TraderJen

OP, and all others in his position, what it boils down to is that you need to consult with a local and well reputed insurance agent face to face to discuss all possible options. There are too many nuances and factors like where you live, how many are to be covered, how you plan on transitioning from employee to self-employed, the health of each person being covered and whether or not you want to avoid some pitfalls and complexities of individual vs group coverage... Too many factors to scratch the surface on what is best for you here. We can only give you information about what works best for us in our own circumstances. For example, for me, in the state of California and with many other states with similar group health laws, with dependents who I didn't want subjected to a barrage of tests to dictate their eligibility, I chose to get coverage by including a family member in a pass-through corporate entity so that we would be eligible for non-discriminatory and fully comprehensive medical and mental health; a defined fixed cost co-pay for prescriptions, labs, diagnostics, ER and hospital admissions; dental and vision insurance at a fraction of the cost of what it would have been if we had gone with individual coverage. As I understand it, for Thalestrader, he lives in an area where those who are self-employed have the option of being covered either through a medically underwritten direct plan (individual and family plan) that requires testing of all for eligibility or a guaranteed plan that covers all without tests, but at a cost double that of underwritten plans; and with all plans offering less benefits than what my particular plan covers. Yes, less complex than what I've chosen, but at a cost and with limitations of coverage. It's all nuance with their own pros and cons.. Whatever you decide, just make sure not to quit your job until you've been accepted into your new health plan so you're not subjected to any pre-existing or graduation hiccups. Good luck!

I realize some people thrive on rudeness, negativity and pessimism, as it serves their own existence, but how about we reserve such outward shows for less civilized forums like ET. Collaborative environments, which TL aims to be, are rarely assisted by such behaviour. It goes without saying that a structured entity is complex, however, for those of us who are traders and who do consider this their occupation, it shouldn't be that foreign of an idea to consider. For those intelligent and meticulous enough to be of the few who have or do plan to make the leap into leaving their old lives behind to become full-time traders, it would be wise to consult with knowledgeable professionals to properly handle their business and personal needs that would otherwise be built into being an employee of a corporate job. If you are a methodical enough of an individual to successfully venture into full-time trading, then it goes without saying that you should consult with your CPA at the very least; and as I had previously emphasized, a local insurance agent who would know their own state's laws front to back and would take the time to get to know your own situation and needs. I urge you to explore all your options to see what best fits your circumstances. Don't shy away from talking face to face with real professionals versus talking to some anonymous voice over a telephone and don't settle for easy over complex because of convenience. Information from forums is to be taken with a grain of salt, especially trading forums. Many exaggerate and misrepresent to make up for their shortcomings and pathologies. I advise against any quick fixes such as going through online insurance brokers, jumping in head first and going to LegalZoom to start your LLC without first talking to a CPA, buying insurance on the basis of seeing an Assurant TV advertisement or figuring out a way to squeeze your way into a cheap self-employed pool to be eligible for Mega, all for the sake of avoiding up front complexities. Those complexities will save you in the long-run. You may not need it now, but you and your family will need quality rated health insurance in the future. When you're laying on a gurney in the ER, having a battery of tests and scans done with little communication from the stressed nurses and the bitter doctor with a God complex whose solution to everything is to pump you full of morphine or if your doctor utters the word cancer, you don't want to be in a position of worrying about if the best possible hospitals and doctors are in your network, what your co-pays are, calculating your share of costs, if your out-of-pocket has been reached, what claims you'll need to file to be reimbursed because you got stripped down health coverage that doesn't cover the necessary medications that could cost between $10 - $1000 a bottle, or whether you or your loved one will be dropped or fail to meet benchmarks for continued coverage under an individual plan rather than in a group plan that's more highly regulated for your benefit. Also keep in mind that many individual coverages don't cover maternity. I understand that a large majority of traders are guys, and many are single guys that aren't in that frame of mind yet, but there will be a time when you may not want your significant other to keep working just to keep coverage. IMO, It's better to be over-insured through a quality company with a good structured organization on your end rather than being under-insured through a second rate company that you've qualified for based on affiliation to an establishment outside your control. Your situation can turn in an instant. Once the you know what hits the fan, the costs will all come back to bite ya! Of course, this is just my 2 cents. Good luck!

Am I missing something here...because to me the solution is pretty darn simple. Why not just start a corporate entity with yourself and a second person to qualify as a small business? Then you could go to any health insurance agent and get small business health insurance, vision, dental, etc... Here in California, insurance companies are only allowed to increase rates 10% above generic rated quotes even with pre-existing conditions, so that takes care of any worry about that, for me at least. This is how I've insured myself and my dependents. And, of course, one could benefit from tax write offs of paying premiums as an employer; and if a HSA is selected, a few more goodies in that for those of us who trade through HSA accounts. IMO, Small business insurance is the way to go. Then you and your dependents won't be subjected to testing for pre-existing conditions and all else that can increase rates or prevent one from getting insurance on an individual basis. I suggest you talk to a local insurance agent with years of experience about this option. I love my insurance agent here in SoCal. Talking to agents from companies like einsurance.com or whatever only gets you the basics and they won't go out of their way to help you.

This was recently posted in the TS forum. It's a tad different from the TTM version, but could definitely be something to start with. http://www.tradestation.com/Discussions/Topic.aspx?Topic_ID=92189 //============================================================// //DTTpb_TZU_TTM_Anchor Inputs: Sym(GetSymbolName), ThisInterval(ADE.TickBarT(BarInterval)), {This setting defaults to the interval of the chart the indicator is set into} Interval1 (55),// number of ticks Interval2 (89),// number of ticks Interval3 (144),// number of ticks Interval4 (233), // number of ticks UpColor(Blue), NeutColor(DarkGray), DnColor(Red), BarWidth(1), CompBars(6), DeriveBars(0), UseFile(ADE.UseFile); // default UseFile is returned by ADE.UseFile function Vars: { ThatInterval(ADE.TickBarT(200)), {Change this setting to the interval of the chart with the embedded sender indicator} } Color1(0), Color2(0), Color3(0), Color4(0), colorAll(0), Class("OHLCV"), haClose1(0), haClose2(0), haClose3(0), haClose4(0), haOpen1(0), haOpen2(0), haOpen3(0), haOpen4(0); {************************************Data1***********************} Value31 = ADE.TickBarT(Interval1); if CurrentBar = 1 and UseFile then Value11 = ADE.OpenMap(Class, Sym, Value31); Value51 = Value41; Value41 = TZS.SyncBarID(ThisInterval, Value31); if Value41 <> Value51 then begin haClose1 = (ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value31, Value41, "Open", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value31, Value41, "High", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value31, Value41, "Low", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value31, Value41, "Close", 0) )/4; haOpen1 = ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value31, Value41, "Open", 0) ; end; if CurrentBar > 1 then begin haClose1 = (ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value31, Value41, "Open", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value31, Value41, "High", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value31, Value41, "Low", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value31, Value41, "Close", 0) )/4; haOpen1 = (haOpen1[1] + haClose1[1])/2 ; if haClose1 > haOpen1 then Color1 =1 else Color1 =-1 ; for value1 = 1 to CompBars begin if haOpen1 <= MaxList(haOpen1[value1],haClose1[value1]) and haOpen1 >= MinList(haOpen1[value1],haClose1[value1]) and haClose1 <= MaxList(haOpen1[value1],haClose1[value1]) and haClose1 >= MinList(haOpen1[value1],haClose1[value1]) then Color1 = Color1[value1]; end;end; {************************************Data2*********************** } Value32 = ADE.TickBarT(Interval2); if CurrentBar = 1 and UseFile then Value12 = ADE.OpenMap(Class, Sym, Value32); Value52 = Value42; Value42 = TZS.SyncBarID(ThisInterval, Value32); if Value42 <> Value52 then begin haClose2 = (ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value32, Value42, "Open", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value32, Value42, "High", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value32, Value42, "Low", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value32, Value42, "Close", 0) )/4; haOpen2 = ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value32, Value42, "Open", 0) ; end; if CurrentBar > 1 then begin haClose2 = (ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value32, Value42, "Open", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value32, Value42, "High", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value32, Value42, "Low", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value32, Value42, "Close", 0) )/4; haOpen2 = (haOpen2[1] + haClose2[1])/2 ; if haClose2 > haOpen2 then Color2 =1 else Color2 =-1 ; for value1 = 1 to CompBars begin if haOpen1 <= MaxList(haOpen1[value1],haClose1[value1]) and haOpen1 >= MinList(haOpen1[value1],haClose1[value1]) and haClose1 <= MaxList(haOpen1[value1],haClose1[value1]) and haClose1 >= MinList(haOpen1[value1],haClose1[value1]) then Color2 = Color2[value1]; end;end; {************************************Data3***********************} Value33 = ADE.TickBarT(Interval3); if CurrentBar = 1 and UseFile then Value13 = ADE.OpenMap(Class, Sym, Value33); Value53 = Value43; Value43 = TZS.SyncBarID(ThisInterval, Value33); if Value43 <> Value53 then begin haClose3 = (ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value33, Value43, "Open", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value33, Value43, "High", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value33, Value43, "Low", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value33, Value43, "Close", 0) )/4; haOpen3 = ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value33, Value42, "Open", 0) ; end; if CurrentBar > 1 then begin haClose3 = (ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value33, Value43, "Open", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value33, Value43, "High", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value33, Value43, "Low", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value33, Value43, "Close", 0) )/4; haOpen3 = (haOpen3[1] + haClose3[1])/2 ; if haClose3 > haOpen3 then Color3 =1 else Color3 =-1 ; for value1 = 1 to CompBars begin if haOpen3 <= MaxList(haOpen3[value1],haClose3[value1]) and haOpen3 >= MinList(haOpen3[value1],haClose3[value1]) and haClose3 <= MaxList(haOpen3[value1],haClose3[value1]) and haClose3 >= MinList(haOpen3[value1],haClose3[value1]) then Color3 = Color3[value1]; end;end; {************************************Data4***********************} Value34 = ADE.TickBarT(Interval4); if CurrentBar = 1 and UseFile then Value14 = ADE.OpenMap(Class, Sym, Value34); Value54 = Value44; Value44 = TZS.SyncBarID(ThisInterval, Value34); if Value44 <> Value54 then begin haClose4 = (ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value34, Value44, "Open", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value34, Value44, "High", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value34, Value44, "Low", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value34, Value44, "Close", 0) )/4; haOpen4 = ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value32, Value42, "Open", 0) ; end; if CurrentBar > 1 then begin haClose4 = (ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value34, Value44, "Open", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value34, Value44, "High", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value34, Value44, "Low", 0) +ADF.GetData(Class, Sym, Value34, Value44, "Close", 0) )/4; haOpen4 = (haOpen4[1] + haClose4[1])/2 ; if haClose4 > haOpen4 then Color4 =1 else Color4 =-1 ; for value1 = 1 to CompBars begin if haOpen4 <= MaxList(haOpen4[value1],haClose4[value1]) and haOpen4 >= MinList(haOpen4[value1],haClose4[value1]) and haClose4 <= MaxList(haOpen4[value1],haClose4[value1]) and haClose4 >= MinList(haOpen4[value1],haClose4[value1]) then Color4 = Color4[value1]; end;end; {************************************Plot***********************} if color1 + color2 + color3 + color4 = 4 then colorAll = UpColor else // colorAll = NeutColor; if color1 + color2 + color3 + color4 = -4 then colorAll = DnColor else colorAll = NeutColor; plotPB(High,Low,"heikin-ashi",colorAll); SetPlotWidth(1,BarWidth); SetPlotColor(1,colorAll);

Here's a video I just received from TTM's free daily videos explaining how the new TTM Trend Anchor works. How to Download and Install the Free Indicator

Oh, I'm sorry, I had a bit of a brain hiccup there with the fees, which are $2.30. They offered me the rate of $4.30 rt all in. That's $2 rt commission + $2.30 exchange fees = $4.30 total rt.

Hey Theodocious... I actually went with Infinity. The guy from Zaner seemed friendly enough but I never got a follow-up after the initial introduction. Anthony Giacomin from Infinity had also contacted me and offered a good rate and was quick to follow up with any of my questions, so that's who I went with. They're both IBs for TransAct so trade execution will be the same. Infinity just seemed more attentive. Anthony's lightning fast with responding. If you do go with Zaner, please do update this thread. It would really be nice to see them mentioned more for those researching brokers.

"The commission you pay when you buy stock isn’t deducted as an itemized deduction when you file your tax return. But that doesn’t mean you don’t get a tax benefit for paying a commission when you purchase some stock. The commission that you pay gets added to the rest of the cost of the stock and becomes part of the stock’s basis. The basis is the amount you use to compute your gain or loss when you sell the stock." from http://www.funwithtaxes.com/Past_Articles/3_06_00.htm

A rep from TransAct was actually who referred me to Zaner. I was told that my average ES trades of five round turns/five contracts daily doesn't meet TransAct's volume requirement, so the rep recommended Zaner as well as two other of its IBs; Cannon and Infinity. Among the three brokers I've spoken to besides TransAct (OpenECry, Zaner and Infinity), it was Zaner that quoted the best rate. Hardly a mention of them anywhere though, despite them being around since 1982, so I did a bit of research with the CME and NFA. They seem legit--no flaws on their record since the 80s. Compared to the more frequently mentioned brokers here on TL, that's quite a feat. The Zaner rep seemed more personable, not patronizing or salesman-like. I guess I'll just be the trailblazer, try 'em out and write a review after a few months. I'll marinate on this a few more days to see if I get any responses here.

I attended an Online Trading Academy seminar years ago in Orange County, CA. The sales pitch was pretty corny, IMO. The owner of the operation started the seminar by priming the audience to the idea that we could be trading at home in our bunny slippers, independent from investment advisors, mutual funds, etc... After an hour or so, their head "trader" casually walked in with his half buttoned shirt, gold chains around his neck and a stubbly face. He proceeded to talk about how he was totally financially independent, how he's traveled the world and charters yachts, blah blah blah... Then, one by one, they called attendees out of the conference room and into separate rooms, where they had associates giving each attendee the hard sell. When it was my turn out of the room and into a one-on-one with a sales associate, I repeatedly declined their 7-days for $3XXX offer as well as declining to buy several of their packaged DVDs for home study around $800. They wouldn't even show me the respect of allowing me time to marinate on the ideas from the day. The sales guy, who identified himself as an OTA franchise owner in Houston, almost seemed hostile and patronizing towards the end of the sales pitch. In truth, I was actually interested in their school up until the interrogation style sales push. Fast forward six years later to now... I'm very glad I didn't buy into OTA. Could they have effectively taught me skills to be a successful trader, I can't know. All I know is that I walked in there with genuine interest and walked out feeling like something was mighty fishy at OTA. It may be enticing to think that a 7 day course will fast track your trading skills, but I don't believe I could have had the same learning experience as I have had if I did join them. The years I've put in of reading, researching what works for me, sharing with other traders and developing my own style is something I highly appreciate.

I was referred to Zaner Group by TransAct. No one here on TL has yet to write a thing about Zaner. There isn't much on them on other trader forums either. Does anyone have any experience with these guys? All I know is that they're an IB for TransAct, MF Global and a few others. Note: No, I'm not a shill, but I confess I am a total TL lurker.