Living comfortably isn't about trading a $1,000,000 account and trading for $100 per pip. It's not about buying a huge house in the Hamptons or driving a Bentley or having a jet. It's not about being able to afford first-class plane tickets and staying at the Four Seasons.
So many retail traders are focused on what they will be able to buy once they start trading "big time." When I talk to them about trading for $1 per pip to start, and then working up from there, they are positively underwhelmed. Everything else I say is drowned out by the fear of not being able to get rich enough to live comfortably within a very short period of time.
The truth is that living comfortably isn't about all of those other things. It's about being comfortable living with less. It's about saving, not earning; about not risking rather than taking the big risk for the big score; it's about compounding gains over time rather than the lottery win. One of the best things a new trader can do for himself is to reduce his standard of living.
What is also fascinating to me is that by learning to compound gains over time, a trader becomes truly self-sufficient -- as opposed to hitting the jackpot on a single trade (which is not something easily replicated).
If you haven't seen the price and time curve that I did a while back, you might find it interesting. Click here to take a look.
