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Why Did Jack Kellogg Withdraw $100K on His Birthday?

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Written by Timothy Sykes
Updated 4/18/2022 12 min read

On his 23rd birthday, my multi-millionaire student Jack Kellogg went to the bank and withdrew $100,000.*

Can you guess why?

Hint: it wasn’t to buy a car or throw some insane birthday party…

Usually, birthdays are about receiving. But this year, Jack wanted to give back.

I recently shared how much has changed in my life and the stock market since my last birthday … For Jack, the difference between this birthday and the last is even more profound.

In late April of 2020, Jack was just over $330,000 in trading profits.*

In November 2020, he passed the million-dollar profit mark.*

As of April 2021, he’s over $6.5 million in profits.*

Jack’s growth has been incredible … These results are definitely not common. Despite having plenty of money to buy himself whatever he wants, he chose to celebrate his birthday differently…

Not Your Typical 23rd Birthday Celebration

Jack could have bought a new car or a new house for his birthday. He didn’t.

Instead, he went to his hometown and gave his parents $100,000.

In case you haven’t seen it already, check out the full video chronicling Jack’s gift to his parents. Fair warning: Grab some tissues … It might make you cry.

That’s right. This millionaire Trading Challenge trader decided to give rather than receive on his birthday.*

I couldn’t be prouder … Since I found success as a trader and teacher, I consider it my duty to use my platform for good — and to promote the power of giving back. Jack gets it.

Here’s the full story…

“I Don’t Feel Selfish Anymore.”

That’s exactly what Jack said when he decided to give his parents $100,000 on HIS birthday.

 

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For Jack, one of the greatest gifts of financial freedom is the ability to stop focusing on himself so much and make a shift toward doing things for others.

That starts with paying homage to his roots.

Jack is an only child. Growing up, his family had limited means. However, they worked hard to give him everything he wanted — from video games to clothes to quad bikes.

But more importantly, they gave him love and support. They worked hard to give him a good life.

Despite their differences, his parents also stayed together to raise Jack. They divorced after he left home.

In retrospect, Jack can see and appreciate the sacrifices his parents made for him.

In making a financial gift of $50,000 to each of his parents, he’s hoping to help improve their lives as thanks for helping him become the man and trader he is today.

From Valet to Millionaire Trader*

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To understand Jack’s motivation, it may help to know a little bit more about his trading story.

Jack is a former valet who didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. He was pursuing a few different directions, but nothing really took.

Then he made it his New Year’s resolution to start trading in 2017 and joined my Trading Challenge the same year.

He was an extremely dedicated student. Jack was obsessive about studying and improving.

After testing out a few trading styles and strategies, he decided to stick with the OTC market. That’s where he started to find his footing as a trader.

You need to check out the entire story — I have it all for posterity in this four-part YouTube series. Watch them all!

“Selfish” to Selfless

I disagree with Jack calling himself selfish. But I do understand what he means about making sacrifices to make trading work.

He worked tirelessly to make his trading goals a reality. He sacrificed time with family and friends to keep getting better every day. That mindset and his willingness to grind as hard as he could helped him get to where he is today.

Now that he’s passed the million-dollar mark several times over, he’s not into punishing himself.* He wants to preserve his capital (one of my top trading rules!) … But he also wants to enjoy what he’s earned and focus on what matters.

As he puts it, “Now, it’s about my health. My family. My girlfriend. Those things are truly important to me.”

In that spirit, he planned a special surprise for his parents.

Note: Jack’s girlfriend Mariana is also an impressive trader in her own right. She recently crossed the million-dollar profit mark.* Learn more about her in this video:

Better to Give Than Receive

This year, Jack told his parents that he didn’t want anything for his birthday. That wasn’t exactly true. He wanted something … But it wasn’t a present.

He wanted to give back. Here’s why he wanted to give them $50,000 each…

Improving His Mom’s House

Jack’s mom is a school bus driver and still lives in his childhood home. It’s a well-kept house, but it could use some updating. The windows are old, the kitchen is outdated, and the house could use upgrades throughout.

Growing up in a small, humble home like this inspired Jack to work hard to create a more secure life for himself. Now that he’s done that, he wants to help his mom live comfortably. He’s hoping this $50,000 will help her upgrade her home.

Making His Dad’s Dreams Come True

Jack wants his dad, an electrician, to be able to enjoy and treat himself well with this $50,000 gift.

Years ago, when Jack was struggling to find direction, his dad urged him to take a practical path. He suggested Jack follow him in the electrician field and make a solid living.

Jack still pursued trading … But he doesn’t have a ‘told you so’ attitude or feel like he proved his dad wrong. Jack knows his dad was motivated by love — he wanted safety and security for his son and didn’t want to see him fail.

Jack already knew it would be hard … His dad’s hesitation was yet another reminder. If Jack hadn’t been so aware of the odds stacked against him, he might not have studied so hard.

Now, Jack wants to help make his dad’s dreams come true.

Jack knows his dad has been lusting after a boat … He wanted to surprise his dad with $50,000 so he could buy the boat and generally treat himself well.

Note: I love that my students are so motivated to give back to their parents! Want more? Here’s another story about David, a student who bought his mom a house with his trading profits

A Priceless Gift…

Be sure to watch the entire video (here’s the link again) to see how Jack’s parents react when they each receive his generous gifts.

Seriously, when his mom looks at the briefcase full of cash and says, “What do you mean it’s for me … it’s YOUR birthday!” Incredible.

But what’s truly priceless isn’t the fact that Jack gave his parents money.

I love seeing his generosity and heartfelt gesture. He has a lot of respect for where he came from, and he got a lot of joy from giving back. (I can relate — I find giving back SO rewarding. Here’s where my latest Karmagawa donations at work.)

Looks like Jack got just what he wanted for his birthday…

How Motivated Are You?

For Jack, it felt a lot better to give than receive on his birthday.

I hope this story demonstrates the incredible things that can happen when you’re dedicated and willing to work hard…

Jack spent years working from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. When he wasn’t trading, he was studying, making watchlists, memorizing stock charts, or generally obsessing about the market.

His years of hard work paid off for him … On his most recent birthday, he was able to give his parents roughly their respective yearly salaries in cash.*

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Regardless of determination or hours logged studying, Jack’s results are not typical. But I want everyone to take note of his work ethic and humility and the joy he found in giving back.

Are you ready to work hard? Consider applying for my Trading Challenge.

Happy belated birthday, Jack. I’m so proud of you. I can’t wait to see what your future holds!

How does Jack’s birthday story motivate you? Leave a comment below … I love hearing from you!

Disclaimers

*Please note that Jack Kellogg’s trading results, as well as Mariana and David’s, are not typical. Most traders lose money. It takes years of dedication, hard work, and discipline to learn how to trade. Individual results will vary. Trading is inherently risky. Before making any trades, remember to do your due diligence and never risk more than you can afford to lose. I’ve also hired Jack to help in my education business.

This level of successful trading is not typical and does not reflect the experience of the majority of individuals using the services and products offered on this website.  From January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, typical users of the products and services offered by this website reported earning, on average, an estimated $49.91 in profit. This figure is taken from tracking user accounts on Profit.ly, a trading community platform. Timothy Sykes has a minority shareholder interest in the platform. The typical success rate of users was based on the following methodology:

  • From January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, 849,078 trades were uploaded to Profit.ly.  633,891 trades were “verified” (corroborated with trade account data).
  • Instructor trades are ignored.
  • Average P&L / trades is obtained by calculating total P&L and dividing by the total number of trades
  • Average trades per account is obtained by counting the total number of trades and dividing by the number of accounts (mean function)

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Timothy Sykes

Tim Sykes is a penny stock trader and teacher who became a self-made millionaire by the age of 22 by trading $12,415 of bar mitzvah money. After becoming disenchanted with the hedge fund world, he established the Tim Sykes Trading Challenge to teach aspiring traders how to follow his trading strategies. He’s been featured in a variety of media outlets including CNN, Larry King, Steve Harvey, Forbes, Men’s Journal, and more. He’s also an active philanthropist and environmental activist, a co-founder of Karmagawa, and has donated millions of dollars to charity. Read More

* Results are not typical and will vary from person to person. Making money trading stocks takes time, dedication, and hard work. There are inherent risks involved with investing in the stock market, including the loss of your investment. Past performance in the market is not indicative of future results. Any investment is at your own risk. See Terms of Service here

The available research on day trading suggests that most active traders lose money. Fees and overtrading are major contributors to these losses.

A 2000 study called “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors” evaluated 66,465 U.S. households that held stocks from 1991 to 1996. The households that traded most averaged an 11.4% annual return during a period where the overall market gained 17.9%. These lower returns were attributed to overconfidence.

A 2014 paper (revised 2019) titled “Learning Fast or Slow?” analyzed the complete transaction history of the Taiwan Stock Exchange between 1992 and 2006. It looked at the ongoing performance of day traders in this sample, and found that 97% of day traders can expect to lose money from trading, and more than 90% of all day trading volume can be traced to investors who predictably lose money. Additionally, it tied the behavior of gamblers and drivers who get more speeding tickets to overtrading, and cited studies showing that legalized gambling has an inverse effect on trading volume.

A 2019 research study (revised 2020) called “Day Trading for a Living?” observed 19,646 Brazilian futures contract traders who started day trading from 2013 to 2015, and recorded two years of their trading activity. The study authors found that 97% of traders with more than 300 days actively trading lost money, and only 1.1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage ($16 USD per day). They hypothesized that the greater returns shown in previous studies did not differentiate between frequent day traders and those who traded rarely, and that more frequent trading activity decreases the chance of profitability.

These studies show the wide variance of the available data on day trading profitability. One thing that seems clear from the research is that most day traders lose money .

Millionaire Media 66 W Flagler St. Ste. 900 Miami, FL 33130 United States (888) 878-3621 This is for information purposes only as Millionaire Media LLC nor Timothy Sykes is registered as a securities broker-dealer or an investment adviser. No information herein is intended as securities brokerage, investment, tax, accounting or legal advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, or as an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any company, security or fund. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes cannot and does not assess, verify or guarantee the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information, the suitability or profitability of any particular investment, or the potential value of any investment or informational source. The reader bears responsibility for his/her own investment research and decisions, should seek the advice of a qualified securities professional before making any investment, and investigate and fully understand any and all risks before investing. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes in no way warrants the solvency, financial condition, or investment advisability of any of the securities mentioned in communications or websites. In addition, Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes accepts no liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this information. This information is not intended to be used as the sole basis of any investment decision, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet the investment needs of any particular investor. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future returns.

Citations for Disclaimer

Barber, Brad M. and Odean, Terrance, Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors. Available at SSRN: “Day Trading for a Living?”

Barber, Brad M. and Lee, Yi-Tsung and Liu, Yu-Jane and Odean, Terrance and Zhang, Ke, Learning Fast or Slow? (May 28, 2019). Forthcoming: Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=2535636”

Chague, Fernando and De-Losso, Rodrigo and Giovannetti, Bruno, Day Trading for a Living? (June 11, 2020). Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=3423101”