🔹 Full-Time Trader with 5 Years Experience – What Is a Sustainable Income?

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing well. I have a question that's slightly off-topic but highly important to me, and I'd be very grateful for your honest insights.

Assume a trader has 5+ years of solid experience, trades full-time with a well-documented, tested, and optimized strategy. In that case, what is a realistic monthly income one could expect from a $100,000 personal trading account? I’m not asking about best-case outcomes, but rather what’s reasonably sustainable over time.

Someone once told me that true professional traders rarely use their capital. Instead, they either work with institutional funds or manage investor accounts, often trading accounts worth $10M or more.

So here are my main questions:

1. What is the realistic earning potential in trading, assuming serious skill and discipline?

2. Is trading personal capital (e.g., a $ 100,000 account) a viable long-term strategy, or is it mostly a stepping stone to managing larger funds?

3. If you’re comfortable sharing, what monthly return percentages do seasoned traders typically achieve, and on what account sizes?

Thanks so much in advance for your time and thoughts. I truly appreciate the wisdom in this community, and I look forward to learning from your experiences.

Wishing you all good trades and clarity in the markets!