First Post

Welcome to Trading with Joe!!  This blog will be used as my trading journal and a place to record my thoughts, emotions, and anything else I want to type about futures trading and life.

Who am I?  My name is Joe, I have a wonderful wife, 2 great sons, and I work in a button factory (that is a joke, from a childhood game).  I am 40 year old male, born and raised in the South (USA).  My interests are my faith (Christian), wife, children, cycling, and trying to get rich.  First of all, I am already the richest person I know.  My faith and family provide all that I really need, everything else is just "icing on the cake".

My job at the button factory gives me plenty of time off.  I work seven 10 hour days in a row and get 7 days off.  After vacations, I only work 24 weeks a year.  That means I have lots of free time to get into trouble. I am a cheapskate buy nature.  I live within my means and try not to spend excessively.  In my quest for great wealth, I have looked at many opportunites.  Being cheap I have always been drawn to multi-level marketing businesses (extremely low entry cost).  I have failed at them all (6, if I remember them all), except one (www.teambeachbody.com/jwrbike).  That one has been producing a small income for the past 2 years.  It more than covered all my costs from previous attempts.  It requies no activity, so I will stay involved as long as I am making money.  Plus, I got in great shape!!  (not currently in great shape, but their is hope for returning).  I also have ventured into real estate investing, more on that later. 

My lifelong interests in the market (thanks Dad) has been beneficial in planning for retirement.  Accounts are well funded automatically from button factory job.  Started funding with at least 10% of pay since I was first employed, we are in good shape unless the US economy continues to go down thanks to our over spending government.  Retirement assets are diversified across a broad range of index funds.  I enjoy all aspects of financial planning, just refinanced my house at 3.875% (benefits of the bad economy).  I might be a financial planner professionally if it did not have the sales component to it.