TRADER — the dream is freedom. The image of freedom is easier to buy.

Chapter01

The interest is real.

In a 2023 FINRA and CFA Institute survey, 56% of Americans aged 18–25 said they owned an investment. Among the Gen Z investors surveyed, 55% held crypto and 41% held individual stocks. Nearly half said having income outside their job was a financial goal.

0^%

of Americans aged 18–25 own an investment

0^%

of Gen Z investors hold crypto

0^%

hold individual stocks

0^%

say income outside their job is a financial goal

Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation & CFA Institute, Gen Z and Investing, 2023.

Chapter02

It happens where young people already are.

Trading happens on their phones and in their feeds. In FINRA's 2024 investor survey, 80% of investors under 35 said they traded through a mobile app. 29% had bought a meme stock or another investment trending on social media, and 61% said they used finfluencer recommendations to make investment decisions.

0^%

of investors under 35 trade through a mobile app

0^%

have bought a meme stock or an investment trending on social media

0^%

use finfluencer recommendations to make investment decisions

Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, Investors in the United States, 2024.

Chapter03

Something you can look like.

That's how trader becomes more than something you do. It becomes something you can look like online. The charts on the monitors. The screenshots of winning trades. The talk about escaping a nine-to-five.

Exhibit 01

The charts on the monitors

Three screens, one candle, always green in the photo.

Exhibit 02

The screenshots of winning trades

Every win is posted. The losses live in a folder nobody sees.

Exhibit 03

The talk about escaping a nine-to-five

Freedom, as a caption.

Even LARPing has a place in trading slang: someone can perform the life of a successful trader long before their account shows they are one.

LARPverb · trading slang

To perform the life of a successful trader before the account shows you are one.

Chapter04

And that's the tension.

The dream is freedom, but the image of freedom is easier to buy than the skill to earn it. Anyone can download an app, post a chart, and call themselves a trader.

The image of freedom is easier to buy than the skill to earn it.