The Cost to Trade for a Living

"How Much does it take?"

A few days ago I posted this

Click here to read the comments.

That survey, as vague as it might seem, has deeper truth.

Once you have exposed yourself to a certain degree of risk in the

 stock market, there would come a time when you would think

I noticed that a lot of people actually consider having a "career" 
in trading. To those who answered, thank you for 

your time - your entries are duly noted.

So let's talk about this survey shall we?

There were those who answered 50-100k, 3M, and even 

a whopping 8 Figures. Nothing wrong with those numbers. 

But Yes, to be on the philosophical safe side, the answer 

depends on your personal lifestyle.

Example

This is how my monthly budget looks. I consume a lot less, 

I guess around 16-18k. I'm not much of a spender, I stay home

 most of the time, and since I'm province based, living expenses 

are cheap compared to the big cities.

And just for sample's sake, here's my "made up" projected budget

 when my port gets reset by the end of this month. 

(As of 6.12.2015)I call this, "The Table of Needs"

For those of you who just tuned in to my blog, Every 3 or 6

 months, I press the reset button on my trading port and it 

goes back to its original port size which is 2M.

The profits go to the projected budget above.

If no profits have been made, no withdrawals will be done and poor

 ZF will have to live on cup noodles and the emergency fund until

 the trading port yields gains and improves on the next reset.

On the table above and with my port size, I just need to make a

clean +1.25% or 25k in order to survive for a month. And 

+1.25% is something I can achieve with ease and no pressure.

I'm currently on the 6-month port reset mode and already got my

 2nd half 'needs' covered - anything excess of that +7.5% is the area that I consider

 "enjoying my stock profits"

But what if my port size was smaller? 

A lot answered 100k Capital. So let's see how that goes 

and how it will affect my current Budget.

To maintain my monthly "lifestyle" I'll have to at least make 

25% A MONTH! Now That's crazy and full of pressure.

You'll have to be a guru who always goes All In on basuras and can

 consistently see the future to be able to live with 100k Capital.

Di pa kasama yung "enjoying profits" area jan and some existing commitments 

I have won't be supported or would be "short sa budget."

So how about those who say, 500k Capital is the way to go?

In this example, let's assume I'm a family man living in the big city,

 got kids and a wife to support and I'll need to get 100k of profits

(+20k bonus) every month to sustain my family.

20% A month. And that 4% only gave a small boost.

Still a High number, budget screwed and is 

definitely NOT Sustainable. 

If you're single and have a smaller budget,

it might be acceptable.

I can imagine the look on people's faces when they've 

reached their target and got wiped out in a single trade 

because of the pressure to have "more"

----------------------------------------------

After discussing with my students on the subject, majority agreed

 that 5% is the "minimum" target one should gain in a month on his

 or her overall port that isn't too stressful to maintain as long as a

 system is in place and assuming trading consistency is achieved.

Now let's try ZF the Family Man with 3M Capital, 

Living in the big city, with wife and kids and 

a more balanced Budget.

A +3.33% monthly target ain't that hard right?

And that extra +1.67% or 50k pretty much gets you 

somewhere fancy for some R&R.

These tables are just projections. If you seriously consider trading

 for a living. You better be prepared and consider all angles. 

Here's a link to that spreadsheet If you wish to do 
some tweaking of your own:

Click here

And If you haven't reached your ideal Port Size yet, 

then dream big and work hard for it.

Because one day, hopefully,

You will.

I did.