Advances in technology have ensured anyone with an active internet connection can start trading daily for a living. But while it may be possible, how easy is it and how do you do it? This page will look at the benefits of day trading for a living, what and where people are trading, plus give you some invaluable advice.

 

 

Is day trading to be able to live?

The first thing to note is that yes, making a living by day trading is a perfectly viable profession, but it is not necessarily easy or less work than a regular day job. The benefit is that you are your own boss and can plan your work hours any way you want. Trading on a laptop also means you can do it anytime, anywhere. Beware – there are a lot of people out there claiming to make money from day trading, but often these people are trying to sell you something. Don’t believe the hype that there’s such a thing as easy money. There are ways to make it easier – for example, you don’t have to make a lot of money if you live in (or move to) a low-tax, low-cost country. Cutting the cost of living can also make a big difference, because making a living by living on something essentially means income that covers expenses.

 

 

Advantages vs disadvantages

Despite the difficulty, there are some obvious benefits to day trading for a living. Just a few names:

  • No Boss – You are your own boss. No more bothering the needs of demanding and unreasonable bosses. You can work exactly the way you want.
  • Hours – You set your own working hours. In today’s world there is always an open market. So you can choose when you want to work and for how long, fit it around other commits. If you want a four-week vacation, there’s no human resources department to navigate in advance.
  • Costs on – No more expensive train tickets to get to work. No more fuel and parking costs. No longer in line with the price. You just need a computer, internet connection and some capital to go.
  • Comfortable – While everyone else is ironing the day before, you can put on some comfy clothes and start the 15-minute commute to your desk, with a fresh cup of coffee. No more stuffy offices or distracting colleagues to deal with. You work from the comfort of your own home.

Restrictions

Despite their obvious appeal, the opinions on day trading for a living also highlight some downsides. The most popular of them are:

  • Lonely Lifestyle – Sometimes your co-workers can push you up the wall, but sometimes it’s reassuring to have people around. Days trading for a living can get lonely. If you don’t like being alone, think twice.
  • Inconsistent Salary – Your salary will fluctuate wildly. You can make $3,000 one day and then lose $2,500 the next. You probably won’t have a steady salary to rely on. On top of that, if you quit as a friend, you won’t get paid a dime.
  • Career Growth – The only thing that can improve is your choice. You may also find it difficult to get back into the business world. Some trading days for a live forum have suggested you will have little work at the end.
  • Battle against bots – Algorithms, automated systems and bots are all dominating the market. They are currently responsible for a large 60% of all market volume. Although, there will always be a place for people in the market, you will need to find new ways to adapt and thrive if you want to stay on top.

What is People’s Trading Day?

One of the most important decisions you will make is to start trading for a living. What are the popular stocks and markets then, among those who trade for a living?

  • Stocks
  • Penny Stock
  • Forex
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Future
  • Emini
  • CFD
  • Goods
  • Gold
  • Options

Whether you are trading penny stocks for a living or currencies, volatility and volume in the market you choose will seriously affect your potential profits. For example, the cryptocurrency market is very volatile, allowing some people to make a very good living. Meanwhile, trading stocks for a living can be more difficult. It is already a saturated market. In addition, a relatively high amount of initial capital is required and the loss can be more devastating financially. Again, trading commodities or futures for a living presents its own set of challenges. All point to the need for efficiency

 

 

Regional differences

Whether you make your daily trading like a living will also depend on where you live and the markets you choose. Trade daily for a living in India, Indonesia or South Africa, not only providing volatile markets, but you also have a very low cost of living, making life more possible. Daily trading for a living in the UK, US, Canada or Singapore still offers plenty of opportunities, but you have a lot of competition to contend with, plus the high cost of living. You won’t suffer from volatility or volume, but you need to sit down and calculate on average how much you will need to earn per week or per month, to really live.

How to make a living

Making a live day trade is not easy. You will have some expensive obstacles to overcome. Below are collated top tips, to help you stay black.

Setup

The question on the lips of many avid traders is, how to start day trading for a living? The answer is that you only need a few fundamentals. Get those fundamentals right and you’ll be in the strongest position to earn a decent salary.

  • Hardware – You need at least a mid-range computer and an internet connection. Any hardware or internet problems can cost you dearly. Many people suggest having two screens up and running, in case of an emergency.
  • Broker – Make sure you select a broker that suits your needs. They need to offer competitive pricing, reliable customer support, and an easy-to-navigate platform.
  • Strategy – You need a strategy that suits your trading style. It needs to rely on charts, patterns and technical indicators. It needs to allow you to make regular profits on low value, high volume trades.

Transaction office

Location is an important topic. Will you have a home office or try and trade in various locations on a laptop? You may have seen the image of a lone trader sitting behind 6 or even 9 screens monitoring all kinds of data – but is it necessary? Another way to try to reserve some space at home for trading, is to use rented desk space. There is also a service that takes things a step further. ETrading HQ offers desks and offices for rent, but also intraday trading and collaboration data. Just like minded traders can exchange ideas and face-to-face strategies. The concept is booming in both London and New York and could make day trading much more viable for those interested in market data, solitude and office space.

Capital

One of the first questions asked by aspiring traders, is ‘how much capital do you need?’ One requirement of day trading from home for a living is capital. Go back to the dice a few years and you need a minimum of $25,000 to start day trading in the US. Not only that, but you should always maintain at least that amount in your account. These tough regulations mean that for the majority of people, trading for a living is simply not financially viable. However, the globalization of the financial industry has allowed many platforms to develop outside of US regulation. Today then you can start with just $1,000 in your account. How much capital you need will depend on what you want to start trading.

Education

If you want the best chance of succeeding in day trading for a living, you need to utilize a wide range of resources. Fortunately, you can now find free educational tools with just a few clicks. Some of the most effective resources worth considering are:

  • Books – see our list of great reads, including easily accessible Google books.
  • Ebooks – eg ‘new deals for live ebooks’, by Alexander Elder (hassle-free download)
  • Audiobook
  • Blog
  • PDF file
  • Video tutorial
  • Forum – ideal for those who want to start day trading stocks, futures, forex and cryptocurrencies.
  • Study Guide
  • Podcasts & MP3
  • Flipkart

You will find advice from experienced traders on forums, blogs and chat rooms. You will benefit from detailed strategy examples from books, PDFs and video tutorials. Lots of deals of the day for a live ebook, epub and PDF are available for free download and can be accessed via Kindle. If you are looking for specific instructions on how to do forex day trading, check out the forex site . Also, check out the stocks page if you are interested in trading stocks from home for a living.

Risk Management

If you are looking at how to day trade for a living, one of the essential components is how you manage risk. As Larry Hite rightly asserts, throughout my financial career I have repeatedly witnessed examples of others I know being ruined by disrespect for risk. If you don’t take the trouble to look at the risk, it will get you there. You need a system that ensures you have enough to make moves, while keeping enough capital that you don’t have to go back to your day job. A good system revolves around stop loss and take profit. This allows you to plan ahead and prevent heightened emotions from controlling decisions.

  • Stop Loss – This is simply the price at which you would sell a stock and incur a loss. It will wipe you out in the hope that ‘it will come back.
  • Profit – This is the point where you will sell a stock and take profit. This will help you keep that profit, by allowing you to sell before a consolidation period begins.

Psychology

If you are trading for a living, steady and steady profits are the goal, which will require a consistent disciplined mind. As Victor Sperandeo emphasized, The secret to success is emotional discipline. If intelligence was the key, more people would make money. It sounds simple now, but when you have $2,500 on the line and you’ve been staring and straining at the screen for the past six hours, keeping the fear at bay isn’t easy. An effective way to limit your emotional liability is to use as much technical help as possible. Keeping your emotions in check will take practice, lots of mistakes and then even more mistakes. However, one trick that helps many traders is to focus on trading, not money. Get it from experienced trader Alexander Elder, “The goal of a successful trader is to make the best trades. Money is secondary.

Last word

The number of people day trading for a living since 2014 has increased dramatically. Is it realistic? The answer is, it depends entirely on your ambition and commitment. It will not be an easy trip. But, if it suits your working style, you choose the right market and you use the tips mentioned, then you can be one of those few winners.