Can Trading Give You A Monthly Income?

In recent years, social media has been flooded with self-proclaimed trading “gurus” showcasing their supposed lavish lifestyles — luxury cars, foreign vacations, and screenshots of massive trading profits. They often promise financial freedom through trading and invite followers to attend their paid seminars and webinars. However, a closer look reveals a hard truth: most of these influencers do not rely on trading as their primary income source. Instead, they earn significant money by selling courses, trainings, and mentorships.

The core reason trading alone cannot be a reliable, full-time income activity lies in the very nature of financial markets. Markets constantly cycle through three broad phases — bull (rising), bear (falling), and consolidation (sideways movement). Designing a strategy that consistently delivers strong returns each and every month across all three phases is extremely challenging. Simply put, there is no secret sauce or holy grail strategy that will help you generate a predictable monthly income. Trading from stock markets is not a get-rich-quick scheme.

Whenever you wish to test any strategy, it must be validated over a period of at least 3 years (36 months) across varying market conditions. Short-term success can be misleading, as random strategies can perform well for brief periods due to sheer luck or favorable market trends. True consistency is only visible over multiple market cycles.

Another key point is leverage. If making high returns from trading was truly as easy and foolproof as advertised, logically, these traders would simply borrow more funds from banks or non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), leverage their positions, and mint money through spreads (difference in rate of return generated versus interest paid). Why would someone do the difficult job of acquiring customers?

Additionally, professional institutional traders typically operate with advanced tools, sophisticated algorithms, and access to real-time large sets of data — resources that retail traders usually lack. This creates a significant edge in favor of institutions and proprietary trading desks.

In conclusion, trading cannot be relied upon as a stable, predictable monthly income source. Those are unrealistic expectations.

The ideal focus should be on upskilling, learning sales, networking, and acquiring more degrees or certifications that increase your core income from salary or business. This primary income can then be invested into mutual funds, gold, or direct stocks in a disciplined manner to create wealth over the long term. Keep it simple, stay consistent, and you shall do well.

(The author is a Chartered Accountant and CFA (USA). Financial Advisor.

Views personal. He could be reached on 9833133605. )