Introduction to the blog

Howdy friends, family and unknown passersby (How did you find me, anyway?).

Welcome to the "Mike's Stock Journey" blog, where I chronicle my adventure into the world of stock trading, a hobby I have hoped to take up for several years. Before I begin the chronicle of my actual stock trading, I wanted to share with you my background of how I ended up beginning this journey now. We'll get into stock trading in the next post.

Back in October I lost my job as an Inside Sales Manager. My boss claimed it was due to the "troubling economic times" but I believe there was more to it than that. I think I never quite fit in as he had expected me to when I had been hired 16 months earlier and we never became a cohesive boss-subordinate pair.

In my post-dismissal reflection period, I realized that maybe the subordinate role is not something I do very well. Regardless of the reasons for the lack of cohesion between us, when given an excuse to bid me adieu, he exercised his right as the dominant member of the two and cut me loose.

Suddenly income-free in a panicking business climate, I weighed the options of finding another full-time job (an endeavour I admittedly undertook somewhat half-heartedly). This "security" that comes with a full-time job, security my father and others tout so highly, turns out not to be so secure after all. One day I had a secure job and the next I did not. Committed to never again relying on a "job" for my security, I began my quest for financial freedom - freedom from the reliance on others for the continued delivery of my personal revenue.

With the help of my friend, Darren, I realized there are two distinct reasons for the need for "work" - what are you going to do for money and what are you going to do for your purpose? Often people attempt to combine the two, expecting to be fulfilled in their job, thus satisfying both problems simultaneously. For me, I have simply not found this to be the case.

I find that going to work is a stressful chore. I feel the constant pressure from the need to earn money in that job and I fear losing that job. I feel it during the commute ("I can't be late or I'll get fired!"), I feel it in my interactions ("I must be polite and submissive to my boss because he is the one with the power to fire me."), I feel it on days I don't want to work ("I have to go in or else they will fire me.") and I feel it on payday ("Phew, thank god I stuck around long enough to get this measly pay cheque!"). Any fulfillment I get from my job is fleeting and is overwhelmed by the stress of needing the job. No, I have learned that my fulfillment must likely come from outside the means through which I earn enough money to survive.

I don't want to sound like a pouting baby, a Peter Pan-type who doesn't want to grow up and do work. On the contrary, I intend to grab hold of my own destiny and stop playing the game the way they tell us to play it. Pardon my German, but screw that! I'm going to be a self-sufficient adult in a volatile and brutal world. No more will my security be reliant on an all-powerful boss who has the power to pull the carpet out from under me.

So, how in the world am I going to do that? What makes me think it can be done? If it can be done, why doesn't everyone do it? Good questions.

We've all heard the phrase, "people fear change." I believe there is a significant amount of momentum to society and that most people do what the herd does or what those before us did. Our parents did it the old fashioned way - go get a job, keep that job, retire. This story has been amended in recent times to go get a job, leave job, get another job, repeat as needed, retire. The crowd is doing it, so it must be the correct method to live life and retire, right? I simply don't buy that. I think there are a number of people who realise the old way doesn't pay. Entrepreneurs and the new rich.

Entrepreneurs are those people who set out to start and grow businesses. The growth allows them to build something which they can sell for more than they put in so they can retire. They tend to reach retirement faster than the average Joe but there is still a slight problem with this strategy (besides the super long hours and stress). I will discuss it shortly.

The New Rich, on the other hand, are those folks that build up passive or nearly passive revenue streams until they are financially free. Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant) and Timothy Ferriss (The Four Hour Workweek) are advocates of this strategy.

I love the ideas put forth to become one of the New Rich. I want to build passive or nearly passive income streams that will pay me enough money monthly that all of my expenses are met. If I make more than my expenses, I will re-invest my surplus in additional passive income vehicles. Omitting some important details on the steps to be taken (please read the books), I will soon have perpetual sources of passive income that continue to accumulate regardless of whether I do any work or not.

If my passive income exceeds my monthly expenses, I am wealthy. I can do whatever I want with my time. I am free, financially and time-wise, too. This is the strategy of the New Rich. Many people are putting this strategy into play it successfully but most people aren't even aware the strategy exists.

The retirement plan of the New Rich is advantageous to the normal retirement plan of the Average Joe and even of the entrepreneur. For the latter two groups, the idea is to build up a retirement fund, an RSP, 401k or even an investment account funded by the sale of a business. The hope is this fund is large enough that chipping away bits of it every year of retirement will never result in its complete evaporation. The fund will need to be pretty big to last as long as you plan on living and, with the way the stock market tanks so regularly, it also needs to be large enough to survive down cycles. Eventually it will shrink away and you will have to die because you have no money left. Too bad.

Passive income streams on the other hand come from assets that will continue to deliver you monthly income without depletion of the core asset. Therefore they will continue until such time as you die after which they will pass on to those celebrating your memory (and good money skills). True, retirement funds also deliver passive income streams but the core fund will need to be extremely large to support your current standard of living for the several years you hope to live beyond retirement, won't it. Just do the math on the size of fund (paying a generous 10% annually) must be to pay the thousands of dollars you will need each month to maintain your standard of living through retirement. Short answer: big.

So, how am I going to build passive income streams? Well, I am firstly going to start a web-based business. Why a web-based business? Because a web-based business can operate independent of whether I am in front of my computer or not. Once set up, a web-based business will continue doing its thing without much involvement from me whatsoever. This is all Four Hour Work Week stuff, so please go read it.

In time I may develop a number of web-based businesses, thus protecting me from downturns in one specific area and providing multiple streams of passive income. Soon the hope is that this income stream will exceed my modest monthly expenses and I can invest in more sophisticated passive income streams - real estate, emerging businesses, etc. This is all Cashflow Quadrant stuff, so please go read it.

Viola! I'm wealthy!

Sounds easy, doesn't it? I find it scary, to tell the truth. But I believe in the strategy wholeheartedly and intend to put it into action. I may even start a blog discussing the steps I am taking and the results I am seeing. Stay tuned.

What, you might be asking, does this have to do with stock trading? Nothing too directly but everything from a lifestyle perspective.

Back when I was glued to a desk with a nine-to-fiver, trading stocks was not something I could devote much time to, even though I wanted to and believed I could do so successfully. You see, several years ago I invested in a stock trading course through Stockscores (http://www.stockscores.com/). This trading course focuses specifically on technical trading, that is, trading "trends in the market" not "fundamentals such as whether a company is good or not". This course was pretty expensive and it has pretty much been burning a hole on my shelf since.

Now, with my time freed up (passive income stream pursuit is not as tiem consuming as you might think), I can begin putting the training of this course into play. I can be home during trading hours (6:30 am - 1 pm PST), following the market and making trades as required.

There is also the bonus of earning some extra income if I get successful at the strategies taught in the Stockscores course. That extra income can be kept in the market or liberated from the market as I see fit to purchase even more passive income streams.

But mostly I want to trade stocks because I find the whole thing challenging and fun. When I think about the number of people out there trading stocks, I get excited by the game. I want to beat my fellow traders by being more disciplined, overcoming my emotions and following proven strategies diligently.

This blog will serve as my journal, my opportunity to explain the moves I have made or am considering making. By spelling it out I know I will be more honest and will stick to my rules. If I am successful, then this blog can also serve as a learning tool for you - my friends, my family and you unknown passersby. Now that you are here and you know so much about me, won't you stay?

Until next time.
Mike The Happy Trader