A Trader’s Most Valuable Asset Is Not Money

There’s an asset that everyone has on this earth by default, but most give it all away. Can you guess what it is? I’ll tell you, It’s time. Most people give almost all their time away to their employers in exchange for small monetary gains net expenses. During the most productive hours of the day, people are investing their time into someone else’s goals.

People who live in major metropolitan cities around the world can easily look out their window and see the hustle and bustle of city living. People walking everywhere, mostly to and from work. In New York, where I live, all you need to do is look to any city street, subway or road at 6, 7, 8 or 9 in the morning to see the commuters going to work. Then again at 5, 6 ,7 and 8 at night for when they all go home.

These days, it’s not 9-to-5 anymore, it’s more like 6-to-8 for most if you include the time it takes to prepare yourself in the morning, commute, and then come back home and relax. Yes, at that point people just relax turn on the TV and zone out because there is literally no more time to do anything else unfortunately.

The most frustrating thing

With our formal education system, it’s very difficult to actually invest in yourself. As everyone you come in contact with tells you to join the system and invest in somebody else. Of course, it’s not sold this way, they say “be responsible and get a good job!”

One of the most frustrating things I ran into during my so called 9–5 career was the ceiling I hit in my compensation. I had a combination of a base salary plus commission, which is one of the best ways to actually earn a ton of money as an employee, although even with that, I couldn’t manage breaking over $150,000, and that was frustrating me.

With taxes and expenses, even with what most people consider a very good salary, I could not obtain real wealth quick enough. Most people when they think about a six-figure salary think about what silly consumer goods they can buy on credit, yet when I think about a six-figure salary, I think about how much wealth can be potentially built from it.

Mind you, I live in NY and although $150k is a respectable wage in the majority of the country, it did not change the fact that I could not control my own life, my employer did. Everyone knows the drill: Want to stay hired? Know office politics. Want to get paid? Wait for the paycheck. Want a raise? Put your career at risk by asking for more money. Want to move? Unlikely going to be approved.

I worked very hard and was grateful, however, I was still a small grain of sand inside a large cog wheel that was ready to grind me up and spit me out at any second. I was simply a number in a spreadsheet, an expense on the company books. I was so focused on climbing the corporate ladder that investing in myself outside of the workplace was not even on my mind.

I didn’t even think about it until I ran face first into the stock market. I may sound very obnoxious to someone who makes the median wage or less in America, but what’s wrong with wanting more? If you are reading this on Warrior Trading, I know you already want more. You can become more.

Most high paying wage-slave jobs pretty much top out around $100K and the next level is $200K. After that, you are a rare breed, and maybe are at $300K or $400K all in compensation, which may include restricted stock, partner distributions or bonuses. Although for most people, they can’t even break the $100K level. Which also means, it’s quite hard to generate any kind of actual wealth.

Also, forget about any kind of positive net worth, as many $100K’ers have a ton of debt. Mortgage, car payments, school loans and credit cards. The mortgage itself puts almost everybody underwater for a very long time, and your net worth is negative until your house is worth more than what you put in, assuming you have no other large assets. If you are even that lucky! This is the system we live in, but there is a way out.

Invest in yourself and seek alternative education

It’s traditional education that has led many people to the above reality. If you play the game right and follow the rules, you “should be ok” they say. Well, how about we take more control of that? Look at who has taught us traditional education. Who are these people? 9–5’ers who also got their education the same way, except they are just a little further ahead of you though ultimately, no better off.

I am not disrespecting our teachers, it’s just that they are confined to a system of learning that is not aligned with financial independence. This is a very important thing to understand. Say it again with me: Teachers are confined to a system of learning that is not aligned with financial independence.

I am not sure about you but, I want to live to work, not work to live. Which is why I sought alternative sources of income after I hit my compensation cap in my career. I left it behind for the world of entrepreneurship and trading.

Little did I know, what I actually found was alternative sources of education that led me to what has become very lucrative income. In trading, we must figure out how to pull income out of the system every day and put it in our pockets. By now most people reading this have figured out that it’s very hard to do without the right education, mentors and experience.

If you are still reading this, you are at least in the right place. Unlike in the traditional education system, where your teachers are likely on the same level as you, in trading, the goal is to find people more successful than you. The real-time education you get by coming to Warrior Trading every day, taking the courses from people who have done this for many years consistently, is the right kind of alternative education you need to start investing in your trading career and eventual journey to financial freedom.

In the meantime, use your job to get ahead

It’s easy for me to say all these negative things about jobs and our state of education but, I just wanted to make a point and to inspire those with jobs to think bigger. Find a way to use more of your own time for yourself instead of others. This isn’t about quitting, it’s about generating another source of income which gives you flexibility to live the life you want.

If you have your job, which you presumably like or can at least tolerate and can make an extra $1,000 a week, how much does that help? I bet for most people, they will become happier at work and in life knowing that they finally have some form of control.

Many people in Warrior Trading trade part time, then go off to their job. They are making multiples of the amount they would normally make in a fraction of the time. Then are using their trading profits and the money from their job to horde cash and invest in themselves. Aspiring traders realize that their job is a key component while learning to trade, and are acutely aware of the ultimate end goal of having multiple income streams. Don’t be one of those people who quit their job thinking they will become an overnight success in trading.

Use trading as a tool to obtain more time, and therefore, more money

Trading has allowed to me focus a tremendous amount of time on the things I want to do, instead of the things other people want me to do. With the first six months of the year finished, I am already clearing almost $300K, or roughly $2,500 per business day from all income sources. This wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t have the time to spend on my own projects, ventures and ideas. Trading has allowed me the freedom of time, and for that I am forever grateful.

Trading P&L overview of the month of June, 2017

Regardless of the slow summer months, trading setups can still be found and consistency can still be had. I am merely continuing, as I mentioned in my prior article, to hit base hits while I slog through the summerand protect my gains from earlier this year. Trading is about managing risk and preserving capital first and foremost. On any given day, I try not to drawdown any more than 1% of my entire account.

To put that in context, if I have a $50,000 account, I would not want to lose more than $500 in a day. If I have a $200,000 account, I would not want to lose more than $2,000. This means I could theoretically lose for one hundred days in a row before my account would become depleted. For more aggressive traders, the percentage can be increased, though I would not recommend going above 2%.

This is the strategy that continues to keeps me in the game. For those with smaller accounts wondering how that would work with just $5,000. Well, on one hand you could be a lot more aggressive since there’s not much to lose. You can always rebuild the account. On the other hand, it’s probably hard for most people to rebuild quickly.

Young traders tend to be aggressive since that’s the best time to be, but when you start to amass wealth, one tends to get protective and play defensive. Not following these simple rules is why a lot of new traders on social media blow up their accounts or have six-figure losses. To properly absorb a six-figure loss in a responsible manner, and not try to make it up in a degenerate fashion by revenge trading, according to the 1% drawdown rule you would need $10 million dollars.