Featured Young Forex Traders: May's Picks

One common reaction we get when we ask traders how old they started trading forex is that they wish they could’ve started earlier, that maybe they could have started when they were 25, 20, or even 18. Had they been born a couple (or maybe several?) years earlier, they could have actually started young!

Thanks to the internet, it’s so much easier for these youngins to start not just learning about it but actually trading!

This month we scoured our online communities for forex traders (either demo or live trading) aged 18 - 22 years old. We were overwhelmed by the number of volunteers we received!

In the end, we decided to only feature three. They might be young but don’t think they don’t have interesting answers. You might even learn a thing or two from them. :wink:

Everyone, please welcome Clark Lai, Matt Milller, and Nikolay Boev!

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[B]ClarkFX a.k.a Clark Lai[/B]

[B]1. Tell us about yourself. How old are you? Where are you from? Are you in school? What do you do?[/B]

[I]I am currently 17 years old, and will be turning 18 on June 24th. I live in Canada; Calgary, Alberta to be exact (good ole’ Stampede). I am still in my senior year in high school, and will be looking to pursue a post-secondary education. I am planning to go for my BComm Honours Degree, majoring in Finance, minor in Business Law/Economics. For my postgraduate studies, I am looking to gain admittance into law school, where I can receive a joint Masters in Business Administrations and Bachelors of Law (MBA/LLB). I will be attending the University of Alberta.[/I]

[B]2. How did you discover forex trading?[/B]

[I]When I was younger, before I knew about forex, I always thought that you could make a profit through currency rates and fluctuations, but I never took it thoughts into great detail. I thought I could stand in front of a currency exchange desk and make a quick buck like that!

Then I started getting involved in trading stocks from my parents. I saw ads and heard from my friends’ parents about trading gold and other metals, so I tried reading up on that, but it was too confusing at the time. That’s when I started seeing ads for trading currencies. Back then I didn’t know it was called forex. I did a quick search on Google and stumbled upon Babypips. I tried learning from Kindergarten, but I was still young so I could not grasp it at all. I gave up.

A couple years later, I start reading again and I understand all of it, surprisingly, and here I am![/I]

[B]3. What/who influenced you to get involved in forex trading?[/B]

[I]When I was younger, I realized I DO NOT want to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. That’s torture. Why could I just stay at home and work for a living?

My parents never really approved of my thinking, so I decided that someday I will prove them wrong, and it’s been one of my key motivators. I got interested with a home business. Perhaps, selling merchandise, or online marketing. I ended up trying all of that, some failed while some proved to be quick successful.

Affiliate marketing, Google AdSense and PPC advertising, web & graphic design, eBay businesses, dropshipping practises, I tried them all. But the stock market and the economy, I was always interested in. So I decided to invest my profits into a discount brokerage account and started trading. I read up a lot on the subject and got pretty good at it. I ran my initial balance up 700% in a matter of 8 months.

With the money I have made, I intend to use it to trade forex now. The large liquidity, and volatility suits my trading style. Since it’s hard for one single entity to corner the market, it provides a more accurate analysis using technicals. [/I]

[B]4. Do your parents or friends know that you trade? If yes, what do they say about it?[/B]

[I]My parents know I’m trading, since I’m not of legal age yet, they have to actually open my trading accounts under their names. =P I try to keep trading away from my friends, I figure the less people who know, the better. I mean, a couple friends know that I do some sort of work at home, but that’s about all they know.

My mom supports me as she is in the finance industry. My dad, on the other hand, doesn’t really like the fact that I believe forex will be my primary source of income. He’s a traditional man, and feels that everyone should work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week… Not my sort of thing, sorry pops.[/I]

[B]5. What do you usually do when you’re not trading?[/B]

[I]I participate in a lot of extracurricular activities. I play the piano, guitar, and alto-saxophone. I do Western boxing, Wing Chun, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jujitsu. I also lift weights 6 days a week, and 3 days of cardio; I used to compete as a Junior Bodybuilder. Yeah, the ones you see running around in their underwear. =P I like hanging out with my friends, fishing, play golf, paintballing, laser tag, etc. I just like being able to experience there is to do in life. I still manage my own PPC business right now, as it’s proved to be a good source of income. School wise, I am trying to maintain my grades to receive scholarships (free money, right?) and get final admission into university. [/I]

[B]6. Are you looking into being a full-time forex trader in the future?[/B]

[I]My dream job is to either be a full-time trader who works at home. I don’t have to necessarily trade forex solely but adding other markets will help, I feel, as well. My other dream job would be to manage my hedge fund. Some older traders might say these are far-fetched dreams, but give me a break old-timer, I’m young, I started at an early age, if I work hard enough I will make it! :D[/I]

[B]7. Who do you look up to in the forex industry? How about from the non-forex industry? [/B]

[I]I do not know a lot of people in the forex industry, but I do look up to Soros. Some might hate him, but I don’t. He’s powerful, independent, and free from social norms. Some might feel he exploits society and the markets, but it’s a dog-eat-dog world, only the smart, strong, cunning traders will survive. Soros has proven himself to be of that character. In the non-forex industry, I look up to many of the wealthy philanthropists (just learned what that word actually meant a couple days ago!) in the world. They must be great people, giving what they have to the ones who need it.[/I]

[B]8. Who inspires you?[/B]

[I]I don’t really have anybody that inspires. But the fact that if I can trade for a living, I am able to get a lot more freedom and time in life. I like the fact that I can be making a lot of income without working a single day at the office. That’s my main inspiration.[/I]

[B]9. If you never discovered forex trading, what do you think would you be doing?[/B]

[I]If I never discovered forex, I would still be trading stocks, and working on my PPC business. Or even perhaps, another home business venture, who knows. :P[/I]

[B]10. If forex trading can be a personality/celebrity/character who would it be and why?[/B]

[I]I have no clue what forex trading would be… Maybe Charlie Sheen? Since the markets are quite irrational?? :P[/I]


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[B]Matt Miller[/B]

[B]1. Tell us about yourself. How old are you? Where are you from? Are you in school? What do you do?[/B]

[I]My name is Matt Miller, I’ll be 22 years old on may 23. I grew up in a relatively small town in central Oregon and shortly after high school moved to Miami beach Florida for a change in scenery.

I have been a full time trader for just over 3 years now while also helping my mentor build a Forex Education company.[/I]

[B]2. How did you discover forex trading?[/B]

[I]Just after high school I knew I didn’t want to work for anyone, all I wanted was to make a lot of money as any 18 year old kid would want to. I started buying books and course on trading stocks.

Just after beginning to paper trade stocks I found the Forex market. Everything about Forex intrigued me much more than trading stocks so I decided to shift gears and start studying Forex.[/I]

[B]3. What/who influenced you to get involved in forex trading?[/B]

[I]I moved from Oregon with 2 other really close high school friends who were also aspiring traders.

So in essence we all pushed each other a lot to learn and get a better understanding of the markets. There was that competitive nature between us that really help all of us accelerate when it came to learning and trading the markets.[/I]

[B]4. Do your parents or friends know that you trade? If yes, what do they say about it?[/B]

[I]My parents know that I trade. At first they were skeptical, mainly because I was taking the money I saved for college and spending it on a Forex Mentorship program. They had heard about how risky trading can be and politely suggested that I consider other things. However once my mind is made up there is no changing it.

I ultimately ended up purchasing a $20,000 one year Mentorship program from my mentor whom I still currently trade for. Looking back on it they are grateful that I went with my instincts, it has been the best money I have ever spent.[/I]

[B]5. What do you usually do when you’re not trading?[/B]

[I]Because I live a block away from Miami beach that is where I spend most of my time. I rarely trade for more than 3-4 hours a day so the rest of the time I am either working on training material or hanging out on the beach.[/I]

[B]6. Are you looking into being a full-time forex trader in the future?[/B]

[I]Well I currently am a full-time trader (even tho I only trade a couple hours a day) it is the only income I live off of. I currently trade for a fund that I was introduced to through my mentorship program.[/I]

[B]7. Who do you look up to in the forex industry? How about from the non-forex industry? [/B]

[I]I really look up to Armando Martinez, I have now traded along side him for 3 years now and I learn something every single day. When I first began my trading journey I went through some tough situations such as account blow-up etc… Armando was there always showing me how to deal with it and grow from it. I owe a lot of my success and freedom to him.[/I]

[B]8. Who inspires you?[/B]

[I]I work with a lot of really good guys and each of them have been a leader in their respective industries. Our Chief Learning Officer Erik, has developed content that is being taught in college business courses. The Chief business officer Marc, has taken companies public on NYSE and been extremely successful in all his business ventures. I look up some of the things they have accomplished and learn from them daily.[/I]

[B]9. If you never discovered forex trading, what do you think would you be doing?[/B]

[I]I really have no idea what I would do without trading. I haven’t had a backup plan this whole time, which is probably the reason I stuck with it until I succeeded, there were no options.[/I]

[B]10. If forex trading can be a personality/celebrity/character who would it be and why?[/B]

[I]When I think of Forex I think of George Soros. For someone to corner the market like he did is incredible.[/I]



Nikolay Boev

1. Tell us about yourself. How old are you? Where are you from? Are you in school? What do you do?

[I]My name is Nikolay Boev. I am 21 years old and am from Bulgaria – its right above Greece. :slight_smile:

Currently, I live in the UK studying International business in Loughborough University.[/I]

2. How did you discover forex trading?

I discovered forex trading in a Macroeconomics lecture where we discussed in depth and I immediately said to myself – Boy that’s a great and interesting way to make an extra buck!

3. What/who influenced you to get involved in forex trading?

Nobody influenced me to get into forex. I did some research online, discussed it with my professor and I decided to start a demo account and see if I can do it. Turned out I am good at it (thanks to babypips.com as one of my major learning sources), so last month I started my first real account.

4. Do your parents or friends know that you trade? If yes, what do they say about it?

My friends are very supportive of my forex trading and find it very interesting. My parents not only know that I am trading, but my father actually gave me most of the money that started my account. Although he sees it more as a gamble than as an investment. He’s just very old school business man, but I must agree that there is some truth to his words.

5. What do you usually do when you’re not trading?

When I’m not trading, I usually just hang out with my flat mates, watch a movie, go out with friends, take a trip or something in that area. I also watch and play a lot of sports, especially tennis and football. Sometimes, when there is time left I go to lectures as well. :slight_smile:

6. Are you looking into being a full-time forex trader in the future?

No. I am very interested in forex and financial markets as a whole and probably I would keep trading after I graduate. However I have plans for my own business in Bulgaria and that wouldn’t allow me to be a full-time trader.

7. Who do you look up to in the forex industry? How about from the non-forex industry?

I don’t have a specific person that I look up to. If I had to choose one, I would probably go with Warren Buffet. Also I admire Steve Jobs, but not because of his I-products, but his marketing strategy is a killer.

8. Who inspires you?

My father. I have looked up to him since I was 6 and he has taught me everything I know about business. To be frank, most of the things I studied in university I already knew from him.

9. If you never discovered forex trading, what do you think would you be doing?

I would probably put more time into developing business ideas for when I graduate next year.

10. If forex trading can be a personality/celebrity/character who would it be and why?

I see forex as the cool fun uncle, who can be serious as well and always has a good advice if you need him.