A long time ago I figured out the difference between a Trader and Investor and realized I am very much the latter. After a few years this realization lead to my wealth increasing.

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brotchie 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

100%, other than selling RSUs to diversify, every single other investment I have is now buy and hold.

Even did a ~7 year career detour through quant finance "if I like Software Engineering and Mathematics so much, why don't I combine the two?"

Finally realized that the best use of my time was to just to work hard at a career I deeply enjoy (Software Engineering), working on products I actually care about (not valuing arcane derivatives products), and just invest the excess in diversified index funds (with some single stock selections here and there, thanks TSLA and NVDA).

Just as engineers can get "nerd sniped", I feel like "trading" is a somewhat malevolent strong attractor for a lot of folks. Folks do need general financial literacy, but an extra hour spent per day working harder to progress day job / long term career likely has a higher net present value than trading options or crypto.

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anupshinde 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

An Investor is essentially a Trader operating on a very long timeframe, benefiting from a slow decision-making process, slow results, and slow emotional swings. And I know people will argue against this. But if you are a trader, identify a sweet spot for speed/frequency, and then your trading results will suddenly improve.

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InMice 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I just have to say your post starts out just like those bots do on youtube finance video comments, esp with the caps. I sorta felt like replying in their style to you really

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jebarker 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yep, it’s amazing how many people seem to get sucked in by the idea you can reliably make money as a solo/small trading operation.

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monkeydust 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

Yea incredibly hard to do so consistently. Those that do (the hedge funds) have the security of the ~2% fixed fee they earn to weather the periods when the returns are not there aka "others peoples money".

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TuringNYC 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>> Yep, it’s amazing how many people seem to get sucked in by the idea you can reliably make money as a solo/small trading operation.

You can right!? You can make beta. Sometimes the beta is negative. Hard to make alpha.

	▲	blitzar 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		Everyone that bought and held on the up movement this week is a legendary "Trader".

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gosub100 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

You can if you have an enormous pile of cash. Then you can pat yourself on the back for making a few $k per month (which would only be a couple % apy) for acting like a quant when you could make the same amount in bonds.

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csomar 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

An investor is a trader. I think what you meant is to stay away from "day trading". Your whole life, careers, etc. are a trade.

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blitzar 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Language evolves over time but "Trader" (and to a large extent "Investor") doesn't mean what they imply it means in ads for crypto / leveraged brokerage accounts and even pension accounts. As for grifters on social media / youtube / paid for newsletters - most of the words they say or write dont mean the things they think they mean.

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grantseltzer 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

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