Originally posted on: http://bit.ly/daily-mastery-steemit
Whenever I’m at family gatherings, I dread my uncles and aunts asking me questions about work.
“What are you up to now? Do you have a job? Are you looking for a job? Why not?”
As you’ve probably inferred from the one-sided conversation I’ve depicted, I do not have a job, and I’m not looking for one. I told my parents after graduating college that I’d try my hand with stock trading and a few business ventures. If they were to all fail and I were still broke by the time I reached 30, then I’d get my first job!
Luckily, my parents were supportive of the life direction I had chosen and allowed me to continue as a boarder in their home, rent-free. Thanks, Mom and Dad!
Anyway, getting back to the family gathering, I tell my uncles and aunts, “Don’t worry. I’m not bumming around. I trade stocks in the US market.” There’s a shift in mood. I have their full attention.
“Woah. Do you think you could invest for me? I’ll give you money. Do what you want with it.”
If I had a dollar for every time someone said this to me, I’d probably have $14. My initial reaction to these offers is excitement, of course. I begin to daydream about the Benjamins I’d be raking in with a larger capital.
But something becomes more apparent to me: The accomplished individuals, who fill the room, have no idea what to do with their money.
They’ve depended on their professions or corporate jobs their whole lives as their main source of income, their only source of income. Now that they’re retired, supposedly comfortable enough to sustain themselves for the rest of their lives, they realize that they need new money coming in to support their desired lifestyle!
They have ideas for starting a business so they can work again to make money, which is ironic because they retired so they could stop working.
If they had learned how to make their money work for them early on, then they’d be enjoying their retirement by the beach sipping on a Piña Colada and getting caught in the rain. The only thing they know how to do with their money is to keep it and spend it – both yielding zero growth.
(I do have this one uncle, who has a magic trick where he turns a $1 bill into a $5 bill. Now that’s a business-savvy magician.)
We are taught how to become good workers in school but not how to handle or grow the money we earn from that work. Trading is one way, among others, to achieve that financial stability and peace of mind that we all strive for.
Trading as a life skill means that you will have the ability to make money any time you want. Public speaking, knowing how to cook, and knowing how to change a tire are all examples of life skills.
You may not need to speak in front of a large crowd every day, but it sure would be useful to know how to do it when the occasion arises.
Why Trading as a Life Skill is Great
Multiple Sources of Income
As mentioned earlier, it’s important to have more than 1 income stream. We’ve all heard stories of someone who chose a corporate job because it was the ‘safe choice’ only to be let go after 20 years of loyal service and have their whole world crumbling down.
Trading the markets (i.e., stocks, forex, bonds, cryptocurrencies, etc.) is one way to free yourself from the pressures of keeping your job. Knowing how to be profitable from trading can be the liberating force that pushes you to pursue other endeavors.
Every penny I make from my businesses go right back into them. I don’t pay myself and stay broke to give my businesses a fighting chance to grow and thrive. If they crash and burn, well, crap.
But…
What gives me the confidence to bet on myself and my business ventures is that the markets will always be there. When the market’s open bell rings, I know I can make money; and I know how to do it.
While this post is dedicated to advocating the benefits of trading or investing, it’s important to note that you have to remember to allocate money for your savings and expenses – bills, loans, mortgages, emergencies, personal expenses, etc.
Only invest the money you can afford to lose. Don’t trade the money you need to feed your 5-month old baby!
Now that I’m no longer liable for you possibly losing everything you own, we may continue.
You Can Do It on the Side
Trading doesn’t have to be a full-time job. Regular market hours are from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
Depending on your trading style (e.g., technical trading, fundamental trading, momentum trading, swing trading, etc.) you can check in on your assets every once in a while. You don’t have to be glued to your computer screen 24/7.
Even if you’re an active day trader, an hour or two a day will suffice.
As soon as I close my trades on Friday, party time begins. You have the whole weekend to relax and unwind, to spend quality time with family and friends, and to take a break from gravity and just lie down for a really long time.
Of course, this only accounts for the trading time itself and not the time it will take you to learn how to trade, which might be a while. You know what they say, “All good things take some time to learn.” They say that. They do.
Me, Myself, & I...and a Computer & an Internet Connection
You vs. The World
Starting a business is another way to diversify your income streams. It’s been a growing trend among young people to have their own side-hustles – a business or a project that you work on in your free time while holding a regular job.
All you have to do to make your business successful is to create an amazing product or service; run effective marketing campaigns directed at the right audience; and convince a whole bunch of people to buy what you are offering.
Easy enough, right?
What makes trading a one-of-a-kind opportunity is that you don’t need products, customers, or anything in-between.
Creating a product or service of value is fantastic, definitely. I have hustles (not a side-hustle; unemployed, remember?) of my own that I’m proud of. But what separates a business from trading is that a business’ success depends on the customers’ reception of your product or service.
You can have the best product or service in the world, but if people can’t find you because you’re not very good at marketing, or they don’t buy what you’re selling for whatever reason, then you’re screwed.
Trading is all you. Your idea (buy or sell) versus the rest of the world (of traders).
There will always be buyers and sellers in the market. No need to convince anyone to buy what you’re selling or to sell what you want to buy.
Anywhere in the World
As envisioned earlier, a life by the beach sipping on Piña Coladas could not be more attainable with work such as trading. You could be anywhere in the world; all you need is a computer and a good internet connection, and you’re ready to go.
Final Thoughts
Undeniably, trading might not be for everyone. There is a steep learning curve to overcome before reaching the promised land of beaches and Piña Coladas. On top of that, learning how to trade doesn’t guarantee that you will become profitable!
So why get into it?
Like any life skill, it’s good to have, just in case. Life skills like knowing how to swim, bike, or drive a manual car will all come in handy someday. You’ll never know when your cruise ship might hit an iceberg, and you’ll have to swim to a floating piece of wood to survive, or when you’ll have to drive a stolen car to get away from a crime you just committed only to find out that it has a manual transmission.
In the same way that knowing how to swim can save your life, knowing how to trade and make money on your own terms can give you the life that you choose to live.
For me, it’s a skill that I will forever be able to fall back on. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Pun intended with all my being.