Today we have a conversation with Stephan about his current goal to reinvent himself into a trader. Like the markets, life can take many unknown turns, and today we'll learn about how the Great Recession forced Stephan to reevaluate his situation from both a personal and financial perspective. At age 49, needing to pivot in life and do some reinventing probably is not the most preferable thing to do, but Stephan has jumped in with both feet in order to once again place him in a successful spot in life. Come with us on this wild ride which includes a very interesting dynamic regarding Stephan's wife and her field of employment. Notes: Stephen had worked with many large tech companies whose stock prices were growing exponentially. This was when he jumped in buying many well known tech companies. While riding up the tech bubble and riding it back down, Stephen had sat on a pretty large unrealized loss before taking his broker’s advice and unwinding his losing positions. He redeployed his remaining capital to launch a business which was very successful. The recession had a delayed onset and reduced his revenue by 50% when it eventually caught up. Stephen decided to get educated and approach the market once more but with full control of his portfolio (not using investment advisors). His initial interest was in penny stocks but he soon realized the benefits of trading options. Stephen’s support system was the Inner Circle as his spouse works in risk management and sees many traders who fail but she is slowly coming around after recognizing his risk management techniques. His recognition that trading needs to be treated as a business is a key element to takeaway from this podcast. That really is the key to longevity. Quotes: “I rode the tech bubble all the way up and rode it all the way down. I made big mistakes not taking profits when I should have.” tweet this quote “At the height of all this my account value was around 250k but of course I did not take any profits.” tweet this quote “I was at a crossroads. I had to reinvent myself once again. And at 49, that’s not ideal.” tweet this quote “I approached trading as a business. I wasn’t about to jump into something without getting educated and develop skills.” tweet this quote “I was making money but I wasn’t consistent. I was making all the rookie mistakes… not honoring stop losses, averaging down, etc.” tweet this quote “Don’t think that just because someone has a designation after their name that they know more than you.” tweet this quote Links: Course: The Trading Freedom Pathway Video: The Trade Plan Destroyer Video: Is Stock Trading Gambling?