Damien. I'm also a recent accounting grad (last year) and...

Damien. I'm also a recent accounting grad (last year) and started investing in feb this year. I'm only 22 and have put every cent I have + a loan into the market. Initially I had 0 clue to what I was doing, and lost a few $, I then started trading with trends and started to make a great deal of cash (and losses). I learnt not to get emotional about losses and make plans for trading. I.e stop losses, and never get greedy. Getting greedy often turned into losses or small profits.

I had a major in finance and accounting in Uni, and guess what: IT WAS USELESS! Paper trading was also useless as it takes balls to actually press "BUY - CONFIRM". Trading myself and learning from my mistakes was the best thing I have ever done, and taught me lots. I had around 30 trades in my first 4 months of trading (ranging from 2 to 20k per trade).

I also hold the dream to retire in a couple of years, and retire. I would much rather trade than make my boss rich and work hard (which i currently do + doing a CA). However I have stopped my day trading, took a loan out and invested alot into a couple of stocks, specs and near production stocks.

Assuming one or two of these stocks do well I should have grounds for retirement and become a trader.

Thats why being young is great! I have risked lots, if I lose it I will be upset, but there is always time to get more. Having a early retirement is very real with trading. I know several people who retired before 30 and have significan wealth. So do your research and prepare to risk 20,000 +. IMO if you strive for riches at a young age ASX 100s are a waste of time.

Open to thoughts :P