I’m looking for advice from a variety of trader students and expert mentors.  I joined as a Challenge in August 2020 while working a full-time job primarily from home and hoping to pick up enough knowledge in a short period of time to start making money in the hot market.  I have not done that and though I am learning every day, it is coming much slower than I expected. I do understand it is a marathon and not a sprint.  I joined the challenge as an older student at 50. I’m trying to learn while working full-time and staying focused on my day job.  I’ve been a test engineer for 26 years. I’m a high-salary earner and couldn’t legitimately quit and focus on trading full-time.  Though it is where I want to be eventually.

My original plan when I joined the challenge was to learn as much as I could before I had to go back to the office full-time.  Then continue to learn after hours and weekends, while working full-time in the office without the ability to watch the intraday market or to trade at all.  I figured based on the experts' traders and millionaire students, I knew it would take me several years to become proficient.  I am okay with that, I’m learning so I can retire early from my current full-time career and be able to travel and donate significantly.  

I have thought swing trading would allow me to set limits to buy and sell, while not actually watching the intraday market, I’m not sure if that is realistic or not.  I haven’t figured out a plan to practice once I have spent, say, the next year or two studying and not practicing or having the ability to watch the market, and then how to transition to practicing part-time when off or pre-market or after hours.

I’m wondering how not being able to observe the market daily will affect my ability to succeed long term.

Though I would love to be a millionaire, I’m not sure that is truly my goal.  My goal is to become self-sufficient so that I know how to properly find the right stocks that fit the patterns that work best for me and for my trading style.  My goal is to be part of the 10% of the traders that are successful.  My goal is to make enough of a profit so that I can give up my six-figure salary and become a part-time trader while traveling but still make enough to live the life I’ve become accustomed to living.  I want to see the world and donate freely to the many charities that need assistance.

I turned 51 last month and my goal is to retire at 58 ideally if not before, so I can live life, enjoy seeing the world, and having freedom.  I can certainly travel now, but I do not have the type of leave or freedom that I want before and don’t want to wait until I’m 65!

So, I’ve gotten used to teleworking 75%+ of my week since March 2020 and would love to continue doing so in order to continue to watch the intraday market and trade when the opportunity presents itself.  Though it is looking more and more unlikely that I will be able to do so based on the industry I am in.

I guess I’m looking for a smattering of thoughts and opinions especially from those who have joined the challenge as an older student and/or working full-time days.  How are you doing with the learning while working full-time in a career that you have probably had for many years, similar to my 26 years in test engineering? How did you make the transition from your full-time career to trading full-time?  I have been talking to a lot of people trying to get different thoughts, looking for a new potential strategy that I might not have thought of.  I mean, I know I will have to go back to the office full-time eventually as that’s where I am able to complete 100% of my work.  I can only complete about 25% of my job at home. I have been looking for a similar position where I can work from home 80% of the time, daytime while maintaining my current salary, but that is not so easy to find.

Thanks for reading my long post and for any thoughts you may have that can help my journey!