Hi Jonathan. I have three boys, 3-7, with a fourth due in February. I previously had a career that really wasn’t a good fit for family life, so I turned to trading, almost three years ago. Now I’m a complete convert - trading is a fantastic fit for family life.
Advice (and yes on trading, I would not assume that you were asking a stranger for parenting advice lol!)? That’s always tricky as we are all of us different, and will become different types of trader. I would say don’t underestimate the importance of psychology, you need to be in the right frame of mind to trade and to learn to trade, plus you need to be able to roll with the inevitable losses. We all have our own way of keeping on point with the psychology side, but I find that Jack Schwager’s three Market Wizards books help keep me inspired.
Secondly I would advise you to start with the basics. Personally, I would not jump straight in with a pile of indicators, or trying to figure out how news might move Price. I’d start with a plain chart and try to get my head around Price Action and Candlestick Patterns (both covered in the school). Then throw some Support and Resistance levels on there and watch how Price reacts. Spend a lot of hours doing that, then layer up your knowledge as you learn more about what sort of trading style/duration etc you think suits you.
And finally take all advice with a pinch of salt (yes, including mine!) - lots of different things work, some will suit you and others will not, but each will have its vocal critics. A successful trader needs to know when to tune out the majority voice and follow their own view. Remember that most traders fail, which suggests that most on this site will also fail. Including some of those with the vocal opinion. So take in as much advice as you can, but be prepared to reject any or all of it if you feel you need to. Stick to that and you should avoid some blind allies and get there in the end.
But most of all, live the life, read all you can, spend as much time in front of the charts as you can, and treat everything as a learning opportunity. This is a capital preservation game above anything else, and the more methodical and mechanical you can become, the truer to that ethos you will stay.
Anyway, I hope that that helps a little to give you my view, and apologies if it comes across at all preachy!!
This is a great site, so you have taken a great first step. Good luck out there!!
Simon
