well. If you are trading and strategy at the end of the day, this is simply achieved by placing your research into the evening and placing the appropriate combinations of stop and limit orders with your broker. For day traders, is certainly easier if your practice is not intended market home market, for example, if the U.S. trade deficit and want to live in the UK where you can at home and trading in the evening come.
There are also other try before you open options to the day trader to practice trading home market outside of normal opening times though want to buy. eSignal allows you to download tick data for each symbol and play them back in real time or accelerated, so you could act all day in an hour. Other vendors have similar offerings, and if you have an IB account, you can use it to record free Auto Trader Tick data during the day for playing in a demo version of Sierra Charts or QuoteTracker.
The bottom line is that before you take the plunge, you have done all you need to have in your power to prepare for what lies ahead. It will be even harder than you ever thought, but it will be almost impossible to no preparation at all.

Other Considerations
There are a few non-financial aspects to consider before full time with your trade. If you have a family, how the change affect them? Do you have the space to work uninterrupted during the day? It is important that the family did not assume that because you are at home you are automatically available to take the kids to school, or walk the dog. Be sure to sure from the start that everyone knows the rules of the game and that you separate your work from your free time effectively.
Note also the social impact of leaving your full-time employer. Again, if you have a partner or family to drive each other nuts is in the same house all day? Relationships can be tested to the limit! Or if you live alone, you'll drive yourself nuts as on your own all day? Trading full time can give you an enormous amount of free time, but when there is nothing that time have to fill it with, you can quickly lose the plot - I've seen it and it is not pretty.
Is it worth it?
No one can tell you if the trade for a living is for you, it is something that you find out for yourself. I've seen dealers go through ups and downs, the stock chart every challenge, but for most it has proved to be a good move. The long list of benefits are all there for the taking, as with any change of career or in fact any major change in your life, as long as you go into it with your eyes open and prepare everything, then there is no reason why it may not work for you. ..