I would say 50-50. The process of mentorship will make it be helpful in your trading journey, because you got a teacher who is well-experienced, so having that can make it easier easier for you to understand better in trading.
But I think the whole process can be very time consuming, because it involves one to one technicality that involves heavy discussion and constant mentoring, which can be super tiring.
Nope. I wish someone had mentored me when I was younger.
Someone who reaches out and chooses a mentee is looking to pass on his knowledge. That doesn’t sound like someone who charges a monthly subscription fee.
Did your mentors charge you a fee?
If they didn’t, it sounds like their interest in you wasn’t money. It was someone who saw potential in you and wasn’t looking to profit from you.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding the situation…
One of them said to me that I had a passion for a subject of interest that was rare. Whereas in the past that was deemed to be a good trait, it seems to me these days that people on social media can’t wait to stick in the boot and describe such passion as one type of psychological misfit or another.
It also seems popular to say “that seems like too much hard work, so I’d rather not”.
I have never been charged to be mentored, nor have I ever asked to be mentored. I think that those people who “took me under their wing” thought I was worth the effort. And it’s the same with me. If I think that someone stands out from the crowd in their enthusiasm, and is not afraid of challenging their self-imposed limitations, I think about whether I could be useful to their future. If so, I think about offering them something. What I have also learned is that you don’t always get it right. The last thing you should do is to promise something you cannot deliver. In that respect, I really have to think 3 times before taking on a commitment.
When I have mentored folks in the past, the profit I have gained has been knowledge that I helped someone else gain something that I felt they alone could not achieve without some initial help. It is with a high degree of satisfaction and contentment that I recall the time I had spent making someone else’s life a little more pleasant and meaningful than it may otherwise have been.
To a far lesser extent, I hope to achieve something similar by the content of forum posts. I type way too much, but I hope there is something in my posts that is of good use to an observer who wants to learn.
Exactly! The reward for your mentors was intrinsic. Not financial. Same for you. It feels good to help someone who needs your time, but won’t waste it.
But when the mentor’s motivation is financial, I become suspicious.
Sorry. I thought it was obvious that your posts are helpful.
Please keep doing what you’re doing. You’re a crown jewel around here!
Flattery will get you everywhere. 
Exactly. My time would be spent on trading and spending time with the people I care about, not mentoring. There wouldn’t be a need to earn from mentoring because it would only take me a couple of hours to earn all that I need.
I agree. BUT what if you met a young trader with potential and wanted your help. You would be more likely to help that person for free because you want to pass on your knowledge and your help/time wouldn’t go to waste.
Well, there’s that and I believe people would do that. I would too. But in the situation you’re describing satisfaction is gained from being able to pass on the knowledge vs earning money which is the goal of most mentorship services.
If you’re getting a genuine mentor, then yes they are worth it. However, it is not easy to find genuine trades and most of them are scammers.
They would definitely have the expertise and knowledge to shorten your learning curve. Whether you get a mentor or not, trading is your path, and like any other field, you won’t become one unless you trade for yourself.
I would have absolutely nothing against paying for being mentored. In fact you could argue that by paying you are taking it more seriously.
Lots of courses on the likes of Udemy or Moocs, were never finished for the very reason they were free
I hate to agree on this one. Free or not, it comes down to the student to be serious. However, generally speaking, people don’t care about things they have no stake in.
My friend’s son would come home and toss his sneakers. As soon as my friend made his son pay for his own sneakers, suddenly this kid starts putting his sneakers back in the box instead of tossing them.
Not everyone, but generally people are like this.
If paying for a course will motivate you, go for it!
You gotta do whatever works for you.
Books, videos, paid lessons, whatever. Just try to figure it out soon. Each day we’re closer to death.
I would prefer to become profitable sooner than later.
To be honest, I wanted to start focusing on swing trades. I had the thought at the beginning of this month, but I mentally had a hard time switching styles.
I was taking lots of small trades that I shouldn’t have taken. My plan was too flexible.
It took me three weeks to finally start changing my plan. I’m making it sound like an addiction, but it’s more like a greedy habit.
It wouldn’t matter if a paid teacher had advised me or not. I still have to put in the work myself.
Perhaps a teacher could have pointed out certain things sooner.
But that’s not my path. If someone wants to take it, more power to them. I have nothing against it.
Oh, it’s an addiction all right. A complete self-flagellation of your own soul.
I have found the smaller the time frame I am trading, the more I want to trade even more.
But being able to sleep on it, I am not so nearly interested in tuning into the market at all that day.
I have always said that day trading techniques and end-of-day ones aren’t that different, but intraday you come face to face against all your demons up close. With end of day, it’s still there but not so intense.
The longer you trade without success the more inclined you are for shorter and shorter time frames, to make up for all that wasted time, you slowly start to feel desperate.
The very thought of waiting one whole day for a signal doesn’t bear thinking about. What a colossal waste of time having to wait for one day!!
When I look back on how I used to be it reminds me of Robert De Niro in Mean Streets - the hopeless degenerate gambler.
It’s basically a cycle of addiction that starts out all so innocently.
If during these periods of self abuse, we did in fact have a mentor to watch over us it would be easy for him or her to bring us back on track whenever we lose our way.
That is the real value of a mentor
Yup. I’m on board with that. Especially about desperation. We all could use more money. Travel, pay off debt, better food, better housing, a car that doesn’t break down on the expressway, etc.
When you look at the charts, the answers are there. The problem is that no two set-ups are exactly alike. So, instead of exercising patience, our desperation determines when we should trade. It’s awful.
And yes, a mentor would help. To be honest, I wouldn’t be able to even critique a mentor because I don’t know what they offer nor what each mentor’s style is.
If they charge a fee, and someone finds it helpful, great for everyone.
Perhaps it’s something that could save you 12 months of reinventing the wheel.
Mentoring is ok at the start but only to give you the basics
One of my mentees calls me every three months - ten years after I mentored him. I still enjoy our talks. Sometimes we play internet chess, other times we just chat.
I don’t have a problem as well for someone to charge to mentor. Given that he is the real deal and sincere in his approach. But that does seems to be far and few between.
So given the above is true then it could certainly help someone’s learning curve. Someone being taught a trading strategy and plan is the easy part, especially if its a mechanical system with ridge rules. A subjective strategy may be a little more difficult since it’s more based on how that person views the charts.
I think where more of their worth is helping someone dealing with the emotions. Knowing what that person is going through and how to stick to the plan even during the losing streak. Making sure that mentee is not taking any wild trades, keeping a level head, knowing when to take a break, and things like that. But this also written from what I struggled with, someone else may have a different approach for a mentor.
I’m also now starting to incorporate trading into my son’s schooling. He is homeschooled and 12.
He does a pretty good job already locating support and resistance. Starting with very basic stuff but just want him to have a skill that he can use at anytime of his life.
@dushimes It’s true that people don’t value what they get for free. Although I’m the kind of person that if I start something I get no peace until I finish it. It hardly matters to me if it’s free or paid. My only consideration is it should interest me from within. But yes, I’ve seen who find it hard to engage with things they don’t pay for.