2020 has been a wild ride, but August, in particular, has been mind-blowing for me, in a positive way. I oscillated between wanting to share this journey and yell it from the rooftop, and feeling unsure because it all feels too-good-to-be-true. Alas, wealth should be shared, and I wish there was a testimonial like this when I was deciding on the course. So, here we are, my journey of learning to Trade and Travel with Teri Ijeoma of Invest with Teri.
Pandemic-Induced Life Questions
During Quarantine in April, Xav and I began asking the hard questions about our life priorities. The endless days of sitting on Zoom calls in separate rooms, while trapped in a concrete box of our apartment wasn’t the life we had envisioned when we left our lucrative corporate grind in Shanghai.
The brainstorming began: Remodel a dilapidated farmhouse in France? Learn to bake professionally and open a bakery in Taiwan? Build a passive home and living off-grid somewhere beautiful? We watched many YouTube videos about various alternative lifestyles during Quarantine while baking a lot of bread and cooking loads of food.
Yet, the question kept coming back to: how would we make money to support these idyllic lifestyles? After all, while we have financial freedom, we aren’t financially independent. Income is still necessary. We didn’t have an answer. When our lives resumed in late April, we put those wild ideas on the back-burner.
Signs from the Universe
On May 1st, an email from Side Hustle Nation came into my inbox about a lady named Teri, teaching people to trade stocks for income. The fact her course is titled, “Trade and Travel” – two of my favorite activities – immediately intrigued me. I listened to the interview, then watched her free webinar on making $1,000 in a day. Given the bad reputation that trading stock is glorified gambling, I was highly skeptical. It felt too good to be true.
Yet, I was curious. I’ve dabbled in investments since college. When I bought my first Mac in 2006, I also bought ten shares of AAPL at $26 per share. They’ve served me well. I recognize the power of individual stock investment in reliable companies. With a healthy dose of skepticism, I decided to have a go on my own, applying Teri’s high-level teaching in the free-webinar, aiming 1% return a day, and having a risk management plan. Three months later, despite the booming stock market, I only made $36. But hey, at least I didn’t lose money! I chalked it up as a failed experiment.
In June, Xav received news of an impending layoff. Thanks to our financial cushion, he was happy as a clam. The layoff came with a decent severance, and he was ready to leave the job anyway. In July, we went on a fantastic two-week journey through Northern Vietnam. The blissful nature led us to question once again why we are living in chaotic Saigon and what ways we could generate income without an office job.
Jumping In With Both Feet
During our trip, I thought about Teri’s trading course again. I began binge-listening through dozens of her interviews on various podcasts. Her story is compelling and authentic, and her focus on teaching others the skill to trade as ministry aligns with my value to increase wealth to give back to the world.
I decided to sign up to her $2000 Trade and Travel course, and view it as another professional training. After all, I’ve been collecting education my entire life to increase earning potential, from an expensive grad degree to a coding camp, all with varying degrees of usefulness. What’s another class? Best case scenario, I learn a new skill to generate income, and worst case, I obtain new knowledge without making a dime (wouldn’t be the first time).
At the end of July, I signed up for the course. Teri has been on a mission to teach 1,000 students the skills to realized $1,000 gains in a single trading day. Again, it sounded too good to be true, but fellow students in the private Facebook group are sharing their proven wins left and right. So, with my birthday coming up in early September, I treated this as a birthday gift to myself, aiming to reach $1k in a Day milestone in a month.
$1,000 In A Day
The course is self-paced, with a weekly group coaching call. I binge-watched through the entire curriculum over two days. My finance training and background certainly gave me a leg-up in grasping the content quickly. I immediately created an Excel model, and diligently followed Teri’s strategies to chart stocks and recognize patterns.
In a simulated account, I practiced the strategies and placed trades with an account balance of $25,000, the minimum balance required to bypass day-trading restrictions. My initial target was to reach 1% return a day. To my utter surprise, I unlocked the $1,000 in a day milestone within just FIVE trading days. Mind Blown.
I couldn’t believe how well Teri’s strategies worked. A small part of me thought perhaps it’s just beginner’s luck. Yet, within 11 days of trading, I managed three $1k days in my simulated account – some even when the overall market was trending downward. A mere week later, I reached the $1k in a day milestone in my live account with real money!
At this point, I still had three weeks to my birthday, so I leveled up my goal to realize $5k of gains over the next three weeks. The $5k would break even for the course and also cover the upgrade to the VIP program, where Teri teaches advanced strategies to realize consistent gains when the overall market is trending downward.
Building Generational Wealth via Invest With Teri and The Come Up Series – a follow-up post on my Trade and Travel VIP journey and beyond.
You Win Some, You Lose Some, And Then You REALLY Win
In between, there were days when I lost money, all as result of not following the rules. Trading in a live account with real money is psychologically different. After one sizable loss of nearly $3k in a single day, making every mistake in the book, I buckled down. Follow the rules! I told myself. Don’t try to outsmart, because you cannot. With this renewed focus, I recuperated my losses the next day.
Then, the magic truly happened. On the following day, with confidence replenished, I realized over $5k of gains in a single trading day. It was jaw-dropping. When I set the goal, I had aimed for a cumulative $5k gain. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could make that in one single day! It’s still mind-blowing to me that I could achieve these milestones within just one single month. That 1% per day goal I thought was so ludicrous? I now know it’s possible to achieve consistently.
Sky is the limit. My next goal is to upgrade to the VIP course, and give 10% of my trading earnings to charitable giving, with a target to give away $10k by New Year’s Eve!
Not A Get Rich Quick Scheme
While I saw success within a short time, I must emphasize that active trading is not a get-rich-quick scheme. This type of attitude is how things can go terribly wrong. In fact, the days that I’ve lost money have all been because I got a tad greedy and didn’t follow the rules. One of the most valuable parts of this course is how Teri addresses all the various emotional pitfalls that lead traders into oblivion, like this sad story.
Active stock trading with well-planned risk management, however, is a legitimate way to generate income. The critical word here is active. This income stream isn’t passive. It requires time and energy to chart graphs, calculate price levels, and have the immense discipline to avoid falling prey to our emotions.
Calculated risk requires calculation, but the reward can be fruitful. I aim not to place any trade without having my Excel model in front of me, telling me all the right price levels with corresponding risks and rewards. The days I’ve lost is when I got lazy or greedy, trading without my system.
New Path to Financial Independence
This course has opened my eyes to the world of the ultra-rich and why so many of the world’s wealthiest people are from the world of finance. This skill is a well-kept secret that ordinary individuals aren’t privy to. Instead, we are told to buy-and-hold – a good strategy that I still adhere to for most of our investments.
Don’t get me wrong; I am still a firm believer that low-cost index funds are the best passive way to generate wealth for everyday individuals. Despite this new skill, I will trade only up to 10% of my net worth – treating this skill merely as another diversification strategy. The methods are data-driven, and they work, but the active act of trading involves the inherent risk of human emotions.
Update: I wrote a follow-up post on how I took Teri’s teachings to level up my path toward financial independence – Building Generational Wealth via Invest with Teri and The Come Up Series.
What Makes a Good Stock Trader?
Teri had covered this question in one of the podcast interviews, and this struck a chord. She said that a person would do well in her class if s/he is curious about learning new things, has discipline, and can follow directions. That’s it. Sounds simple, but that last part of following directions, is harder than it sounds. Again, it’s those emotions that get to even the best traders.
Her remarks reminded me of my final semester in college. Finance majors were required to take a financial management class with Dr. Alderson – an infamously tough professor. On the first day of class, he told us that if any of us had played sports or mastered a musical instrument, then we have what it takes to do well – all it takes is the persistence and discipline to practice mastering the concept, showing up to class, and paying attention. The piano player in me thought, “can’t be that bad.” Indeed, it just takes time and effort.
Over the past month, I’ve spent every minute of my free time fine-tuning the skill to trade stocks for income. The key to my success thus far, I believe, is that I genuinely love Excel spreadsheets and recognizing patterns on charts. On top of my ability to mostly follow the rules, of course. I do believe anyone who could follow directions can do this. Though, if you tend to enjoy numbers, graphs, and charts, the experience would undoubtedly be more enjoyable.
Supportive Trading Community
Other than the sound strategies, the best part about the Trade and Travel course is the private Facebook group for students. It’s incredibly inspiring to see everyday individuals, large part minorities who typically are not invested in the stock market, sharing their wins, and how trading is changing their lives.
Last week, a fellow classmate shared his story of making merely $800, working 10-hour shifts for Amazon amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That drove him to the course. He shared his win of over $3,000 gains in a single day, trading Amazon stock. That must have felt so great!
It’s a fantastic feeling to be in a group of people talking about money openly, sharing the attitude that there is enough for everyone – a true win-win scenario. We celebrate wins together and console on the inevitable losses, but at the end of the day, the group lifts us all into a higher realm of financial freedom.
Paying It Forward
I’ve kept this blog for over a decade as a way to pay-it-forward. Discovering Trade & Travel has also allowed me to keep this blog authentic without all the gimmicks required for monetization (and finally go ads-free!). If this post has helped you ultimately decide to pursue the course, here’s my referral link for Trade and Travel, and link for the VIP Investor Program. If you sign up through the links, I get a 10% commission.
Though, to be clear, I didn’t write this post for that commission. I simply want everyone to learn this skill! In the spirit of keep giving back, 50% of the commission will go towards GiveDirectly. Also, I will offer those who use the referral link a free one-hour call to answer any trading-related questions – including sharing all the tools that I’ve built to help me succeed! Please contact me after you’ve signed up! Until the traveling portion of Trade and Travel resumes, I’ll continue to master the trading skills and share the wealth.
I hope you will take some time to learn Teri’s story, and at the very least, think about stock trading differently. For me, it’s been immensely useful to divorce the image of Wall Street greed from active stock trading. It’s an incredible feeling of empowerment, knowing that the system can be leveraged to not only generate income but also do a lot of good in the world!
Update: amount to date allocated to GiveDirectly – $17,348. Thank you! 🙏
Teri’s Interviews that I Love
- Teri’s Instagram Linktree with her latest interviews and webinars
- How to Trade and Travel with Teri Ijeoma | Level Up Podcast
- I made $35,000 in one day, with Teri Ijeoma of Invest With Teri | The Millionaire Podcast
- Do You Want to Make $1,000 a Day AND Trade With a Purpose? | Karen Hunter Show
- Break Out Of Your Comfort Zone By Embracing Your Passion With Teri Ijeoma | Life Skills That Matter
Hi Wendy,
I am in the course with you and have enjoyed seeing your wins. I concur that the course is amazing. Teri is an amazing instructor. I was wondering if you have any time to review trailing stops. I’m trying to determine how to enter them into the TradeStation app and whether I should set a dollar amount or a percentage. I’ve tried searching on Google and YouTube and have not found any information that would be helpful.
Thank you,
Sharon
I can’t help you with the ins and out but I love trailing stocks. I’m not sure why anyone would set up anything else.
Hi Sharon, I’ve sent you an email to address this question! Thanks for reading my post.
Your story is so exciting, Wendy! I too discovered Teri’s course through her Side Hustle Nation interview. I had always been interested in day trading but it wasn’t until listening to that interview and then doing a bunch more research like you that Teri’s message resonated with me so much.
My progress through the course has been slower going, but I have a plan to achieve success as well. Just have to take emotion out of it like you said. 🙂
Can’t wait to see your success, Chad. It’s only a matter of time with Teri’s sound strategies!
Thanks for your helpful review, Wendy! I signed up through your link. Let me know how we can set up that call. Thanks again!
Hi Wendy!
I too just signed up via your link, really enjoyed the article! I also found Teri from Side Hustle Nation podcast, I’ve been researching her the last few weeks and have found nothing but positive reviews, excited to learn her strategies!!!
Feel free to email me to see up call and further correspondence.
Look forward to trading together!
Thanks!
-Andrew
Dear Wendy ,
do if we joint her first class , we still can make profit ? or have to wait the full class ?
Thks
Yes, you can profit with just the Trade and Travel portion of the class. VIP provides more tools to invest during different market conditions. I wrote this post before I had learned VIP strategies, and clearly, I was able to profit!
Hi, I am interested in the course and reviewed the options on your affiliate link and have a couple of questions. Does the $2500 class prepare you begin trading or do you have to take the VIP course? I am a beginner and if possible would like to take the $2,500 course, then earn the difference and take the VIP at another time. Also, is your offer still valid regarding the 1hour call and sharing resources? I would like to make about $2K a month, but don’t know how much of an initial investment this would require. Thanks!
Hi Nakita, Yes, you can profit with just the first Trade and Travel course. VIP provides more advanced strategies to invest during different market conditions. And yes, the offer still stands to share resources and the one-hour coaching call! 🙂
Thanks for the review. How much does one need to have invested in the market in order for them to make 1k a day? 2500 fire the course, I know I’m going to have to get a loan.
Hi Maurice, Teri’s strategy allows us to earn 1% of our capital consistently. I would not recommend taking a loan for the course, however. Set this as a savings goal. Wait until you have the capital to sign up for the course and save up a bit before you jump in. Meanwhile, there are plenty of free webinars and resources to learn.
Beginner here and contemplating buying the course. If you don’t have $25,000 in your account balance to bypass day trading restrictions are these courses worth it?
Absolutely! Plenty of people starting with just a few hundred dollars to build up. Same strategies apply, just a little slower, is all.
I am interested in purchasing Teri’s course. But how are people bypassing the 25,000 restriction? I’m looking to begin with about $1,000
Hi Kaila, you can trade at $1,000. There are restrictions on the number of trades per week you can make under $25k, but you can still apply the IWT strategy for the smaller capital amount.
Hi Wendy, Thank you for this review. Your assessment has really helped me in deciding to sign up for the Trade and Travel course. If you could start again, would you sign up for the VIP in full or still follow your plan by taking the Trade and Travel first and later signing up for the VIP? Also, it seems that the Trade and Travel is totally online, if you had questions was the only help through the Trade and Travel facebook group?
Hi Alfreda, I would definitely sign up for the full VIP course at one go to have access to all of the resources. But, I still recommend taking the time to become very familiar with the basic Trade & Travel method before jumping into the VIP stragies. More ways to make money also means there are more ways to lose. Getting ahead to VIP without having the solid basics can quickly become very overwhelming!
Wendy, thank you. I signed up for the Trade and Travel through your link. Thank you
Hi Wendy,
I am having a phone conversation with Will at Trade and Travel today and will sign up for Teri’s course then, using your link. I really like your blog and this review. I am also happy that you are donating funds to the Covid 19 Response, anything we can do to help is beneficial to those who are in need. I do have a few questions for you after I start the course and look forward to your great spread sheet tools. I did try to send you a message from your contact form but I got an error message that said to try later.
Thanks, Robert! I’ve sent you an email. Welcome to the T&T Family! 🙂
Greetings Wendy, very on the fence about this as it’s a huge chunk of change for me. How much time would you say you have to dedicate? And on average weekly, how much profit? I see many people posting their simulation accounts and it’s giving a tough view for me to truly grasp the answer
Hi Sandra, the answer really depends on how much capital you begin with. The time required to grasp is high in the beginning, as there is a somewhat steep learning curve, especially if you don’t have any investment background.
I’d say at the minimum, once you’ve gone through the course, the trading plans require a few hours on Sundays and 1 hour or so daily to monitor the market. Again, this is not a get rich quick scheme. More efforts toward studying and adhering to rules will yield better results!
Came across your post while researching the Trade & Travel course and found it very interesting. Most of the reviews I have found on Teri’s course are from people who have only been trading for a short time. Have you met anyone who has been trading for any length of time and having positive results? Do you think trading is something that can produce income consistently? I ask because I am interested in the course, but everything I have ever read about short term trading says it’s not sustainable long term.
There are people in the class FB group who’s been at this for a while. Teri has been doing this for over a decade. So yes, this is a viable long-term way to make some income. But again, not a get rich quick scheme and requires analysis and monitoring of the market!
Teri’s course is also a great fundamental into trading. You can then take this skill and apply to other longer-term trading strategies that she doesn’t teach. There is so much to learn, and I’m so grateful that I came across her course that opened this amazing door for me!
Hi Wendy,
Thanks for the review! You mention an Excel model. Does trade and travel teach you how to set that up or did you create a model yourself?
Thanks!
Hi Christine! I created the spreadsheet based on the formulas and strategies that Teri teaches. The course doesn’t teach how to set it up, since there can be many ways to streamline the process. I’m happy to share these tools!
Hi Wendy!
Thank you for this great blog/review post on Teri’s course.
I also learned about Teri’s story through The Side Hustle Show a couple months ago, and re-visit the interview this morning as the travelling and supporting causes really stick to me since then.
I am in Canada, and I wonder if you know any Canadians in the Fb community that are also doing it well?
The reason I’m asking is we don’t have Tradestation in Canada, and apparently it’s the ideal or used online broker tool you guys use.
If you have any thoughts on this will be greatly appreciated.
Alfredo
Hi Alfredo, there are a lot of people in the Trade and Travel group who are in Cananda. They’d be able to help you with their solutions. Not everyone in the course uses TradeStation, though most do since that’s the one Teri teaches on. The skills are transferable to other platforms!
Can you advise or tell how you set up your own LLC or S/C corp for a trading business?
Hi Jay, I have not set up a trading business as of now. Sorry cannot advise!
Wendy, thank you for this blog post. I have been on the fence about signing up and have been praying about it. Your post really helped alleviate some of my apprehension about making the investment. I will definitely use your link when I sign up for the course.
-Thanks again and Happy Holidays!
I’m so glad to hear this, Ericka! This is exactly why I wrote this post. Look forward to having you in our Trade & Travel family! Happy Holiday!
Hi wendy I am interested if this will help me make an extra income. i wanna start low though. could you please advise
Hi Cherise, I recommend starting slow by practicing a lot in simulated accounts and take it seriously. In the beginning, I would place the same trades in SIM and also a much smaller position in the live account to make sure I take it seriously. Like all things in life, practice makes perfect-ish!
Would you say this course is good for and abosule beginner?
And if you take the $2,500 course do you pay $5,000 for the vip or just another $2,500 ?
Hi Charleston, Yes, the course is made for absolute beginners, and starts from intro to stock market. To upgrade to VIP, you’d simply pay the difference of $2500. Hope this helps!
Wendy,
Happy New Year, thanks for sharing your TT story. I’ve been researching for 2 months connecting with former stufents. I am ready to pull the trigger but my husband is in my ear about I have to be mathematically and analytically astute to do this. I have always been a C student in math and not that great with excel. Ive taken tons of excel courses and it doesn’t stick. I work in a day job that doesn’t require excel. I am more of a right brained person.
Do you think this course could be for someone like me.
please save me the i can do anything response – no rudeness intended
Happy New Year! Trading doesn’t require complex math behind basic arithmetic. But, it helps if you are someone who enjoys looking at charts and working with numbers since you do spend a lot of time looking at them. Excel files that I’ve created are easy to use, and you can simply use them to save time on the calculation. Excel skills and trading aren’t related. It simply saves time to have the tools. Hope this helps!
Hi Wendy, thanks for this honest and helpful blog/review. I am sick of my current 9-5 job and have been self learning about financials and investing for the last year. One of my main desires is to be able to work from home. The thought came to me a couple days ago to consider day trading and then today I remembered I had heard someone on The Side Hustle Nation podcast talk about their success day trading. That led me to Invest with Teri and then your review. One of my initial concerns is that I don’t currently have the 25k that is needed to make more than 3 day trades in a 5 day period. Is 3 day trades a week enough to get going and make some small profits? Thanks a bunch!
Absolutely! Lots of students in the course begin with very small accounts. The Amazon guy in my post started with $500 in his account and recently celebrated a 5000% return on his trading journey. The 3 trades per week limit force you to not take excessive risks at the beginning, which isn’t a bad thing at all.
Is this something you have to be extremely active in. Say someone has. 9-5? How would that work? Also am thinking about going back to school. And wanted to use trading to help pay for school. What are your thoughts in that
There is a fairly steep learning curve in beginning. In the follow-up post, “Building Generational Wealth via Invest With Teri and the Come UP Series,” I discuss my routine. Now I only spend an hour watching the market at the opening. I’m in Asia, so I set my order limits and then go to sleep!
Thank you for doing this review.
Hi Wendy, Just signed up to the Trade & Travel Course using your referral link. Thanks so much for your article detailing your experience. Along with the Q & A above, it has really helped me to move forward in faith and take my next steps into purchasing the course, looking forward to talking with you in the future and becoming a part of the TT community!
RJ
Hi Wendy, I’m contemplating signing up for Invest with Teri and am so glad to have stumbled here. Currently I’m debating between Invest with Teri and another course that offers daily suggestions in terms of trades. Did you think that having something like that would be helpful?
My husband and I (and our new baby) are also planning to take a leap and relocate to Asia, so I”m looking forward to reading about your adventures!
Hi Yunnie! Thanks for stopping by. I personally never looked at any other courses. But I like Teri’s course because it focuses on teaching us the skills to identify trades on our own rather than relying on another person to let us know about trades. I liked that “learning to fish” aspect of things!
Thank you for responding! I think I’m going to do it! I’ll shoot you a note after I sign up.
Hi Wendy I’m in Africa does Teri have students all over the world or just America? Will the course work for me
Teri has students from all over the world. I’m living in Asia, for example. Her techniques can be applied to different markets. However, the account setup and the market that she focuses on are US-focused. You’d need to do extra homework to understand account opening and apply her teaching to your situation. Hope this helps!
Hi Wendy! Thank you so much for your honest review of Travel and Travel. I have been trading for about a year and a half and love it, but I really want to maximize my profits. Teri’s program seemed great and she seems like a good teacher who is genuinely interested in helping her students. I have been contemplating the program for several months after finding out about it on the Side Hustle Nation podcast. I was wondering your thoughts on how the program is helping you currently, as you’ve been doing it for over a year now? Have you still been able to achieve $1000 a day? Thank you so much!
Hi Kimberly! I’m still trading, and still leveraging a combination of strategies from Teri and the Come Up Series, as outlined in my second post. Some days are better than others but I am still able to achieve my targets, including $1000 in a day (although I’d focus more on the % gain than $ amount). I’ve also had to take some losses but gaining a ton of learnings along the way. What I love about this journey is the continuous learning that takes place. Never a dull moment!
Stumbled here after a friend told me about Teri. She, as well as TONS of others teaching this subject, have streams of negative reviews, which is how I stumbled upon this page. I’m still doing my research before investing, but a major problem is the lack of actual reviews from students. After a purposely unbiased Google search, I found one student review on page 1, this review was on page 2 alongside 1 other student review, and I’m now on page 3 still researching, which many would say is going too far for a Google search.
This comment became more wordy than I desired, but my request is simple, though honestly not specifically for you, Wendy, but everyone else. If you’ve taken the course with good, bad, or median results, please please please post about it and leave an educated and useful review. Those who have a negative review will always yell and scream, but too often do those with positive experiences remain quiet or whisper in a corner. Let your experience be known to help the next guy out. Even if not in depth, let us know, and please use an outlet that’s not directly related to the class.
That is all. I enjoyed the read Wendy, but I’ve got a bit of more research to do, but I do greatly appreciate your review.
Hi Wendy! Thank you so much for your review. It was very helpful. I too love Excel and was very curious about the spreadsheet you created. Do you share this tool with others or give advice?
Thanks!
Hi Latrina! I share the file with people who sign up via my affiliate link. Glad you found the review helpful!
Hello Wendy, Thanks so much for this honest review. I am doing my due diligence as I am seriously considering purchasing the course. Now that we are in a down market. What has your experience and observation been regarding the ability to continue making money in the stock market using T&T strategies?
Hi Wendy,
I’m really new to stocks and before I even think about trading, do you have any resources or links to share for someone who wants to start the basics? Like buying and holding?