Being a good trader ≠ being wealthy

[triggon]

Something that I find surprisingly strange, and that I have noticed in quite a few replies to my previous post, is how many people still seem to believe that being a good trader automatically means being wealthy.

Honestly, I did not expect to see this mindset so often on a forum like this. This is one of the oldest crypto communities around, and you would expect people here to understand these things better than the average person.

There seems to be this idea that if you are genuinely a good trader, you should naturally have a boat, a villa, luxury trips, and all the other things that social media associates with trading success.

But being a good trader and being wealthy are two completely different things.

A trader can be highly skilled and still have very little capital.

People seem to imagine that someone with $20,000 who is a great trader can simply turn it into $20 million. They do not seem to understand that the income you can generate from trading is directly related to the amount of capital you start with.

And the strange part is that if such a trader tries to build another source of income outside of trading, people will immediately become suspicious and say, "Then he must be a scammer."

Meanwhile, those same people will wholeheartedly believe the real scammers because they get out of their Lambo, jump onto their superyacht, and somehow make another $100K before the same Instagram Reel even ends.

If you do not start with significant capital, it is extremely difficult to achieve the lifestyle that Instagram has taught people to associate with being a successful trader.

And perhaps this is one of the strangest things about trading: the expectations we have created around it.

A 10% monthly return, if someone can actually sustain it over the long term, would be an extraordinary result.

Yet somehow, a trader can make 10% in a month and still be perceived as unsuccessful because they are not suddenly buying Lambo.

Where did this expectation come from?

And more importantly, can we actually change it?

[SilentNightmare]

honestly maybe the question isn't where this expectation came from, it's why we keep acting like this is even about skill in the first place. nobody's actually jealous of someone's monthly return, they're jealous of the yacht. once you separate those two things half the arguments in this thread just stop making sense

[Odohu]

If you do not start with significant capital, it is extremely difficult to achieve the lifestyle that Instagram has taught people to associate with being a successful trader.

Starting with good capital is good in trading because it helps a trader set realistic targets that are easier to meet. A trader with $100k equity will be happy to make 1% as profits and call it a day, meanwhile another trader with $1k equity will not want to take profit at 1% of his equity. This will then become a psychological problem that will lead to losing the $1k due to over trading and not setting feasible targets. This is how I understand equity to affect trading.

[Kelward]

The problem about trading myth on social media that you can sit in the comfort of your house and be making hundreds and thousands of dollars everyday is very unrealistic, newbies who believe these lies ends up blowing their accounts in the process of high expectations. Trading is hard and not for everybody, if you understand this simple truth you can avoid being misled by influencers on social media who are paid to influence the public to enter into trading. If a new trader is mentored by experienced traders I'm sure that they won't start trading with more than the amount that they can afford to lose.

[Alphakilo]

Remember that we have merchant traders who have been trading for long and have built a life out of it. Infact we rely on these merchant traders to always exchange or swap out coins at immediate instance where we need it and that's why traders are important.
So for a newbie just in the game to get to that stage, they must have had to be resilient and never gave up and have good capital because having trading skills is not just enough, a good size capital is mandatory to excel at trading.

Also, one point to note is that the measurements for trading return and lifestyle is different. A trader can have money and skills but their worth is measured in percentages whereas as we know, one can save up or have other investments and be able to have the ability to afford a Lamborghini.

[Botnake]

Being a good trader does not mean he's wealthy as well. But if he will maximize his potentials in trading and take advantage of every trading opportunities in the market, its always possible that he will get rich in the long run. And getting rich means he can easily diversify his investments until he will start accumulating wealth and become filthy rich in the end. But it could take a lot of pressures and losses before it will finally happen.

For now, let's just settle on the fact that being a good trader means he can avoid constant losses in the market, and be able to maximize his profits if there are perfect trading opportunities in the market.

[Ziskinberg]

This kind of mindset only exist because of trading Youtubers as they continue to convince the people that getting rich is highly possible for good traders. That if you continuously making a good trade, eventually you'll end up a wealthy trader in the making.

But they lied on the idea that trading can be easily learned, because in real life trading is highly risky and complex. Its not that constant trading in the market will make you learned, but the possibility of losing your money every time you trade will definitely motivate you to be a good trader so that you can avoid those losses and increase the chances to trade for profits.

Being a good trader isn't connected to being wealthy. But you can get rich with high-end investments even if you do not learn about trading.

[freedomgo]

Well there are good traders that eventually build up their finances and get wealthy in the end, but majority of the traders nowadays are certainly losing. That's because they rush into trading and expect quick profits even without real understanding how trading works in the market. Even without developing those basic skills and strategies first so that they can avoid or limit their losses in trading.

But for some reasons, being wealthy may mean they are doing great in trading, but being a good trader is still far being wealthy in their personal finances.

[blockman]

Something that I find surprisingly strange, and that I have noticed in quite a few replies to my previous post, is how many people still seem to believe that being a good trader automatically means being wealthy.

Honestly, I did not expect to see this mindset so often on a forum like this. This is one of the oldest crypto communities around, and you would expect people here to understand these things better than the average person.

There seems to be this idea that if you are genuinely a good trader, you should naturally have a boat, a villa, luxury trips, and all the other things that social media associates with trading success.

Blame the social media trading gurus for this. I have already seen it before from the forex era, to crypto and they have all the same strategy on how they're going to attract sales for their courses by showing they're a good trader and they've got all of those luxuries.

And perhaps this is one of the strangest things about trading: the expectations we have created around it.

A 10% monthly return, if someone can actually sustain it over the long term, would be an extraordinary result.

Yet somehow, a trader can make 10% in a month and still be perceived as unsuccessful because they are not suddenly buying Lambo.

Where did this expectation come from?

And more importantly, can we actually change it?

It is within our mindset, we know what the reality is and people shouldn't dictate what's their reality to the actuality that we know of. Someone who's consistent doing 10% a month is a legend and a winner. Compared to those who hit that first by having massive losses or just some mere salesman selling their courses flaunting their rented assets.

[atookz]

This is soooo true! The secret to trading is in the process and in consistency, not the profit. Profit is not the result of reading charts, it's the result of capital x return percentage. A small guy that is making 5-10% per month is more successful than a Lambo man who has no identifiable source of money. The wrong guys end up being targeted: the one who diversifies his income is considered a scammer, and the clear red flag is revered because the content looks convincing. It is not a skill that makes you rich; it is time, capital, and consistency.

As for the questions, I believe it's related to social media. Viral content shows instant, extravagant results rather than a slow, gradual process. This means that instant luxury becomes the benchmark of success. Can it change? It's hard on a large scale, but possible in a smaller community like this forum, by normalizing the idea that small, consistent profit is acceptable.

To close it out: When money comes quickly, it goes quickly. When you're persistent, it lasts.

[Big Dirams]

Well there are good traders that eventually build up their finances and get wealthy in the end, but majority of the traders nowadays are certainly losing. That's because they rush into trading and expect quick profits even without real understanding how trading works in the market. Even without developing those basic skills and strategies first so that they can avoid or limit their losses in trading.

But for some reasons, being wealthy may mean they are doing great in trading, but being a good trader is still far being wealthy in their personal finances.

Actually, there are some traders that end up making more profits in their trading operations and become wealthy through it but this type of traders are not plenty just few are able to meet up with this opportunity. But on the contrary nearly all of traders are not even reaching half of the phase of accumulating wealth through trading just because the mindset they use and go after trading is a wrong one.
As a trader thinking that trading will make them rich and make fast money in our early stage will allow us to make decisions through emotions because we would do what ever it takes to make the fast money without avoiding some higher risks which will definitely results into regrets.

[mindrust]

Wealth is passive imo. It doesn't and shouldn't even require your constant attention. You hire professionals to have your wealth managed. You go enjoy life and every once in a while check the performance of your wealth and decide to fire or keep the current set of professionals who manage your wealth which you hired. Trading is a full time job. It doesn't have anything to do with being wealthy.

[Free Market Capitalist]

But being a good trader and being wealthy are two completely different things.

The problem is, what people call "good traders" don't usually last long. Truly skilled traders work at hedge funds, use high-frequency algorithms and artificial intelligence, and yet they rarely beat the S&P 500 (10% annual return).

A trader can be highly skilled and still have very little capital.

Right.

People seem to imagine that someone with $20,000 who is a great trader can simply turn it into $20 million.

Those people are retards.

A 10% monthly return, if someone can actually sustain it over the long term, would be an extraordinary result.

A 10% monthly return, if it's during a few months it can be possible, if it is during years it doesn't exist. It is a scam.

[Dareo]

The main reason behind this unrealistic expectation of people is the fake lifestyle of social media, and as far as I see this is the trap of greed that most new traders fall into. I think the amount of mental control and patience it takes to become a skilled trader is almost impossible to maintain under the pressure of these huge expectations with small capital. There is another aspect here, having less capital does not mean that a good trader cannot earn. If a skilled trader wants, instead of his own small account, he can go to a good prop firm's funding program and get the opportunity to earn from profit share using the company's capital. Of course, these programs have drawdown and other rules.

[sotelorene]

People seem to imagine that someone with $20,000 who is a great trader can simply turn it into $20 million. They do not seem to understand that the income you can generate from trading is directly related to the amount of capital you start with.

And the strange part is that if such a trader tries to build another source of income outside of trading, people will immediately become suspicious and say, "Then he must be a scammer."

Of cause it is very possible to flip $20,000 to $20 million but this is going to take someone some years before they can be able to do it but if you ask me that is not realistic because the goal, target and expectation is way too much to achieve. It is true that our return sometimes is the function of our capital but not really all the time because anything is possible in trading. Who cares what people think or say when you know within yourself that you are not a scammer or fraudster and one thing is sure, people will always talk.

[PERtua]

I believe that, in addition to ability and initial capital, there is a capital preserving ability. A trader trading 5% consistently and maintaining his drawdowns in check can be actually a far better situation than a trader who trades 30% one month and 50% the next. Compounding only applies if the capital lasts long enough to compound. That's why I would judge a trader more on their ability to manage risk, be consistent and survive than judge by their account size or lifestyle.

[junder]

Being a good trader does not mean he's wealthy as well. But if he will maximize his potentials in trading and take advantage of every trading opportunities in the market, its always possible that he will get rich in the long run. And getting rich means he can easily diversify his investments until he will start accumulating wealth and become filthy rich in the end. But it could take a lot of pressures and losses before it will finally happen.

For now, let's just settle on the fact that being a good trader means he can avoid constant losses in the market, and be able to maximize his profits if there are perfect trading opportunities in the market.

Maybe precisely do not be too obsessed with a profit, with we must keep in mind that trading is also a risky thing so we must remain in good control. It's good if you can make profits consistently because indirectly it can build wealth but on the other hand don't also obsess about profits which can make us lose discipline or self-control which can lead to big losses.

Everyone who trades certainly does not want to experience losses therefore everyone who trades tries to do their best to get profits, but if you can avoid losses it is a good thing.

[Gozie51]

A 10% monthly return, if someone can actually sustain it over the long term, would be an extraordinary result.

Yet somehow, a trader can make 10% in a month and still be perceived as unsuccessful because they are not suddenly buying Lambo.

If we can come to agreement that a good trader is that trader that sustains their profit over time then they can live a good life. Maybe your doubt is talking about lambo but being rich is relative. What I believe is that if someone is called and known as a good trader then they should be living a good life. When it comes to trading, the start up capital is inconsequential because a good trader can grow whatever amount but the challenge is that " who is a good trader"? This is because we hardly see a good trader as larger percentage of traders are losing. Those social media influencers are living on the hype of their social media handles and referrals/subscription.

[qurbanshah02]

It is better to be a good trader because a rich person will have to work hard to make himself richer again, but a good trader who has enough knowledge and experience can always make a profit by trading in the market. One should never let one's ability in trading decrease and a good trader knows this and does not panic when there is a loss, but encourages himself and tries to make a profit in the market again. Nowadays, the trend of people in trading is increasing a lot because looking at the way people have started making money from trading, people feel that they can earn a lot by making trade. Although they think so, it is not as easy as they think, for a good trader, he has to face a lot of difficulties.

[oll]

Something that I find surprisingly strange, and that I have noticed in quite a few replies to my previous post, is how many people still seem to believe that being a good trader automatically means being wealthy.

I’m subscribed to the blog of a really great trader, and he really managed to make a lot of money thanks to his brains, and at the same time he never boasted about Lambo and yachts - all he bought was freedom. Both financial and geographical. And he doesn’t require any paid subscriptions; he just does what he likes, but he hasn’t slowed down and remains just as effective and great a trader - someone who constantly keeps an eye on the news.
And he is an example to me of a person who is living their best life.