Last Updated on 11 September, 2023 by Samuelsson
Many people want to break free from the daily, monotonous routines that come with a regular 9-5 job. As a result, the digital nomad lifestyle has gained a lot in popularity lately, not only because it lets people work at hours that suit them best, but also due to the geographical freedom that it comes with.
Now, many people who only have had regular employments often wonder what kind of work they could do to earn a living. A a matter of fact, there are a lot of opportunities, ranging from content writing to SEO marketing, or really anything you could think of. But can you make a living as a digital nomad, trading the markets when it suits you? And are there digital nomads who make a living from trading?
Yes, there are digital nomads who trade for a living, and the number of people who go this path is only increasing. This has to do with the ever-increasing accessibility of the Internet across the world, and the revolution of algorithmic trading platforms, which allow for automated trading entries and exits.
We have previously written a complete guide to becoming a digital nomad focused on algo trading, which might be of interest to you.
However, in this article, we’ll look at the practical aspects of relying on trading as your main income source, as a digital nomad. You’ll also get some help with deciding which trading style is the best choice for somebody who is looking to become a digital nomad.
Let’s start off with what it means to rely on trading as a digital nomad. Then, right after, we’ll look closer at the main challenges, before we finally take a look at how people manage to work them out!
Benefits of Making a Living as a Trader When Being a Digital Nomad
One of the most positive aspects of trading, according to many, is that you are the boss. You have the freedom to choose when to work, and how much to work, given that you choose the right trading form which allows you to do so.
This is a great benefit when traveling the world, as you don’t have to keep up with your clients and their timezone, but may adapt your routines to the timezone you’re in at the moment.
Some of you might object that you still have to work as the market is open, and that this will provide the framework for how you spend your days.
This is true to some extent, but as you’ll see in just a bit, it’s an issue that can be avoided for the most part. If you just go with the right trading style, you can decide yourself when to trade, meaning that you may plan your days as you wish.
Another benefit of trading is that there is no limit to how much money you can make. While we don’t want to sound like any of the get rich quick schemes out there, trading works with compounding, which over time will make wonders. In other words, it’s an extremely scalable business, which also is the reason why it’s possible to make so much money.
What Are The Main Challenges For Digital Nomads?
Nothing in life comes without disadvantages or challenges, and so goes for the digital nomad lifestyle.
Let’s look at the most significant ones!
Internet Acess
Although the situation with regards to internet accessibility is getting better all the time, there still will be times when you find yourself offline, unable to access your trading account. For instance, on long haul flights you might find yourself completely isolated from the rest of the world, provided that you’re not flying with an airline that offers wifi-access. Fortunately, this is on the rise as well!
Another aspect you should remember is that even though you might have Internet access, it could be somewhat erratic. Be sure to not only rely on Wifi access by always bringing an external device that hooks you up to the local mobile network. Just make sure to look up the data usage fees in advance!
Loneliness
When traveling from one place to another for prolonged periods of time, many feel that they never get an opportunity to create and maintain meaningful relationships with others. Many people solve this by transitioning into a slower travel pace, which makes it easier to create long-lasting friendships.
It can be tiring
While traveling and seeing new places indeed is fun and exciting, it does take a toll on you. Changing the setting and culture at regular intervals could become stressful after some time, as you feel like you never have the time to settle down anywhere. Again, this is often solved by either settling down somewhere and establishing a base, or transitioning into slow-travel.
The Top Two Trading Forms for Digital Nomad Traders
With these disadvantages out of the way, we wanted to cover the two types of trading styles that we think work best if you’re pursuing a nomadic lifestyle:
Swing Trading
Swing trading is the trading form that many people start with when they want to see if trading is something for them. This has several reasons:
- Takes Very Little Time: Swing trading is perhaps the least time-consuming trading form out there. The method we teach in our swing trading course requires as little as 10 minutes each day to scan through a list of stocks, and then place the appropriate orders.
- Flexible: Since your daily trading routine takes place when the stock market is closed, you have a big window of more than 12 hours to get through your trading routine, and place the orders for the coming day. In other words, you have a lot of flexibility!
- Profitable: The simplicity of swing trading doesn’t mean that you cannot make much money. On the contrary, it’s much easier to make money as a swing trader, than as a day trader.
With these three points covered you probably understand why swing trading made it on this list! And although it’s popular among beginners, many seasoned traders use it as well!
Algorithmic Trading
Algorithmic trading is a trading form that opens up a range of new possibilities for your trading. We really think this is the trading form of the future, and as you might have guessed, it’s what we focus on the most here at The Robust Trader.
In contrast to normal swing trading or day trading, where you place the orders yourself, an algorithmic trader constructs trading strategies which are then executed by a computer. This means that you don’t need to attend the markets yourself, but are free to do other things.
As a digital nomad, this is the perfect solution! While it by no means labor-free trading, you are free to do the work when you find the time. The strategies, which you need to build and maintain, don’t require any input from you, except occasional checks throughout the day to make sure that everything is running smoothly.
Another benefit of algorithmic trading is that you can trade a range of strategies, markets and timeframes at the same time. This opens up for completely new opportunities, which would not have been possible had you focused on manual trading!
If all this seems interesting to you, we recommend that you take a closer look at our algorithmic trading, where all this is brought up in more detail!
How to Get Started In Trading
If you have come this far into the article and feel that trading for a living and traveling the world sounds like something you would want to pursue, then you also might want to know which method will get you there in the quickest way possible.
So let’s look at the two options you have when it comes to learning trading. These are:
- Learning trading on your own
- Taking a trading course
Here at The Robust Trader, we do offer trading courses, so we understand if you assume that we’re going to be biased in the information we provide below. There is nothing we can do to change that, but we still want to mention that the opinions expressed below are genuine!
So let’s look at your two options in more detail!
1.Learn trading on your own
Learning trading on your own can be done, and has been done. However, those who manage to come out as profitable traders in the end, often do so often having lost a lot of money on concepts and ideas that didn’t prove to work. Many choose to regard these losses as their tuition fee to the market.
If you’re interested in learning trading on your own, do have a look at our beginner’s guide to trading which covers a lot of the things you need to know!
2.Take a trading course
The benefit of getting a proven framework that works, and not having to go through the painful trial and error process yourself cannot be overestimated. Many traders don’t make it either because they’re lacking perseverance, or just can’t afford to lose more money.
In that regard, taking a good trading course won’t only save you quite some money, but also fast-track your progress and make you profitable much sooner.
Just be sure to do your due diligence before taking and paying for any course. Unfortunately, the Internet is riddled with scammy vendors who don’t know how to trade for real themselves, but are looking to deceive unknowing beginners to take their expensive training packages!
Ending Words
Many people want to become free of the daily chores that come with a normal, 9-5 lifestyle. As such, they turn to the digital nomad lifestyle to achieve a freer and more satisfying lifestyle.
However, finding a new source of income can be challenging for a lot of people. And while some will go for the more conventional digital nomad professions, others will settle for trading and the freedom it brings.
If you’re looking to learn trading from real traders, we recommend that you take a look at our trading courses. We’re proud to say that we only teach methods that we have validated and traded ourselves!