Case study · Michael, Tradesman for 30 years, New England
After 30 years of physical work, Michael wanted a skill that would not wear his body down
Michael has worked in the trades since he was 16. Surgeries and years of physical labor pushed him to look for a skill he could learn from home, with a comfortable retirement as the goal. He made an early mistake buying near a top, rebuilt his approach around market structure and risk, and still works 50 to 60 hours a week.
Where he started
Michael has worked in the trades since he was 16, close to 30 years. Physical labor, surgeries and other medical conditions have set him back, and he wanted a skill he could learn from home that would not wear his body down. His goal is a comfortable retirement.
His first steps
He had been buying and selling crypto on Coinbase since January 2025 and had never traded futures. He found our webinar while researching, and he had his trading account open and funded before he joined, which let him move through setup quickly.
The early mistake
Around October 2025, when Bitcoin reached its all-time high, he opened long positions without understanding where the market was in its cycle, and the market turned against him. He says he had been told, and wishes he had listened. Learning market structure and the crypto cycle changed how he positions.
What changed
He rebuilt his approach around risk to reward and capital preservation: taking only the setups where the odds are in his favor, and knowing his risk before he enters. He described the shift in one line: it should not be a feeling or a guess.
What he values
One-on-one help when he needed it, a group where no question is treated as a stupid one, and other members to test his ideas against. He works 50 to 60 hours a week, all year, out in New England, and still made the time to learn.
