I had the pleasure of meeting our guest at our Nashville meet-and-greet and after talking to him there, I knew he needed to be a guest. I guess I'll pat myself on the back a bit and proclaim that I made a wise choice. Our guest, "tfletch" as he is well known by in the chat room, has been through quite a bit during his journey of life and the markets... how much so? Well, this interview turned into a two part episode. From his beginnings in the car industry, to his wild ride of being a future's broker, to his desire to "get serious" about trading... the man has gone through a lot. Oh yeah, I didn't even mention the part where he authored a book! New or veteran as a trader, I have no question you'll be able to gather a few nuggets of wisdom. Notes: Today we talk with T. Fletch from the community. He actually started his trading journey by trading a ‘tip’ he got from a coworker when he was in his early 20s. It was a penny stock and it ultimately went to zero. Quite a few years later, still in his late 20s, Tim got his hands on a stock/futures trading manual that both him and his brother read. His brother ended up opening a futures brokerage and was doing extremely well for himself but he needed help with the huge amount of clients. He offered Tim a job and he decided to leave the car dealership and work with him. After four years at the brokerage firm, Tim decided that it wasn’t for him and it was starting to take a toll on his personal life. He left that industry to go back to what he knew, the car business. As both him and his wife had saved up in their retirement accounts, Tim’s wife actually told him that he needed to learn how to manage them since she knew financial advisors did not have their best interests in mind. This led him to search out some books and podcasts to start the learning process. Quotes: “Years ago when we lived in California, I got introduced to penny stocks. A whole bunch of us decided to buy into one. That money is gone.” “We just puppet traded. Ken Roberts had a hotline that you would call in and I started a spreadsheet of his recommendations.” “In four years of being a futures broker, not one client closed an account that had made money. Not one single one.” “Young people, trust me, before you know it you will be turning 60 and if you haven’t saved it’s your own fault. Time goes by fast.” “Claytrader University was the structured program that I needed and what I was looking for. It couldn’t have been better for me.”