Good at investing - how to turn this into a job?
Staying in Idaho, you could pursue some additional degree and try to get a job with a bank in the area as an investment advisor of some sort. However, I have doubts as to whether or not you'd be able to employ your creativity and test your own instincts in that sort of a position. If you really want to get into the big-money investment sector, I'd suggest a move to a financial hub (Chicago, New York, San Francisco) and getting a job programming for a big firm. After obtaining some experience there, you may be able to transfer to a more investment-oriented position (at the same firm or another) and from there to a position where you can unleash your talent (assuming you have some). Putting a degree in finance somewhere in the mix would help too. Consider the following. You want to make $50,000/yr (low) by running a fund with a 1% expense ratio (high) investing other peoples' money... you're dealing with at least $5 million. That's a good chunk of change. To be entrusted with that kind of money is kind of a big deal, and you'll need to get some people to believe in your capabilities. You're not likely to get that kind of trust working out of Boise. Even if you're just doing research for some fund manager, you're not likely to find too many of those in Boise either. You need to do a few things to analyze your results. First, look at the timing of the deposits, and try to confirm the return you state. If it's still as high as you think, can you attribute it to one lucky stock purchase?  I have an account that's up 863% from 1998 till 2013. Am I a genius? Hardly. That account, one of many, happened to have stocks that really outperformed, Apple among them.  If you are that good, a career change may be in order. Few are that good. Joe Step 1: Get a part-time job in sales.  Perhaps selling appliances at Sears. Step 2: If you are great at that, then look into becoming a stock broker/investment adviser in Boise ... which is a sales job.   Step 3: If you are great at that, then you might be able to become a portfolio manager, perhaps a hedge fund manager for the clients you collected as a stock broker/ investment consultant.   That seems to be the steps I have seen from reading the bios of a number of professional investors.   The other method seems to be an MBA from a top 10 business school.
okay, I was thinking of an investment advisor. I believe in not doing it alone too. But i don't believe in just one more person. Investing advisors, tax advisors, business and law. I don't go to an advisor bc I can't balance my monthly budget and also want to save, you know. Questions more like, highest growth sectors, diversified strategies, etc.  And right, they wouldn't get fired bc their client is still happy, (even though their losing money during a record bull market). Guy must be a good sales man. I'd just want to know that my advisors performance is decent relative to the market. But again, I'm not handing over checks to people, only speaking with them.  edit: Yes, the average person should worry about making their kids soccer games and shit, not necessarily the markets and what their investment is worth in 30yrs Before you even enroll in a good financial school, register for an account with a bank that allows you to manage a stock portfolio.  I prefer TD Ameritrade.  You do have to be 18 (Just register it under your parents, it doesn't matter.  Just make sure they fill out the information portion.  Get the SSN and tax info right.  Basically it's their account, you're just managing it. ) That way you'll have some good, practical experience going into it.  Understand that working with money can be a very cut-throat industry, be ready to be competing with people constantly.    Also, surround yourself with books from successful stock brokers, investment bankers, things like that.  When you're working you'll want information like that.  Good luck, and  I hope this helps. "Consultant, I commend you for thinking about your financial future at such an early age. Warren Buffet, arguably the most successful investor ever lived, and the best known student of Ben Graham has a very simple advice for non-professional investors:  ""Put 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund. (I suggest Vanguard’s.)"" This quote is from his 2013 letter to shareholders. Source: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2013ltr.pdf Buffet's annual letters to shareholders are the wealth of useful and practical wisdom for building one's financial future. The logic behind his advice is that most investors cannot consistently pick stock ""winners"", additionally, they are not able to predict timing of the market; hence, one has to simply stay in the market, and win over in the long run." Unless and until you are ready to do the ground work and get your hands dirty in the market, it is better to let the money where it is. But how to distribute money in which asset classes, industry etc is your choice to make. But remember that a big investment company doesn't guarantee that you will always earn a return higher than the market or it is safe with them. They are also bound to make mistakes and go bust, but it would be quite rare for companies, with billions of assets because they have strict checks in place and invest with extreme caution and proper research. One option is to try dabbling in the markets yourself, slowly, not everything at once. You will learn a lot and there are loads of information on the net and books in stores which could get you started. You will need to do a lot of groundwork to beat the market. That is difficult but not impossible. People have done it time and time again and they have put in hard work to do so. And I don't see with a little bit of work and time, why you shouldn't be able to do that, unless and until you are lazy and don't intend to do it. Unfortunately, in this market environment your goal is not very realistic. At the moment real interest rates are negative (and have been for some time).  This means if you invest in something that will pay out for sure, you can expect to earn less than you lose through inflation.  In other words, if you save your $50K, when you withdraw it in a few years you will be able to buy less with it then than you can now. You can invest in risky securities like stocks or mutual funds.  These assets can easily generate 10% per year, but they can (and do) also generate negative returns.  This means you can and likely will lose money after investing in them.  There's an even better chance that you will make money, but that varies year by year.  If you invest in something that expects to make 10% per year (meaning it makes that much on average), it will be extremely risky and many years it will lose money, perhaps a lot of it.  That's the way risk is.  Are you comfortable taking on large amounts of risk (good chances of losing a lot of your money)? You could make some kind of real investment.  $50K is a little small to buy real estate, but you may be able to find something like real estate that can generate income, especially if you use it as a down payment to borrow from the bank.  There is risk in being a landlord as well, of course, and a lot of work.  But real investments like that are a reasonable alternative to financial markets for some people. Another possibility is to just keep it in your bank account or something else with no risk and take $5000 out per year.  It will only last you 10 years that way, but if you are not too young, that will be a significant portion of your life.  If you are young, you can work and add to it. Unfortunately, financial markets don't magically make people rich.  If you make a lot of money in the market, it's because you took a risk and got lucky.  If you make a comfortable amount with no risk, it means you invested in a market environment very different from what we see today. --------- EDIT ------------ To get an idea of what risk free investments (after inflation) earn per year at various horizons see this table at the treasury.  At the time of this writing you would have to invest in a security with maturity almost 10 years in order to break even with inflation.  Beating it by 10% or even 3% per year with minimal risk is a pipe dream. "Say you have $15,000 of capital to invest. You want to put the majority of your capital into low risk investments that will yield positive gains over the course of your working career.  $5,000: Government bonds and mutual funds, split how you want.  $9,500: Low risk, trusted companies with positive historical growth. If the stock market is very unfamiliar for you, I recommend Google Finance, Yahoo Finance, and Zack's to learn about smart investments you can make. You can also research the investments that hedge fund managers and top investors are making. Google ""Warren Buffett or Carl Icahn portfolio"", and this will give you an idea of stocks you can put your money into. Do not leave your money into a certain company for more than 25 years. Rebalance your portfolio and take the gains when you feel you need them. You have no idea when to take your profits now, but 5 years from now, you will be a smart and experienced investor. A safe investment strategy to start is to put your money into an ETF that mimics the S&P 500. Over the past 20 years, the S&P 500 has yielded gains of about 270%. During the financial crisis a few years back, the S&P 500 had lost over 50% of its value when it reached its low point. However, from when it hit rock bottom in 2009, it has had as high percentage gains in six years as it did in 12 years from 1995 to 2007, which about 200%. The market is very strong and will treat your money well if you invest wisely. $500: Medium - High risk Speculative Stocks There is a reason this category accounts for only approximately 3% of your portfolio. This may take some research on the weekend, but the returns that may result can be extraordinary. Speculative companies are often innovative, low priced stocks that see high volatility, gains or losses of more than 10% over a single month. The likelihood of your $500 investment being completely evaporated is very slim, but if you lose $300 here, the thousands invested in the S&P 500, low risk stocks, government bonds, and mutual funds will more than recuperate the losses.  If your pick is a winner, however, expect that the $500 investment could easily double, triple, or gain even more in a single year or over the course of just a few, perhaps, 2-4 years will see a very large return. I hope this advice helps and happy investing! Sending your money to smart investments is the key to financial security, freedom, and later, a comfortable retirement. Good luck, Matt McLaughlin" Yeah true that. Counseling people to avoid the negatives has been more beneficial in my life than great recommendations. Even one mistake and you're up shit's creek. And I will say I have the knowledge to help people to avoid mistakes, but sometimes it devolves into mud slinging (unfortunately). If this wasn't a new account then it might give you an indication of how I've done this in the past. Most of the time it takes too much explaining to get people up to speed though.  A word to the wise: I'd recommend being open to switching industries. Everyone in finance is pretty toxic and all ended up there because of money. End up chasing the CFA (cancer distilled into three exams), grad school, nonsense corporate jobs, or the dream in high finance/small shops where the founders don't think they need another smart hard-working person. Even if if it's obvious they do.  I remember reaching out and counseling a firm on selling a position that I felt was really stupid. It was not at all in line with their investing objectives and also was one I would never touch. The guy actually agreed with me, didn't hire me (I was after a job), didn't sell the position, and lost them approx. $12 million within 12 months with my math on their 13-F's.  I only reach out to firms I respect, which works out to about 1 firm per 100k people in population from what I've seen (in a city like Pittsburgh this was only 4 shops). That means there are maybe 200 people in the US who would make a hiring decision on me for what I like to do. But I've stopped playing that game.  I now run a healthcare business I started. It was hard as hell to open but I now run circles around people because nobody actually is in the business of the industry. The doctors, nurses, etc. are all extremely bright - just not in my area. Makes for a much more fun workday. "So you are off to a really good start.  Congratulations on being debt free and having a nice income. Being an IT contractor can be financially rewarding, but also have some risks to it much like investing.  With your disposable income I would not shy away from investing in further training through sites like PluralSite or CodeSchool to improve weak skills.  They are not terribly expensive for a person in your situation.  If you were loaded down with debt and payments, the story would be different. Having an emergency fund will help you be a good IT contractor as it adds stability to your life.  I would keep  £10K or so in a boring savings account.  Think of it not as an investment, but as insurance against life's woes.  Having such a fund allows you to go after a high paying job you might fail at, or invest with impunity.   I would encourage you to take an intermediary step:  Moving out on your own.  I would encourage renting before buying even if it is just a room in someone else's home.  I would try to be out of the house in less than 3 months.  Being on your own helps you mature in ways that can only be accomplished by being on your own.  It will also reduce the culture shock of buying your own home or entering into an adult relationship. I would put a minimum of £300/month in growth stock mutual funds.  Keeping this around 15% of your income is a good metric.  If available you may want to put this in tax favored retirement accounts.  (Sorry but I am woefully ignorant of UK retirement savings).  This becomes your retire at 60 fund.  (Starting now, you can retire well before 68.)  For now stick to an index fund, and once it gets to 25K, you may want to look to diversify. For the rest of your disposable income I'd invest in something safe and secure.  The amount of your disposable income will change, presumably, as you will have additional expenses for rent and food.  This will become your buy a house fund.  This is something that should be safe and secure.  Something like a bond fund, money market, dividend producing stocks, or preferred stocks.   I am currently doing something like this and have 50% in a savings account, 25% in a ""Blue chip index fund"", and 25% in a preferred stock fund.  This way you have some decent stability of principle while also having some ability to grow.   Once you have that built up to about 12K and you feel comfortable you can start shopping for a house.  You may want to be at the high end of your area, so you should try and save at least 10%; or, you may want to be really weird and save the whole thing and buy your house for cash.  If you are still single you may want to rent a room or two so your home can generate income.   Here in the US there can be other ways to generate income from your property.  One example is a home that has a separate area (and room) to park a boat.  A boat owner will pay some decent money to have a place to park their boat and there is very little impact to the owner.  Be creative and perhaps find a way where a potential property could also produce income. Good luck, check back in with progress and further questions! Edit:  After some reading, ISA seem like a really good deal." How does one get into a position in their career where their work involves a lot of personal judgement to value investments?  I'm going into my junior year of undergrad...does it take years of certain experience in the finservices industry to actually get a job/position type like yours?  Sounds like an ideal job! Not sure why you're posting in r/finance; did you meant to post in /r/PersonalFinances ? Or /r/financialindependence ?  Anyway, I'll play.  There are 3 ways you can go about it, make it 4:  1. Commercial: find yourself a job/career that you'd do it for free.  I once met a guy who was in your similar situation and he had a hot dog stand in the hearth of the financial district of a large US city; he did it for the fun and to be social.  He'd be there only when the Stock Market was open and if the weather was good.  You could also develop a more challenging career for the satisfaction of it: writer, artists, craftsman....  You could go back to school, or take an online class, or do an online degree for the pure satisfaction of it all 2. Start a company. Similar to #1 above, but this this 100% entrepreneurial. It could be just yourself, or enlist the help of the wife; full time or part time. This again, follow your passion; since you're set financially it should not that difficult to break even. With time you could grow and hire people, but that increase the complexity and you might find yourself managing the business and not actually getting the satisfaction of doing what you had set to do. 3. Volunteer: find a non profit whose mission aligns with your values, and volunteer there; 1 or a couple of organizations; if you're up to it with time you could climb up the ranks ...   4. Mentoring: there are a lot of people who dream about being in your situation. I am sure it was not luck but hard work as well. You could become a blogger, write a book (in your name or anonymously); or mentor directly someone, reddit and a web site is a good marketing start.  If you have enough money (accredited investor) you could become an angel investor, or join an angel consortium to help people with your background to make something out of themselves. 5. A combination of 2 or more from the above. After losing my job (age 59) I started trading currencies. Many people have talents that they can use online and turn them into a business. Once I figured out how to trade I started writing eBooks on how to trade. What is your area of expertise, I bet you have one or can develop one. "If that's your goal.   Watch the entire webinar on warren buffet books by Preston Pysh first for a good intro into stocks bonds etc:  https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLECECA66C0CE68B1E&amp;v=KfDB9e_cO4k  Read Dale Carnegies book ""How to Win Friends and Influence People"" in order to learn how to communicate to people effectively and create networks. The most important skill in any field you choose to go into.   Read ""The Everything Store"" for essentially an MBA in business.   Read ""The Intelligent Investor"" by Benjamin graham for a bachelors in finance.   Then take classes that get you the very best professors in the field of finance, economics, and business at your school and make sure you never stop asking questions.  Continue to develop your skills and create good saving &amp; communication habits.   And if you want great jobs, get internships. To get internships be involved in as much as you can in campus and take leadership roles (especially when you think you can't handle it) you will grow quickly as a leader and businessman if you do it right.   If reading is a bit much for you, try audiobooks.   And make sure you enjoy college and surround yourself with ambitious youngsters like yourself. It will help you grow. Enjoy school and be social, make mistakes and do whatever it takes to get a minimum 3.5 GPA (get old tests study groups easy teachers or GPA boosting classes if you need to)   Aight that's all I got haha" "I switched to the buy side, here is some things you should do.  First of all, you already had 6 interviews.  I would say the HR people are going to be less helpful because its harder to differentiate yourself.  If you are talking to an investment portfolio, and they ask you any of type of...  What are you interested in? How did you get into this space?  You better have multiple stock pitches lined up.  For example, on the the first question  I'm interested in IM because I was exposed at an early age by my parents.  Although I didn't know what I was doing, I kept following (STOCK 1, you're first crack in the doorway).  *more about your background stuff*  In fact, STOCK 1 turned out to be one of my best/worst trades.  I thought it was going here and it went there due to this and that and etc...*more info about stock 1*  Now, I like to look at names such as STOCK 2-5 because they are show (this multiple or that yield or these moats, depending on who you are talking to).  That is how you get a job through an informational interview.    As for how you get an informational interview?  Go run through linkedin.  Sort for investment management.  Any person you have a 2nd degree network or Group network is fair game.  Just shoot your common friend an email (hey whats up, i saw you were friends with X, i'm really interested in his company can you put me in touch).  Although the end person may never respond, the connection is like almost guaranteed to help (assuming you're a nice friendly person).  Recruiting for IM is a full time job.  Even other industries as well.  My roommate graduated Haas Business Undergrad program (top 3 in the country) in TWO years (not 2 letters and science + 2 business, but 2 total years) at 19 years old, took him a full year of recruiting and paying his own way out to NY to meet people to land an banking job (due to similar circumstances, as he was fully out of school and wasn't in the normal rotation).  What really concerns me is you keep saying ""analysis.""  It makes me think that you have no clue what you want to do.  Tell me what analysis means.  If you want to recruit for IM, you better be watching the markets everyday (esp if you are unemployed), have opinions on lots of companies, etc." You can try paper trading to sharpen your investing skills(identifying stocks to invest, how much money to allocate and stuff) but nothing compares to getting beaten black and blue in the real world. When virtual money is involved you mayn't care, because you don't loose anything, but when your hard earned money disappears or grows, no paper trading can incite those feelings in you. So there is no guarantee that doing paper trading will make you a better investor, but can help you a lot in terms of learning. Secondly educate yourself on the ways of investing. It is hard work and realize that there is no substitute for hard work. India is a growing economy and your friends maybe safe in the short term but take it from any INVESTOR, not in the long run. And moreover as all economies are recovering from the recession there are ample opportunities to invest money in India both good and bad. Calculate your returns and compare it with your friends maybe a year or two down the lane to compare the returns generated from both sides. Maybe they would come trumps but remember selecting a good investment from a bad investment will surely pay out in the long run.  Not sure what you do not understand what Buffet says. It cannot get more simpler than that. If you can drill those rules into your blood, you mayn't become a billionaire but surely you will make a killing, but in the long run. Read and read as much as you can. Buy books, browse the net. This might help. One more guy like you. I'd say only look for business opportunities in areas where you have quite a lot of specific knowledge, or the ability to learn from someone who already has it.  Further, particularly in a saturated market like the one you describe, you need to have a clear idea of how you're going to be better than other players.  It's not enough to just want to do something to make money.  You need a solid plan and a solid angle on how you're going to be better than others.  If you don't have those things yet for what you're looking at, do more research until you do.  If you never get there, don't bother.  You're essentially saying you want to exploit arbitrage opportunities, which is a legitimate way to make a living, but it requires a LOT of market knowledge, because there are probably millions of people doing the exact same thing.