It seems to be the dream of every trading--to trade full time. Some do it. Most of those who make the plunge find themselves crawling back to their jobs (or having to find new ones). This is avoidable. If you properly count the cost first, then you can make the leap safely, never looking back.
First is the unpopular issue of trading capital. How much do you want to make in a year? Let's go with a conservative number, shall we? Let's say you want to make $40,000 per year. In no way would you want to try to trade full time with only $40,000 in capital. Sure doubling your money is possible (just not consistently probable).
You wouldn't want to have less than $100,000 in trading capital. That gives you all kinds of room for mistakes, and that takes away lots of the stress.
Second, you'll want to have at least six months of salary in backup. This is separate from your trading capital. This is emergency money. Hey, things happen. Life isn't perfect. Be ready for it or be sorry.
It should go without saying, but you need to have a track record as well. If you just started trading several months ago, you're not ready for going full-time. You want to have 3 to 5 years of profitable trading behind you.
If you're not consistently making money part-time, why go full-time?
There is one more thing. Your account beta should be low. The less volatility you have in your trading, the better and easier it will be to be a full-time trader.
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Nathan Pennington is a forex trader and the author of Winning Forex Trading -THE Definitive Guide
Source: www.articlesbase.com
