Will trading be here in 10 years?

i'm sure something that has existed in many forms since the beginning of time will suddenly disappear because of ummm... what again?

average intelligence of WSO have sunk so f^%*ing low

lol shouldn't you been learning how to parallel park right now?

for anyone reading this thinking I'm an idiot, check this out: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/damn-it-doesn%E2%80%99t-feel-good-t…

I don't know. It could. Before the late 70s, traders didn't make that much more than accountants. I don't think it'll happen that fast, but if you're still a college student, it's best to learn to be content with what you have. The ability to be happy living on $35K/year vs. $85K/year is probably the most valuable asset a young college graduate can have.

Taxes are probably going to go up. We will also see more regulation. Assets will probably continue to lose value relative to consumption/inflation over the next 5-10 years. And while it would be precipitous to say a war is going to come in 10 years, economic history indicates it is a possibility. The one guaranteed asset, though, is the ability to be content regardless of what life throws at you. Taking contrarian views in this market is going to require more and more dramamine, and if you're in it for the "banker lifestyle", things may not work out as well as you think. IMHO, it's a lot tougher to make money today than it was in 2007, and it's going to keep getting tougher until we hit our secular bottom in the 35 year market cycle.

So don't do it for the money. If you want money, you are probably going to be better off in consulting, though I suspect that life is really going to stink for college students dreaming of being millionaires at 30. We've had welfare states funded on the backs of the working rich in the past, and we could EASILY see it in the future.

Would the risk and stress even be worth it if you're only making ~5 figures?

I mean sure, you love your job and everything, but if you have just as good of a chance of losing your job as before with the potential upside not being there, it seems like it wouldn't be worth the hassle to get into unless you were sure you could succeed

Well, if you enjoy it, you're going to do what you enjoy even if it is a little stressful. Being a linebacker in football can be stressful. That doesn't mean you quit the sport. And you weren't even paid for it in high school.

If you enjoy what you do, it makes it a lot easier to stay in the game.

Yeah, but playing as a linebacker in high school isn't determining if you can pay rent or not, if you lose the starting spot, the only bad thing that happens is you lose your spot.

Am I just magnifying how stressful it really is to be a trader?

Well, if you live in a shoebox, drive a rusty honda, buy all your suits at JC Penney's 60% off sale, and spend no more than $4/glass on beer, rent shouldn't be a problem after a coupla years, should it? :D

You should be a trader because you find it more fun than being a CPA. Not because it pays well. In the 70s, traders earned just enough of a risk premium to make out a little better than tax accountants between layoffs. We could easily return to that regime during our careers. Indeed, we're down significantly from the generational highs of five years ago.

If the industry cut EVERYONE's pay and I could only make $50K/year as a quant, I'd probably stick it out rather than leave for Google- at least until my prospects of retirement on a 40-acre farm by Lake Michigan started looking dicey. Pay is part of how a firm tells you it respects you, but it's not the ONLY reason you work.

Find something you enjoy doing and be content with what you have. The world is running out of resources, and hundreds of thousands of hungry people with dreams of being able to afford chicken for dinner and drive a car and own a home hit 18 every day. If you're doing something you truly enjoy- maybe it's trading- maybe it's something else- you can focus on putting your energy into that rather than worrying about the economic gloom.