Hey Eric,
We all had to start somewhere. I've been in your shoes and I know how frustrating it can be having a decent % gain but $-wise not that much. Just take your time and don't rush because rushing will lead to mistakes. I didn't build by entire account with trades; I add all my bonuses/savings into it.
Anyway, you are right about the $25,000 number. I think if it's below 25, you can only make like 5-6 trades per day (I'm with TDA). If you have cash somewhere else, you can transfer it to your trading account just to get over the $25K limit and keep it there... you don't have to use it all for trading. I almost always have at least 50% cash just in case.
Good job on the board by the way. We have some good folks here and very little spam.
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