Trading for a Living? Doable? Practical?

Hi,



Is it doable to trade for a living? I have 300k (150k IRA + 150k Regular) that I would like to generate enough money for retiremenvat in 5 to 10 years time frame. Would you, developers and traders, suggest a trading portfolios that would accomplish this. I understand the risk that it may not be achievable and all capital could be evaporated. Please include real systems in C2 that will accomplish this goal. Currently I’m trading:

1. Futures Trader Daily

2. EFI_30

3. Marathon Trading

and slowly to add a few more as I find them.

I appreciate all contribution as this is a real life scenario and I will adapt these suggestion into my current portfolio.



Anh Nguyen


With 150K, I think you can make a living by writing options with appropriate stratege.

Greetings, Anh.

I don’t have an answer, but rather a question or three:

Do you mind sharing with us how long you’ve been trading the three programs you mention and an idea of the results you’ve gotten thus far?

Furthermore, on what basis did you decide to trade these programs?

This would be very helpful to newer C2 members such as myself.

Much appreciated.

–Josh W

Anh,



Be aware that subscribers to successful systems are reluctant to promote it for concern that too many subscribers could reduce the edge of a system (that might not be the case for forex or stock systems which deal with very liquid instruments), in fact there are systems where subscribers ask the vendor to limit the number of subscribers.



You did a pretty good job in selecting your current list and you have all the tools available by going to the ‘Grid’ to find a couple of more good ones. Also, be aware that the effectiveness of a system changes as the market changes and you should be constantly on the lookout if your portfolio requires adjustments - in other words never a dull moment.



Karl

my response would be no system except your own. if you are relying on this as your primary way to make a living, then you are best advise to take an active approach rather than a passive one using another system.

Futures trading is very risk and the “retirement” doesn’t really belong in the same sentence. Honestly, you are more likely to lose here then win due to numerous reasons. You, also, don’t mention what your end goal is: let’s not call it retirement though or you could be in a world of hurt.



As for what returns to shoot for, if you do excellent you could see returns in the 30% range annually which is 90k per year. Even if you return only 13% to 18% net then you will be outperforming most funds.



As for recommendations, I don’t have any. I feel using my discretion that I can do returns in the 1x-4x range (this would translate to a 30% to 200% return). I’m not currently updating that system though. I have another rule-based system that I’m updating that can do returns in the 50% to 120% range historically at max leverage. I will be revising it soon to be a “systematic” versus a 100% rule-based approach.



Nothing is guaranteed but you’d probably do better to invest in a diversified portfolio with your real retirement funds and leave the trading for your extra income.



One thing to keep in my mind, is that most systems here are optimistically leveraged (including my Predictor Day). In general, many people would do better to reduce the leverage used. You need to decide what levels of loss you can handle.



There are only about 6 futures system that have been tracked as long as mine have that rank higher when based on Sharpe. However, when based on more factors like after commission returns, those that are open, etc there are even fewer. Only Bund looks pretty good at a glance.



Private message me if you are interest in my system. I will let you know if I start it back up. I’m thinking of closing down for good. Not enough subscribers/money to make it worthwhile for me.