# If you had 3 years to learn, what would you choose?



## wez004 (26 March 2008)

Hello traders.

My first post on here and I thought I would make it one that would somewhat determine whether or not I would be making more posts further down the track. :
I like to do a lot of research before I get into anything big, and I consider spending time to learn new things as an investment, in that it means spending less time at getting better at the things that really do make us money- our jobs.

So I have a hypothetical situation for you. If you had 3 years time on your hands, and were willing to spend 1-2 hours a day doing one of the following 2 things, which one would you choose:

1. Studying to further your current career so that in 3 years time your salary could go, for example, from 60k pa to 90k pa, then continue working full time

OR

2. Learning trading, from scratch, so that in 3 years time you could be trading as your main source of income.

I realise this leaves a lot of gaps and is subject to your own personal goals, but I would love to hear what you all think and what path you might consider taking if you were in a similar situation.

Many thanks


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## Trembling Hand (26 March 2008)

All depends on how much your into your career vs how trading gets the juices flowing.

to flog a quote from a trading Psyc. Dr Brett Steenbarger

If my book accomplishes nothing else, I hope that it assists you in thinking about where your niche might lie, not just in trading, but in life. The days pass by quickly; life is too short to waste on anything that you're not passionate about and good at.​


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## Timmy (26 March 2008)

If ya gotta ask ... go with the career.


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## BSD (26 March 2008)

How much capital have you got?

If a $30K pay rise actually matters to your situation - in my humble opinion, you probably do not have enough capital to 'trade for a living'.


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## metric (26 March 2008)

Timmy said:


> If ya gotta ask ... go with the career.




persacly..


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## robots (26 March 2008)

hello,

also think carefully whether study is the way to go also,

many have gone to universities to no avail,

thankyou

robots


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## metric (26 March 2008)

the title of this thread was a pretty good topic. a really good question. then i read the the post, and it was a bit dissapointing. why must it be uni, or markets, or whatever..? what WOULD you like to learn?



> If you had 3 years to learn, what would you choose?




that is a really good question...!

what would I choose? i dont know. it really does require some thought.


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## wez004 (26 March 2008)

Thankyou for the responses.

Basically what I am trying to find out is whether it is worth pursuing learning to trade. I am fine with my current job, I do not need a pay rise but it would certainly fuel my main investments. 
By studying i mean taking courses, the ones you pay for in order to get certifications which would then open up the gates to promotion etc. Not a hard task, it's just the time involved in getting those additional qualifications. 

If I were to find out that trading for a living, provided one can do it well, was an enjoyable, profitable and time generous activity then I would consider taking on the challenge of learning. This means not only learning how, what, why and when, but also conditioning myself psychologically for the task.

So before I even look at a chart I am just after some idea of how my time would be best spent.


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## adobee (26 March 2008)

i would suggest finding out what you are passionate about and devoting your time to that.. ifthe 60k job is not your passion move to the one that is !
90k in three years will probably only be worth 60k today !!!


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## onemore (26 March 2008)

wez004 said:


> Hello traders.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Good luck, you might be able to save a lot of time if you find a mentor that is successful at trading. I wish i did it would of saved a hell of a lot time self learning and educating.
I wonder how many people after 3 years have made trading their main source of income? Not many i would imagine.


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## Purple XS2 (26 March 2008)

Given the choice of the 2 cited, I would study a profession, either my current or a new one. As for studying the market, I can't see how there's any clear path as to what to study: the field is littered with experts in a myriad of flavours.

Widening the choice, I would study a second language: I'm envious of the multi-lingual.


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## vishalt (26 March 2008)

I'd rather have my career. 

Being a journalist is an absolute gem of a career and I would not quit it for the world, so many areas and challenges to go through. From finance to tech and politics to motor cars and beyond! 

And the power of the media is immense. 

However I do save to invest long-term so I would prefer to work while long-term investments produce good returns over time (plus dividends). 

Can't live off JUST a salary.


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## xyzedarteerf (26 March 2008)

For me I would choose education you can't put a price on that, its not even a choice you can always learn trading while studying for a career.

Plus you need a lot of capital to do day trading the potential for losses are too great even with those so called stop loss systems.

By the way I only trade to make extra cash as a newbie I don't see trading as way out of working a normal job. Hey if making money in stock is that easy everyone would be doing it. just my


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## wayneL (26 March 2008)

xyzedarteerf said:


> For me I would choose education you can't put a price on that, its not even a choice you can always learn trading while studying for a career.
> 
> Plus you need a lot of capital to do day trading the potential for losses are too great even with those so called stop loss systems.
> 
> By the way I only trade to make extra cash as a newbie I don't see trading as way out of working a normal job. Hey if making money in stock is that easy everyone would be doing it. just my




I beg to differ. A post of mine from last year. Of particular note, what I have emboldened in red:



> An Interesting blog article from a bloke with a bit of credibility:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## hangseng (26 March 2008)

wez004 said:


> Hello traders.
> 
> My first post on here and I thought I would make it one that would somewhat determine whether or not I would be making more posts further down the track. :
> I like to do a lot of research before I get into anything big, and I consider spending time to learn new things as an investment, in that it means spending less time at getting better at the things that really do make us money- our jobs.
> ...





Read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "The Cashflow Quadrant" by Robert Kiyosaki and also "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.

If you still don't know, then you may never know.

I read "Think and Grow Rich" every birthday from the time I was 17 until I turned 35, this alone changed my life. "The Cashflow Quadrant" provided directional focus, I just wish I read it 30 years ago.

Life is not as simple as 3 years/degree/no degree make more $$$. If it was everyone would be doing it.

I once said all I want is $1m in assets and a six figure income, so I now have both and much more, so what now?

Take the journey, destinations become meaningless.


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## juw177 (27 March 2008)

hangseng said:


> Read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "The Cashflow Quadrant" by Robert Kiyosaki




I personally will not recommend Rich Dad Poor Dad. When I read it, it motivated me to look outside a conventional career and that it does well. But it did not have much substance on how to actually become "financially independent" except for a few anecdotes. I later read that the "rich dad" was probably fabricated and most of the book is fiction.


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## nizar (27 March 2008)

Timmy said:


> If ya gotta ask ... go with the career.




Gotta agree with this.
I couldnt have said it better.


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## ceasar73 (27 March 2008)

Trembling Hand said:


> All depends on how much your into your career vs how trading gets the juices flowing.
> 
> to flog a quote from a trading Psyc. Dr Brett Steenbarger
> 
> If my book accomplishes nothing else, I hope that it assists you in thinking about where your niche might lie, not just in trading, but in life. The days pass by quickly; life is too short to waste on anything that you're not passionate about and good at.​





Perfect!

ceasar73.


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## Santob (27 March 2008)

Go with the career choice. If you can handle doing 1-2hrs study each day for three years, you'll be surprised at how much longer you'll *want* to continue spending that much time each day learning about other things.

I've been studying about that much time each day (mainly spent on public transport reading books) advancing my career, all self initiated too, so no certificates, degrees or such.. But now i spend about the same time learning about trading also, so I've got the best of both worlds.


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## AMR (27 March 2008)

A stable career and trading are not mutually exclusive. Or maybe you should try active investing while you learn?


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## julius (27 March 2008)

i reckon i'd learn to play the piano

playing the piano is cool


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## doogie_goes_off (27 March 2008)

PhD in usability of websites and search engines, this is a ripper but mosters like google are overrated. Where are the alternatives in the search engine market? Maybe a course in economics and then a study of monopolism (real word?).


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## nioka (28 March 2008)

Fly fishing. There is always a river somewhere and a bad days fishing is better than a good day at the office.


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## lbradman (1 April 2008)

Like everything in life balance is the key. Id say if you enjoy your job and career then focus on that especially if your young as it gives you a career to fall back on if you dont succeed in trading later. Success in trading does not come easy as you'll hear a lot about the 90% of traders who dont succeed. Its also a very isolated responsibilty so if you get a buzz working for people then maybe you'll lose motivation here. I was in a stable bank career on 85K up till the beginning last year when I went live but only after training myself up since the market started booming from 2004. It is without a doubt the greatest 'job' that I can have personally speaking but it takes a long time to build enough confidence in a system to trade with.


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