Taking an online course to become a millionaire stock trader should be compared to an amateur taking a doctorate to become a doctor.

While the traders who have made millions and doctors know the steps to be successful in their fields, they got there by working hard and being thorough. There’s actually a business model for traders to set up online education programs, and teach you “how to get rich” by following their strategies.

Their model basically charges people hundreds or thousands of dollars so they can watch their web seminars and basically just view the trader playing his or her game. It’s like watching pro sports and believing you’re going to be able to figure out how to get there yourself just by watching and listening to the announcer.

They don’t teach you what YOU as an individual need to know, they just explain the steps they go through in making money. Many of these investors aren’t nearly as rich or successful as they advertise either, which is ALSO part of their business model (to overhype themselves so people hop on board and pay a ton of money for education that is free online somewhere else).

After spending the past six years researching “how to get rich”, “how to become a millionaire”, etc. AND studying business school on the side, I’ve found that nearly all of these “Gurus” are just ripping people off. To genuinely become a successful business owner or investor (which would indeed make you rich), you have to learn the game of business, and of the markets. Thankfully the two are directly related. By understanding how businesses operate, and whether or not they have a competitive advantage, you can make money by trading stocks. This requires you to understand all of their financial data they release, who their competitors are, if the stock has been overbought or oversold by other investors (making the stock under or over-valued), and many more minor details catered to your personal strategy. If you REALLY want to become a successful investor or business owner, you’ll have to do a ton of research on your own and learn BUSINESS. What do all the top investors have in common? They all understand the businesses they invest in from the ground up, and pick the ones that will remain profitable as long as they own stock.

-The good news is that all of the information you could ever need is written in articles and documents online. The hard part will be realizing what you don’t understand about investing, seeking out that information, then learning it on your own. It’s not fun to most people, no one will spoon feed it to you, and you’ll have to think HARD about what information you really need to make your investing skills come full circle. If it was easy, everyone would do it and become a millionaire. Why do some careers pay more than others? Because not everyone is educated enough to do that job. Why do some stock traders make millions and make nothing? Because not everyone is educated enough to do that job.