Why It’s Important to Find a Trading Mentor

Ever consider working with a trading mentor to boost your trading know-how?

Maybe you’re ready to jump feet first into your trading career … or maybe trading is a side hustle, and you just don’t know where to start. Maybe you’re in a rut of losses and desperate to get out.

No doubt, trading is HARD. Markets change all the time. Even seasoned traders devote tons of time to studying and research.

So whether you’re a newbie or already trading, you probably understand some of the frustration that can come with the market. But you can improve your skills — and you can learn by watching and following a professional trader…

In this post, you’ll learn about what mentors do, how they can help you, and how to find one who’s right for you … Let’s dive in!

What Is a Trading Mentor?

Before we begin, let’s talk about what a trading mentor is.

First, it’s key to note that there’s no guarantee of success in the market. Period. Trading is a complex activity. And learning to trade by yourself can be confusing and difficult.

That’s why you might want to work with a mentor…

A trading mentor is someone who can help you through the process of understanding the market. Mentors are like teachers — they can help you narrow your focus and even share trading strategies. And the really good ones teach you to think for yourself.

What to Look for in a Trading Mentor

There are a lot of trading mentors out there. There are some good ones, but there are also charlatans who aren’t actually successful traders.

That’s why it’s important to do your due diligence on any trading mentor you consider working with. Here are a few things to consider when searching for your trading mentor:

• Does the mentor have a successful — and transparent — trading track record?
• Does their strategy suit your personality and goals? Think about whether you want to day trade, swing trade, or trade options.
• Is there enough content to adequately help you understand their strategy? A five-hour course will likely pale in comparison to an extensive library of educational videos.
• Can you interact with this mentor live? Chat rooms and live webinars during market hours can be very helpful.
• Do you like this mentor’s personality? Traders can be eccentric … And if you spend a lot of time learning from this person, it’s good to at least appreciate your mentor.

These are just a few points to help you on the path to finding the right mentor for you. But remember to make a list of what you’re specifically looking for, and narrow your candidates from there.

Be sure to fully vet your mentor candidates. Check out social media profiles and reviews and look at trader-verification services such as Profit.ly.

How a Trading Mentor Can Help You 

Now, let’s take a closer look at how a trading mentor can help with shortening and simplifying the trader’s learning curve.

There’s a common statistic in the trading industry that around 90% of traders lose. They don’t profit, so they quit. It’s a bleak statistic, but it doesn’t mean that trading is a hopeless endeavor.

The bulk of those unprofitable traders likely don’t have solid fundamentals. They don’t have a strategy or trading plan. They don’t learn how to manage risk or work on their trading mindset.

These are exactly the things that a good trading mentor can help you with.

Successful trading mentors have already gone through the learning process. They’ve been in the markets and understand the dedication and patience trading requires. They’re willing to share their wins and losses with you to help you learn what and what not to do. They can coach you in making smart trading decisions.

In short, with a trading mentor, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel … You can shadow a successful trader and adapt their strategies to your own personality and trading style.

Why It’s Important to Find a Trading Mentor

Imagine you buy a sailing boat — but you’ve never sailed before or even spoken to a sailor.

Would you just take the boat out into the ocean and start sailing around the world? Probably not. That’s incredibly risky. Even If you manage to steer clear of rocks, it could take you years of trial and error in learning how to navigate, raise the sails, preserve the hull, and everything else.

Now rewind a little. Imagine when you first get your sailing boat, you spend a year or two with an experienced sailor and learn the ins and outs of sailing. By the end of the learning process, you’d be more skilled in sailing and better prepared to cruise around the globe.

That’s exactly why finding a trading mentor is important…

The markets are the ocean, your capital is the boat, and your trading mentor is the experienced sailor.

Here’s a deeper look at how a mentor can help…

Learning From Others’ Experiences

Every single trader in the world has made a ton of mistakes. Even the successful ones. And often, those mistakes are carbon copies of mistakes made by other traders. It’s just human nature.

By learning from a mentor, you get to learn from those mistakes without necessarily having to experience it yourself. That’s one means to help you preserve capital and your mental state.

A good mentor will effectively tell you, “do this, but don’t do that.” And they’ll explain why. Of course, it’s up to you to use that knowledge wisely and benefit from your mentor’s experience.

Stay Motivated

Trading can be a lonely endeavor … Many traders find it hard to motivate themselves to develop skills and strategies.

Working with a mentor can help you stay motivated. Seeing a successful trader at work every day can help inspire you.

A good mentor can push you to do better, build discipline, and stay focused.

Save Yourself Time

When you start trading, you have so many questions…

• Which stocks should you focus on? 
• Which strategy is best for you?
• How do you manage risk? 
• Which trading platform should you use? 
• How do you know where to enter and exit trades? 

The list goes on…

You can take a trial-and-error approach, but that can take years. And in the meantime, you can blow up your account or just give up out of frustration.

Here’s another great thing about mentorship: you can get direct guidance on how to navigate the markets. A good mentor can help you shorten your learning curve and give you a clear direction on how to improve as a trader.

Save Yourself Money

One of the worst parts of learning to trade is that it can be very costly. It’s too easy to lose capital on bad trades. Even commissions and fees can eat away at your account.

Learning smart strategies from a good trading mentor can help save you money.

That’s why many successful traders believe that trading education and mentors aren’t really a cost … They often can pay for themselves through improving trading performance.

Our Very Own Trading Mentor: Tim Bohen

At StocksToTrade, we have our very own mentor who’s been obsessed with the markets since he was a kid.

His name is Tim Bohen, and he’s the lead trainer for StocksToTrade.

Tim focuses on small-cap and penny stocks, which can be great for traders with small accounts. Tim runs the StocksToTrade Pro community, where he shares his market insights through live webinars several times a day.

In StocksToTrade Pro, there’s also a chat room where traders can interact during trading hours, sharing insights and tips. Plus members can access educational webinars to learn cutting-edge trading techniques.

In the market for a mentor? Check out the StocksToTrade Pro community where you can learn smart strategies and tactics from Tim Bohen and peers who are learning the markets — just like you.

Use StocksToTrade When You Trade

No matter who you choose for your trading mentor, you need a trading platform that can help you watch the charts, analyze stocks, and place your trades.

With StocksToTrade, you can get all that in a single program. You’ll have access to news feeds, charts, watchlists, scanning, algorithmic analysis, and so much more…

StocksToTrade was created BY traders FOR traders. So it’s no surprise that many of the world’s most renowned stock traders start each trading day by loading up our platform.

See just how much STT can help you in your trading day. Get your 14-day trial of StocksToTrade for just $7 today!

Conclusion

By now, you probably see that it can be extremely beneficial to get real-world advice from a successful trading mentor. It can save you time in learning to trade. It can also help you save you money, keep you motivated, and so much more.

Don’t just trust anyone with your trading education. Be sure to research your mentor and make sure they’re the real deal.

But if you’re looking for candidates, check out StockToTrade Pro where you can learn directly from our market-obsessed lead trainer Tim Bohen.

With today’s online resources, learning to trade can be easier than ever. What’s been your experience in learning to trade? We’d love to hear your stories — whether you’ve been trading for years or are totally new. Share your thoughts below!