|
||||
| Greg N - Travelling to Prosperity |
|
"You don't just learn about the trading process - how the market works and how to analyse it - you also learn how to put a trading plan together that suits your own circumstances and stick to it" Greg Nielsen regularly makes a three hour trip to learn how to make money. Greg is 51 and says he's semi-retired but in reality he's pretty busy. As well as owning and engineering company he's involved in land development and enjoys hobby farming. Having been a self employed engineer since 1981 he has a healthy superannuation fund, but until six months ago he wasn't happy with its performance. "I had some shares in my super fund" he says. "And, I was doing a bit of trading on the stock market. Sometimes I was successful and making reasonable returns, but I felt it should have been better." A friend told Greg about the Australian College of Financial Education and its expertise in teaching successful stock market trading. He decided to attend one of its weekend workshops to see what it could offer him. Living near Toowoomba it took him three hours to drive to the venue at the Sunshine Coast University. According to Greg it was well worth the trip. "I felt extremely relaxed and comfortable" he says. "The manner of presentation was clear and precise and I felt that this is something I can do ‚its not rocket science." That first workshop almost 12 months ago was just what Greg needed to inspire him to do some serious study on the stock market. "I got stuck into it straight away and after six months I felt confident enough to start trading with my money." Greg went to further weekend workshops and then started attending the weekly traders groups. ‚ÄúThat‚Äôs where you get into the nitty gritty and fine tune what you learn in the workshops." He says that the six hour round trip to attend workshops and traders groups doesn't bother him. "It's a chance to have a holiday on the Coast as well, particularly on the weekends, and catch up with the teachers and other students.‚Äù There is a broad cross-section of students attending the college, from, as Greg says, "people who are retired, professional and even young girls in their 20s who are planning for financial security." He is quick to point out that there is no get rich quick scheme. "It does take time and a certain level of commitment to be successful. I started trading after six months and I'm really happy with the results but for other people it might take longer." Greg believes the reason for the college's success is that it offers a complete leaning package. "You don't just learn about the trading process ‚how the market works and how to analyse it, you also learn how to put a trading plan together that suits your own circumstances, and stick to it." Learning how to minimize your losses is also an important facet of trading. "You're taught how to trade so that risk of loss is extremely low," says Greg. "If you stick to your business plan you should win at least 87 per cent of all your traders. I reckon I'm at 90 per cent." As an example he cites a recent trade in which he bought a number of shares which have increased 157 percent in the past three months. Greg says that he knows of some students who have changed their entire lifestyles through successful trading. "Some people started making 10 to 15 per cent profit per month which was more than their wages, so they gave up their jobs and started trading full time." As a result of attending the college Greg's future is looking more financially secure. "Now I'm confident I can achieve success I'm going to put a bigger portion of my portfolio into share trading." Regardless of the circumstances Greg's advice to anyone thinking of trading on the stock market is simple- "Learn the market first." |