I have a confession to make. I get bored very easily. All my life, I have had a passion for trying new things. As a child I tried Judo, tennis, swimming, skiing, canoeing, played the piano, drums, baritone, guitar… I grew up and started boxing, I tried MMA and power lifting. I have dived, skydived, ski toured, wakeboarded, jet skied, waterskied… the list goes on.
I call this having a lust for life and trying to find myself. How are we supposed to know what truly makes us tick unless we get to experience a range of things? When you apply a personality like mine to saving/personal finance you get an interesting mix. I have a Masters degree in engineering, so have a very logical mind. I make most of my decisions systematically and base them on numbers. Combine this with the hyperactive adventure-seeker side of me and you sometimes get conflict. I understand the reasons to save for retirement… but there is no way I will miss out on going on a holiday and miss the opportunity to dive ski/board so that I can have an extra £5000 in my retirement fund. It just doesn’t work like that for me!
More recently, I have started to get bored with leaving my savings in a stagnant ISA. The logical side of my head says that the banks are taking advantage of me – they are giving me 3% interest on money they are lending out to others at 7%. Sure, saving is the conventional thing to do, but it is not what I want to do. I want to be more proactive in researching foreign markets and experience the excitement of making my own decisions.
Recently, I have found that currency trading (or commonly known as Forex trading) is as adrenaline-inducing as the stock market. If you don’t know what currency trading is then fear not… I shall explain.
Currency trading is pretty self-explanatory; you essentially buy one currency (for example US dollar) while selling another (say, euro) at an agreed exchange price on the over the counter market. When you trade forex you are effectively speculating on the movement of one country’s currency against another. Forex trading has proven to be a highly lucrative passive income stream for a lot of people. You can imagine how much the following story excited me:
The Man Who Made $1Billion in a Day’s Work
A gentleman called George Soros (chairman of Soros fund management) made $1bn profit on a day known as Black Wednesday (16th September 1992). Essentially, the British pound had to be withdrawn from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism on this day after it dropped below the agreed limit. George Soros subsequently used a technique called short selling where he made a currency trade with the intention of buying back the pound at a lower rate.
Long Term Strategy
You don’t need to be a genius to work out which countries’ economies have the potential to grow and develop over the coming years. Forex can be a great investment strategy for those who are prepared to be in it for the long game. To put this into perspective, I remember when I first went on holiday to Thailand in 2009; I got an exchange rate of about 55 Thai Baht to the pound. When we got married in Thailand this year, we were lucky to get 48 Baht. Now I am no Forex expert, but I think it is pretty obvious to see what is happening here…
What are your thoughts? Do you share my values in living for your passion and ensuring that there is excitement? Would you prefer that fun holiday or the extra money for retirement? Discuss..
You sound a lot like one of my younger brothers. He’s an engineer as well and always seems to have 20 things going on at once. 🙂 That’s a tough call on vacation or retirement. For me it would depend on a number of factors. In general I would say retirement, but should not necessarily be the default as you have to live life and enjoy it too.
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted..4 Minutes That Changed My Life Forever II, a Thoughtful Thanksgiving
Fascinating to me, cos as of last Friday I’ve opened a bank account specifically for ‘found money’ http://wp.me/p2rfwK-q1 and am putting it to the vote – do I blow the cash or do I use it as an experiment and invest it in a way I never normally would? Was casting round for ideas on what those might be and I’m tempted by Forex.
Skint in the City recently posted..How to Make Money from Your Not-So-Humble Opinions
I say experiment all the way… got to be in it to win it…
1 billion in a day? Not bad. Keep us updated on how you go!
Paul R. recently posted..Blue Bird Bids – Fusing Charity Work With Once-In-A-Lifetime Opportunities
Let’s hope I can come close… Cheers Paul
The USD is a great short… provided your home country is not printing money too. The current “stimulus” is to the tune of $40B per MONTH.
thestarvingartistcanada recently posted..why I don’t like bonds
VERY good point..
I have traded forex daily for a while but it was really stressful. It can be great for the long term, I still have my GBP and euro accounts, so when one is really weak I transfer between the two, and now live life in dollars so I added that to the mix. Forex companies like Oanda have fake demo accounts where you can try for a while, which I strongly recommend you do.
Pauline recently posted..Little house in Guatemala, week 3
Hey Pauline! That is a great way of doing this on a long term basis. Think that Asian currencies are definitely a good long-term strategy!
I want to go on vacation and retire early! We’ll see if I can pull it off. The older I get the less I want to take risks, so I can’t see myself doing Forex trading, but I hope you make a billion.
Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted..How Do You Prepare A Budget With Irregular Income?
Thanks Kim! If i do, I will be sure to share it with you 🙂
I think this sounds great if you can get it to work for you! Hey, if you’re not willing to take risk then somebody else will do it instead and reap the rewards.
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted..What Would You Do For Money…If You Had To?
Absolutely 100% agree with this 🙂
I guess I’ve been a little of both at times. I think I get so strict with trying to save, that’s when I cave and say F it and go on a vacation. Not smart. I feel like I need some more wiggle room, and right now I don’t have it. I can’t save for retirement…when I’m worried about paying my current rent.
Budget and the Beach recently posted..A little lost
I hear you… it is so hard to get the balance. I am sure that your freelancing will pick up soon enough and you won’t have to worry anymore 🙂 In the meantime… keep up the GREAT writing 🙂
Funny you should mention this. I’m actually very intrigued with forex myself. Its hard to find time to learn it and figure out the ins and outs but I would love to! Maybe we can share what we learn with one another if you don’t mind. I’m serious, I want to know how to trade currencies! I’ve talked to a few people who make a very generous living doing this and it sounds very fun. As long as I don’t lose everything in the process 🙂
Veronica @ Pelican on Money recently posted..Ask the Readers: What Kind of Car Do You Drive?
That sounds like a good idea Veronica… send me an email if you are interested in a side-project 🙂
I am currency trading right now. Unfortunately I am on the negative side tonight, but I get the feeling the GBP is due for a run against the USD as it just broke through resistance at 1.593
Let me know if you have any great trading tips you use as i’m an avid FX trader.
Glen @ Monster Piggy Bank recently posted..Buying Land and Building a House – Part 3
Hey Glen! Pleased to hear that you are into forex too! Are you up overall?
Probably not after the last few weeks 🙁
Glen @ Monster Piggy Bank recently posted..Buying Land and Building a House – Part 3
🙁
I’m not a huge fan of forex. I don’t have enough education to understand all the different elements that cause currencies to move. My limited knowledge of these factors makes forex more of a gamble then an investment for me.
Mandy @ MoneyMasterMom recently posted..Watch out for Shopping List Bulge
Mandy… great that you have identified that and made a decision based on facts!
I tried forex a few years ago, and then closed the account when I lost 50% of the account value. It was a worthwhile lesson in Forex.. I’ll stick to stocks
Derek @ Freeat33 recently posted..From Never Saved, to Retired in Ten Years. This is How!
Wow… sorry to hear that Derek – what sort of moves were you making?
I definitely get bored quite easily. I need new challenges at work, and often have to find them myself because I just can’t stand the day-to-day grind. I love blogging, looking into side income, etc. because it’s new and exciting and filled with potential. I’m not as much of an adrenaline junkie as you, but I do value experiences. I’d rather take a $5k trip than have the extra $5k in my retirement account. Actually I’d rather figure out how I can have both 🙂
DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted..Why You Need Health Insurance
Sounds like we are pretty similar DC! Pleased to hear you would also rather live in the now! 🙂
I make most of my decisions based on numbers as well, but I can’t say that I don’t place investing or getting out of debt as a higher priority than going on a vacation. I love getting away and traveling, but if it’s not in the budget (such as this year), I won’t forgo our other plans just so I can take a trip skiing or something.
Jason @ WSL recently posted..Recipe: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup with Egg Noodles
Fair enough! Good for you having the self-discipline!
As someone in the UK, at least you will always have a state pension to fall back on (fingers crossed!) should the worst happen.
Currently, I can’t afford to put money into a pension, but then again, when the mortgage finishes I may carry on paying that amount out, but into a pension instead. Plus, I could always sell the house…
Matt recently posted..Managing Your Money With An Aggregator
This is true… Paying off your house is a fantastic investment in itself. In a few decades time, property is likely to have been a far better investment anyway!!
Yeah, I read somewhere, (Motley Fool I think), that on average, property has increased in value 20% year on year since the 1920’s, present housing slump included. Whether that can possibly continue, who knows…
Matt recently posted..Managing Your Money With An Aggregator
Very interesting!! On my list of things to look into 🙂
Rika | Cubicle Throwdown recently posted..Cubicle Throwdown’s New Home!
🙂