[brk]

All things considered, "5 figures" seems like a pretty low income for something that is "very very hard", and risky. Seems like if you have the skills and tenacity to day trade like that you could find some other job to pay you high 5 figures with a more stability.

[docker_up]

$20,000 per year is livable in many areas of the US, especially if you have a lot of savings to back that up. The point is that saying it's "impossible" is a lie.

[brk]

Where is $20,000 ‘livable’? Savings or not, I don’t know of many places where you could live on a net income of ~$1,300/mo. what do you do for medical benefits alone in that income bracket?

[aphextim]

Upper Michigan:

If you have $20,000 you get MI Health plan, essentially free healthcare in the poor income bracket (for now anyway unless it gets taken away, sign up where you get food stamps).

Rent on a 2 bedroom apartment, as long as you are not in the "big" city of Marquette should be $400-$500.

Heck when I was younger we 'rented' an entire 5 bedroom house, two story with basement for $950 (split 4 ways with roommates).

Food and cost of living is cheap, especially if you go to farmers markets and buy stuff in season.

Winter can be tough as heating costs go up, however they do offer those 'locked' in plans where you pay more in summer month but less in winter as it averages out your price. Overall you always pay more this way, however if you have trouble managing money having a steady rate can be more beneficial.

If they took medical benefits away from low income bracket which I could see happening, well just hope you don't get sick, otherwise the rest is doable. As my dad once told me when I moved out at 18, as long as you got a roof over your head, and food in your stomach, the rest is details.

[rongenre]

Again - if you've got the talents to make $20k/yr day trading, you can do much better working remotely at far less risk. So higher sharpe ratio.

Also the UP is pretty much miserable.

[aphextim]

>Also the UP is pretty much miserable.

I feel that is subjective. I know many people in this area who live wonderful happy lives being self sufficient, living off the land and having a large community and frequent family gatherings. The area is beautiful if you like outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, fishing, bike trails and in the winter there is a lot of cross country skiing and snowmobiling. Worst thing here right now is the Opioid crises which sadly is happening in many rural areas across the nation.

I guess personally I would prefer the country life vs fast living in a big city, but again that's my opinion. Especially with the ability to work remote, and the ability to get things shipped up here via the internet it makes life easy.

Gone are the days of having to drive 3 hours for computer parts :)

[ben_w]

I make $10,000 per year while sitting on my backside and at almost zero risk. It’s called “collecting rent”, which is especially easy if you have a lot of savings.