I just posted a response in the Time to give up thread and part of the response dealt with my goals in trading. Realizing it didn't quite fit for the topic of the thread, I redacted that part and decided it would be good to start a new thread on this topic. I've found a few threads on specific daily trading goals, but nothing on longer-term trading goals.

The short answer to this question, obviously, is to make money. But how much, and over what period of time? Most of us here work a non-trading job and dream of making trading our sole source of income, and building wealth through it.

But some may be content simply to trade part-time just as a supplement to their income, or maybe to meet a specific financial goal like paying off the house or saving for children's college tuition.

If you want to quit your job, do you want to do that in a year? Five years? Or is your trading more of a retirement plan where you're not in a big hurry to quit?

Do you think your goal is realistic? Have you taken a hard look at your returns, max drawdowns, and ability to replace the income you make now? How much will your standard of living increase in the coming years?

My goal is kind of a mixture of wanting to quit the day job and building a retirement fund. I'm pretty happy with my non-trading job (attorney working for myself) but I do dream of trading for a living. To do that would probably take five years. My trading system is longer-term with big drawdowns, so I think it will take me that long to build my account to where I can replace the money I make now. Although by then I could be making a lot more than I do now, and my standard of living will keep going up, so maybe seven years.

Currently I pay my assistant much more than I make as a trader, and honestly right now I could make more money cutting grass or working fast food than I do trading soybeans or gold. But in the next year or two that should change.