Hello Mike,

Thank you for SMBU and your video’s. Very motivational and inspiring.

Have you ever had older people, (40-50’s), enter the trading business? I’ve been in aerospace manufacturing biz for over 25 yrs now, its ok, but my passion is following equity markets and this passion has grown for a very long time. Any advice for someone such as myself, who follows the markets every day (and still gets his day job done) and goes home and eats it and breathes it 24/7?

Finally was able to gather enough money to start a very small (less than 2K) trade account over year ago, My goal is to continue building on it, learn from my mistakes and continue to get better. But lets be real. Am almost 50 and im not doing what my passion is. I’d rather be doing what I’m already doing outside of my day job; follow equity markets and working on being the best trader I can be.

What advice do you have for someone like me and do you have any examples of others who made a career change late in life to trade?

@MikeBellafiore

I love your question because in trading we should study success stories in great detail.  Yes there is someone who made a late career change and has become a successful trader!

Seth Freudberg, Director of SMB Options, is your role model.  Seth was a CEO of a publicly traded insurance company.  While this career was lucrative, it was not his passion.  He retired from the insurance biz (bought out?) and became a full-time trader in his 40s.  Seth runs the education options arm of SMBU and also trades and manages the options trading desk for the Fund.

Seth will freely tell you that he now, finally he has a career (trading) that he loves!

There are many best practices we can learn from Seth.  I am not sure I have ever met anyone, save my mom, so interested in learning something new.  Seth is as positive thinker as Phil Mickelson, one of the most positive thinking athletes.  A legendary trader once said that you get from the markets what you want.  Those negative in their thinking often get exactly that from the market.  Though a Wharton grad and former successful CEO, he has almost zero ego, which helps him make eg0-less trading decisions.  Seth has a unique ability to see the talent in others, celebrate it and learn from them.  In the past month I have heard him say about distinct students:

“Bella this guy just has it.”

“He just knows when to make an adjustment and does it.”

“We need to get him trading with us.  He is special.”

Seth is conscientious, open-minded, strong cognitively, and emotionally stable with fast-moving markets.  To be successful like Seth, you will want to have many positive qualities like him.

I have often wondered if Options is a better place to start for most 40+.  The demands on your time are less.  You might make two adjustments a day and be an elite spread options trader.  You are not required to make as many decisions as active intraday traders.  The strategies are very scalable and always back-tested, which speaks to many more mature and risk-adverse.

You can be better tomorrow than you are today!

Mike Bellafiore is the Co-Founder of SMB Capital and SMBU, which provides trading education in stocks, options, forex and futures. Bella is the author of One Good Trade and The PlayBook.

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