With advances in technology, anyone with an internet connection can start trading for everyday life. But while it may be possible, how easy is it and how on earth do you do it? This page takes a look at the benefits of day trading for a living, where and where people trade, and provides valuable tips.
Are Day Trades for a Living Possible?
The first thing to note is that while day trading is a perfectly viable career, it’s not necessarily easier than a regular day job.
The upside is that you are your own boss. You can plan your working hours any way you want. Trading on your laptop allows you to do it anywhere, anytime.
There are many people who claim to claim property in interstate trading, but usually these people are trying to sell you something. Don’t believe the hype or believe that there is such a thing as “easy money”.
For example, if you live or move to a low-cost, low-income country, you don’t need to make more. Essentially, “making a living” on something means that your income covers your expenses, so reducing your living expenses can also make a big difference.
Pros and cons
Despite the difficulties, trading for everyday life has some undeniable advantages. Some examples include:
- No Boss – You are your own boss. No more struggling with demanding and irrational boss demands. You can do exactly what you want.
- Hours – Set your working hours. In today’s world there is always a market open. So you can choose the hours and duration you want to work to fit your different commitments. If you’re looking for a four-week vacation, your HR department won’t have to explore it first.
- Overhead – Overpriced train tickets no longer work. No more petrol and parking costs. No more expensive suits. You will need a computer, internet connection and capital.
- COMFORT – While others are ironing their shirts all day, you can have a relaxing coffee and start your 15-foot commute with a fresh cup of coffee. No more stuffy offices or distracted colleagues. You work from the comfort of your own home.
Cons
Despite its obvious appeal, comments on day trading for a living also highlight some of its downsides. The most widespread are:
- Solitary life – Your co-workers may have driven you up the wall at times, but sometimes it’s reassuring to have people around. Day trading for a living can be lonely. If you don’t like being alone, think twice.
- Inconsistent salaries – Salaries fluctuate greatly. You might make $3,000 one day and lose $2,500 the next. You probably don’t have a stable salary. Besides, if you take a day off, you won’t get a penny.
- Career Progress – The only thing you can improve is taking it. Returning to the business world can be difficult. Sometime on live forums suggested that you will be less employed in the end.
- Battle the bots – Algorithms, automation systems and bots are all dominating the market. They are now responsible for 60% of all market sizes. There will always be a place for humans in the market, but if we want to maintain an edge we need to find new ways to adapt and evolve.
What are people day trading?
One of the most important decisions you will make is starting day trading for a living. What securities and markets were popular among people trading for a living at the time?
- Stocks
- Penny stock
- Forex
- Cryptocurrency
- Gifts
- Eminis
- CFD
- necessities
- gold
- Options
Whether you trade penny stocks for a living or currency, the volatility and volume of your chosen market will seriously affect your potential profits. For example, the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile, so some can make a very good living.
On the other hand, day trading stocks for a living can be more difficult. It’s already a saturated market. It also requires a relatively large amount of start-up capital, and losses can be more devastating financially.
Again, trading commodities or futures for everyday use will present its own challenges. all point out the need to be effective
Regional differences
Whether or not you trade as a day-to-day depends on where you live and the market you choose. Daily deals for living in India, Indonesia or South Africa not only offer a volatile market, but also make living more feasible with a very low cost of living.
Day deals for living in the UK, USA, Canada or Singapore still offer plenty of opportunities, but the competition is fierce and the cost of living is high. There’s no shortage of volatility or trading volume, but to really live with it, you need to calculate how much volume you need on average each week or month.
How to live
Doing day-to-day trading is not an easy task. There are potentially costly hurdles to overcome. Trim the bottom tip to keep the black solid.
Setup
A question on many aspiring traders lips is how to start day trading for a living. The answer is that you only need a few basics. If you get these basics right, you’ll be in the strongest position to earn a generous salary.
- Hardware – You will need at least a mid-range computer and an internet connection. Any hardware or internet crash can cost you dearly. In many cases, it’s a good idea to have two monitors up and running in case an emergency happens.
- Broker – Choose the broker that suits your needs. It must offer competitive pricing, reliable customer support, and an easy-to-navigate platform.
- Strategy – You need a strategy that fits your trading style. You have to rely on charts, patterns and technical indicators. You should be able to make frequent profits on high volume, low price trades.
Trading Office
Location is an important topic. Do you have an office at home or do you trade and trade from various locations on your laptop? You’ve probably seen images of lone traders behind 6 or 9 monitors tracking all kinds of data. But is it necessary? Instead of dedicating some space in your home to transactions, you might consider using rented desk space.
There are also services that go one step further. ETrading HQ offers rented desks and office space as well as weekly trade data and collaboration. Mind traders can put ideas and strategies face to face. The concept is booming in London and New York and could offer better living deals for everyday living to those interested in market data, solitude and office space.
Capital
One of the first questions on the lips of any aspiring trader is ‘How much capital do you need?’ A vital requirement for day trading for a living from home is capital. Roll the dice for years and you’ve needed at least $25,000 to start day trading in the US. Not only that, but I always had to keep at least that amount in my account.
These strict regulations meant that for most people, livelihood trading simply wasn’t financially feasible. However, the globalization of the financial industry has allowed numerous platforms to be developed outside of US regulations. Today you can start with as little as $1,000 in your account.
The amount of capital required depends on what you want to start trading with.
Education
If you want to have the best chance of succeeding in day trading for a living, you will need to utilize a wide range of resources. Fortunately, you can now find free educational tools with just a few mouse clicks. Some of the most effective resources to consider include:
- Books – See our easy-to-read lists, including Google Books for easy access.
- E-Books – e.g. ‘The New Deal for Living E-Books’ by Alexander Elder (hassle-free download)
- Audio Book
- Blog
- Tutorial video
- Forum – Ideal for those who want to start trading stocks, futures, forex and cryptocurrencies on a daily basis.
- Study Guide
- Podcasts and MP3s
- Flip cart
You can get advice from experienced traders in our forums, blogs and chat rooms. You can utilize detailed strategy examples in books, PDFs, and tutorial videos. Many daily deals on live eBooks, epubs and PDFs are free to download and can be accessed via Kindle.
If you are looking for specific instructions on how to make daily trading forex, consider our forex page. Or, if you are interested in buying or selling stocks at home, see our stocks page.
Crisis management
If you’re looking at how to do day trading for a living, one of the essential components is how to manage your risk. Larry Hite asserted: “Throughout my finance career, I have consistently witnessed examples of other people whom I know do not respect risk. It will be dangerous if you don’t look carefully for the risks.”
You need a system that’s good enough to keep you moving while maintaining enough capital that you won’t have to redo your day job.
A good system seeks stop-loss and take-profit. This will help you plan ahead and prevent the heightened emotions of being in control of your decisions.
- Stop Loss – This is simply the price at which you can sell your stock and lose. It will hold you back in the hope that it will come back.
- Take Profit – This is the point where you sell your stock and make a profit. This allows you to sell before the consolidation period starts, helping you to keep your profits.
Psychology
If you are trading for a living, consistent and stable profits are your goal, and you need a consistently disciplined mind. Victor Sperandeo emphasized: “The key to success is emotional discipline. If intelligence were key, there would be far more people doing money transactions.”
As it sounds right now, when you’ve won $2,500 and you’ve been staring intently at a screen for the past six hours, it’s not easy to keep your fears at bay. An effective way to limit emotional liability is to use as much technology support as possible.
Keeping your emotions in check takes practice, lots of mistakes, and more mistakes. However, a neat trick that helps many traders is to focus on the trade, not the money. Taken from experienced trader Alexander Elder, “The goal of any successful trader is to make the best trades. Money is secondary.”
final word
Since 2014, the number of people traded for a living has skyrocketed. Is it realistic though? The answer depends entirely on your ambition and commitment. It won’t ride easily. But if it suits your working style, you can be one of those few victors, provided you choose the right market and utilize the tips mentioned.
