Day trading/investment & future planning advice for teen & mom???
My 16yo has ADHD and is not interested in much aside from video games, tv shows and tennis. He has been a heavy Magic the Gathering player since he was 9 however he said recently that there's nothing for him anymore til he can play 18yo+ tournaments. He is not currently on the college track (getting through high school is a beast unto itself). The one thing he is interested in that has possible direct career potential is investing. He definitely has a mind for numbers, complex deal points, making money, risk, exploiting opportunities.
I have a Robinhood account which he uses with his own money. He buys and trades quickly, he is not into "traditional" investing (such as buying and holding for a long time), he wants to buy some NFTs, etc. As with many teens, he thinks he knows everything he needs to know and it's hard to convince him otherwise especially from Mom.
The latest post high school idea he shared with me is to live at home and invest for a year, complying with whatever rules I give him. I've been telling him that--at the least!--I would like him to have an investing mentor IRL, not just people he encounters on Discourse and Reddit. Maybe this could be a gap year, and afterward he sees the value of college or his daytrading has taken off? Previously I have told him that post high school, I expect him to work and/or go to school, period; no playing video games all day every day, etc.
Thoughts, ideas? Help! Thank you in advance.
Parent Replies
Very few people are trading NFT, bitcoin, etc. as a full-time job. There's no reason you can't stick with your original rules: post high school you expect him to work and/or go to school. He can trade in the evenings after school/work like everyone else. Otherwise you're setting yourself up, I'm afraid, for exactly what you don't want—a young adult living at home playing video games all day every day between trades.
You could also ask/suggest/require that he study for and take the SIE exam which is a prerequisite to obtaining a Series 7 license. At least he would gain the essential knowledge about stock trading and regulations even if he does not go further and obtain a registered representative (stockbroker) license. https://www.kaplanfinancial.com/resources/getting-started/how-to-get-yo…
Hi there,
My college-age son day trades and goes to school. He makes a little here and there, but after investing in risky investments and losing big (after a win on game stop), he's become much more cautious. As you likely already know, day trading is extremely risky. Making it even more risky is the fact that platforms such as Robinhood lend you money to invest, money that of course you can lose. Also, the tax rates on day trading are much higher than trading where you hang on to stocks for a year or more. Even after two plus years, my son is still learning. He's also said he'd like to do day trading as a career (his major is math related, but not finance related) and the whole thing makes me extremely nervous. That said, if he told me he wanted to drop out of school for a year and give day trading a try, I could see supporting it. It's difficult to day trade and work in the morning (or go to morning classes), but your kid could possibly work some afternoon, evenings, or weekend shifts along with day trading. Unfortunately, I don't know of any mentors though my son is thinking of researching that. Currently he follows various online communities.