Changing Priorities – Part 2 of 2

When I began this journey 6 months ago, and this blog 3 months ago, I certainly didn’t see myself discussing how I’d be putting my dreams of being a Day Trader on temporary, but long-term hold…

My salary is well above the average Canadian income, and it’s our primary source of income.  So, needless to say, we can’t afford to lose it.  My dreams of becoming a Day Trader requires a significant amount of capital investment, an element of risk, and there’s still that matter of getting formal training (time & money cost)…

My wife, having been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis a couple of years ago, embarked upon a quest to strengthen her mind & body.  (She has most definitely accomplished what she set out to do; I’m so proud of her!)  Along the way, she developed a passion for Nia.  She will very often attend Nia classes twice a day, 4 or 5 days a week.  Like my dream of becoming a self-employed Day Trader, my wife has a dream of becoming a self-employed Nia Instructor.  There are 37 certified Nia instructors in all of Canada.  She was already signed-up for the first of a few certification courses before we received word that her income was going to drop-off in September 2010.

Replacing my wife’s income is easier done (than mine), and involves zero risk (relative to mine).  However, full certification will probably end up costing about the same as a formal Trading training course.  She’s already made arrangements with a friend to use her friends’ studio (for a small percentage of class proceeds) while she builds her following.  Eventually, there will be a modest investment of capital required to convert our basement into her own studio, but we can’t do that until our kids abandon the concept of a Play Room.

Having said all of that…

… our immediate requirement is for my wife to get a commitment of billable hours for September and beyond.  Once we (but mostly me because I manage our household finances) feel like we’re “making progress” financially speaking, we’ll discuss spending money on our career dreams once again.

It’s likely that my wife’s dream will be realized before mine.  The limited barriers to begin, and near-zero risks just make her dream that much more achievable.

In the mean time, I’ll be crunching numbers for our day-to-day financial situation, and I’ll continue to swing trade for our retirement & kids’ education funds.  By no means will I be out of the market, stop learning, or hanging up my Microsoft Excel spreadsheets!   Researching formal Trading courses seems awfully premature now, but at some point I will need to weed out the scammers and attribute a price tag to it.

The past 6 months has been quite the ride, hasn’t it?

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