Is trying to learn day trading a complete waste of time?

External question — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: MCMastery Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/118110 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. I understand there is a lot of people, maybe even most, who believe day trading is far too risky or the person trying day trading won't be skilled enough. I have gotten interested into investing lately, so I've invested my small amount of money I get weekly mostly in mutual funds. However, I am intrigued by day trading in addition to long-term investing. I have been watching a lot of videos online about it. Do you think that, given several years of practicing day trading / teaching myself about it in general (I wouldn't have $25k in account balance anyway for a few years), I could become successful? I don't want to waste a lot of time learning something that is really only profitable for professional finance wizards. I am weary of listening to some random YouTube people saying this works, while also happening to sell courses in doing it. If it matters, I am 18 and going to college for 4 more years.

External answer — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: user171140 Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/a/166167 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. Most day traders underperform due to costs and time investment. If your goal is meaningful returns, consider passive investing or long‑term value strategies. That said, focus on fundamental analysis, build a strategy you can backtest thoroughly, and manage risk tightly.