It is the beginning of August, which means almost 8 months of joblessness is fast approaching. I am losing my company-sponsored free healthcare at the end of the month. Beginning September I will have to pay government subsized healthcare through COBRA until December and then I am on my own. That is a pretty scary thought. Also fast approaching is the end of unemployment benefits, I think it runs out at the end of October. Under my calculation, I need between $3,000-$3,500 a month to maintain my current life style, which is $40K post-tax and $60K pre-tax.
My first hope was to make the day-trading pay for my living expenses while I think about my long-term plans but I am now realizing that it's not as "easy" as I first thought. Even after several months of doing, I am basically break-even meaning that I am losing on the trading costs which runs $100-$150 a day. There will be positive and negative days but I need to make positive days "blockbusters" and limit downsides on negative days. I am now giving up on my "prop" account because I could not pass Series 55 and only focusing on being a "retail" trader. The downside is that I'll have less leverage, only 4x versus 10x but I've never fully used up my leverage and so it really does not matter.
I am assuming that the slow summer months is the cause for my trading results. That means I am giving myself until November to see if this trading really works for me. If not, I will have to think about something else by next year.
I am still in a job-hunting mode. Although I am not very enthusiastic about getting another Job, I am getting more enthusiastic than before. That partly reflects my desire to have more financial security. Nothing has panned as of yet but I am hopeful that something will soon. If it is a job, I need to stick to my interest, which is investment research or active investment. One thing I am pinning my hope on is my former colleague/manager might land on something in the US (he is currently in the UK) and he'll ask me to join his team but we'll see.
If there is god, and s/he is listening to me and wants to fulfill my inner desire, then it goes something like this. I have a successful cash-flow business (real estate?) which finances my living and my successful trading business and also gives me flexibility to go back and forth between US and Nepal. It allow me to get involved in Nepal in some capacity whether business, policy or art and culture. Recently, I have become very intereted in producing quality Nepali films. I think there are so many unique stories there that if a qualifty film can be made, there will be audience and (may be) awards.
