In January 2012, we adopted a two-phase Super Trader Program as a result of lots of input from the current students in the program and from what Van has learned coaching Super Traders over the last few years. The new structure allows students more time to complete the program but also lowers the effective cost. For motivated traders, the new structure can actually lower the real cost of the program compared to the previous structure by up to 10%.

The new structure has two phases, Super Trader I and Super Trader II. In the first phase, students focus on reaching the first milestone in the program: completion of the psychological curriculum. For this part of the program, you need to complete sixteen psychological lessons to Dr. Tharp’s satisfaction and document five major life transformations. You are allowed three years to complete this phase. During this time, we suggest that you avoid technical work on systems, as that can detract from your critical psychological work.

The second phase, Super Trader II, focuses on meeting the three requirements for graduation from the program:

1. Write a trading business handbook.
2. Develop at least three, non-correlated trading systems for different market types.
3. Trade those systems over at least 100 trades at 95% efficiency with at least 10% of the trades from each of the three systems.

Students now have up to three years to complete Super Trader II. Thus, students can now take up to six years to graduate the program—three years in each phase.

Criteria for Admittance

• Attending Peak 101 and/or the Oneness Awakening Course during which Dr. Tharp can gain a sense of your personal responsibility, your awareness and your desire to work on the most important factor in your trading—you.

• Submission of an application and a personal statement of commitment.

• Proof that the program makes financial sense for you. Paying for the program should not make you insecure about your finances.

• The Van Tharp Institute’s approval.

• Receipt of payment.

Objectives

• Complete sixteen psychological lessons to Dr. Tharp’s satisfaction.

• Document five major life transformations.

What You Will Receive

• All Van Tharp Institute products already on the market, plus any new products developed by VTI during your three years in Super Trader II (this excludes products from outside vendors).

• Sixteen Super Trader psychological lessons.

• Dr. Tharp’s personal consulting and coaching time: monitoring your timeline, weekly progress reports, and sixteen lessons.

• Workshops:
  1. Peak 101, 202, 203—unlimited attendance
  2. Oneness Awakening—unlimited attendance
  3. Blueprint and Systems Development—unlimited attendance
  4. The Super Trader Summit (annual)
  5. The Super Trader Turbocharge (3-day Oneness)

• Libby Adams’ one-on-one instruction and coaching in her 28-day Transformation Course.

• Access to the Super Trader online collaboration database.

• During Super Trader I, students are discouraged from attending technical workshops.  If you choose to attend a technical workshop during this phase, each costs $1,000.

Program Costs

• $35,000, payable in two installments: an initial payment of $20,000 followed by a second of $15,000 after the first six months.

• One-year-long extensions are allowed for $10,000; however, we expect this phase of the program to take no more than three years to complete. Even if this phase took 1,000 hours to complete, that would only amount to 6 hours per week over a three-year period.

• For any amount you have spent at the Van Tharp Institute in the last five years, we credit 50% of that towards your program costs.  The savings is divided between the two payments.

• Technical workshops offered by the Van Tharp Institute are allowed, but discouraged. These workshops cost $1,000 if you attend them during this phase.  Technical workshops are included in Super Trader II.

• You will receive a psychological completion after you have completed all sixteen Super Trader lessons and have documented five major life transformations.  The psychological completion is an entry requirement for Super Trader II. If you finish Super Trader I quickly, you receive a discount towards Super Trader II. The discount structure is as follows:

• Super Trader I completion within 1 year, $20,000 discount for Super Trader II
• Super Trader I completion within 18 months, $10,000 discount for Super Trader II
• Super Trader I completion within 2 years, $5,000 discount for Super Trader II

Criteria for Admittance

• Completion of Super Trader I.

• Proof of commitment based on results from Super Trader I. For example, if someone worked full-time on Super Trader I (did not work at a job) and took three full years to complete the phase, this would be a sign of lack of commitment.  Such a person may not be admitted into Super Trader II.

• The Van Tharp Institute’s approval.

• Receipt of payment.

Objectives

• Evidence of knowledge and understanding of position sizing™ strategies.

• Completion of a personal business handbook.

• Development of three systems that cover various Dr. Tharp-approved market types.

• 100 trades completed at 95% or better efficiency. These 100 trades must include at least 10 trades from each of your three systems, and they must include all trades that you took during the trading period.

What You Will Receive

• Any new products developed by VTI during your three-years in Super Trader II (this excludes products from outside vendors).

• Dr. Tharp’s personal consulting and coaching time: reviewing and approving your business plan and your systems, monitoring your trading, and continued monitoring of your timeline and weekly progress reports.

• Access to all VTI workshops—those included in Super Trader I as well as all of our technical workshops.

• The ability to review recordings of VTI technical workshops at our facilities. We usually record every technical workshop. 

• Access to the Super Trader online collaboration database.

Program Cost

• $30,000, less any discounts available for an early completion of Super Trader I.

• You may obtain an extension for trade monitoring and to attend more workshops for $7,500 per year; however, we expect this phase of the program to take less than three years to complete.

The VTI mission is to help others transform, which we do primarily through a financial metaphor. Most of our Super Traders say that their psychological transformations were worth the price of the entire program and the trading/financial part was a bonus. We wouldn’t be happy with the program if they didn’t say that.

We designed the program around the core elements that Dr. Tharp’s research has proven must be mastered in order to trade at the highest levels: transforming self, treating your trading as a business, and developing trading systems that fit you.

Trading is 100% psychological: it is entirely about your beliefs, mental states, and mental strategies. Because trading is entirely psychological, any unresolved psychological issues will show up in aspects of your trading. This is why the psychological work phase typically takes the longest time to complete.

We have also seen that successful traders treat trading like a business. Treating trading as a business instead of a hobby (as most traders treat it) ensures a discipline, structure, and professional approach that fosters consistent and profitable trading. Anyone serious about starting a business can write a good business plan. 

Finally, to trade well, traders have to use positive expectancy systems that fit them well.  Doing so requires a thorough understanding of what kind of systems fit you, the parts of a trading system, and the systems development process. 

The Five Steps

Dr. Tharp has taken the core elements for successful trading and developed a five-step process for the Super Trader Program spread out over Super Trader I and Super Trader II. Super Trader I covers the first two steps; Super Trader II covers the last three. To graduate the program, you must complete all five components to Dr. Tharp’s satisfaction.

Step 1 requires you to have a thorough understanding of Tharp Think. This includes the information contained in both Super Trader and Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom. You must also learn the Tharp Concepts and know all of the terms in our glossary—both of which can be found on our web site. In addition to these basic tenets, you must become proficient in the basics of position sizing™ strategies  by playing the Position Sizing Game, taking the Position Sizing e-Learning Course and passing the self-test in the Definitive Guide to Position Sizing Strategies.

Step 2 focuses on your personal psychology. As you already have attended the Peak Performance 101 Workshop, you immediately go through the Peak Performance Home Study Course if you have not done so already. Dr. Tharp has written a set of sixteen Super Trader lessons that take you beyond the Peak Performance Home Study Course and help you explore your psychology more thoroughly. We also ask you to read several non-VTI books that focus on the spirit and self.

During this step of the program, you will attend our remaining psychological workshops: Advanced Peak Performance 202, Peak Performance 203 (The Happiness Workshop), and the Oneness Awakening Workshop. The next step is to complete Libby Adams’ 28-day course.

When you have completed the sixteen psychological lessons to Dr. Tharp’s approval and can document five major issues that have changed for you through the program, the psychological aspect of your trading transformation will be complete. Does this mean that you only have five transformations in your life? No, but once you’ve documented five, we feel you should be able to handle other things that come up during your trading.

In Super Trader II, you work on the third step of the program: creating a handbook for your trading business. The Blueprint for Trading Success Workshop provides a basic template for you to follow. While we used to require a traditional business plan, some Super Trader students started presenting their business plan materials in personal and creative ways. They actually enjoyed reading their plans because they were rich with their dreams and plans. This new business handbook format is now a requirement.  

Step 4 is where you get a full understanding of the key factors in system design. The How to Develop a Winning Trading System that Fits You Home Study Course and the corresponding workshop, as well as our more advanced strategy workshops, help you create at least three systems that fit your beliefs, meet your criteria for trading them, fit different market types, and are non-correlated.  Before you can begin to trade these systems with full position sizes, you need to know or estimate the SQN® score of each system in each market type before Dr. Tharp approves you trading each system.

In Step 5, you learn how to manage your trading mistakes. Once you determine the R-multiple value of each mistake you make over a one-year period of trading, you learn how not to repeat those mistakes so you can meet your one-year trading objectives.  Once you have demonstrated proficiency at trading at a high efficiency level (at least 95% in three systems) for a sustained period (more than 100 trades), you can graduate from the program.

To be considered a true Super Trader, you must complete all five steps. This may take up to six years depending on your background, how much time you allocate to your work, and your commitment level. 

From a prior Super Trader:

"By being in the Super Trader program, attending all your workshops and having private consultations, I know that I never have to fear burn-out again. Also my trading has improved dramatically with my win-loss ratio improving from 2 to 1, to 5 to 1 and the number of losing days each month has come down to 4 from 14.

 

"In fact, I was able to make the cost of the program in the first week after my consultation with you. One of the great by-products of the program has been the improvement of my personal life. The program is really a journey in self-improvement which never ends. The Super Trader Program is a must for the beginning trader as well as the experienced trader. In fact, it is a must for anybody who is serious about trading and improving themselves."—Kevin Thomas, London, England

The cost of the Super Trader program may seem steep—that is, until you consider the value of the products and services that the program provides.  Here is a list of what you get as a Super Trader: 

1. Every core Van Tharp Institute product.

• The Peak Performance Home Study Course

• How to Develop a Winning Trading System That Fits You Home Study Course

• The Definitive Guide to Position Sizing Strategies

• Business Planning for Traders Program

• Introduction to Position Sizing Strategies Elearning course

• And several others

2.  Attendance at every public Van Tharp Institute workshop.

You are permitted to attend every public workshop we present during your three years in Super Trader II. Usually in a given year, we present about twenty workshops, and you have three years to come to all of them. In Super Trader I, you are permitted to attend all of the Peak Performance workshops (101, 202, and 203), the Blueprint workshop, and the Systems Development workshop as many times as you like during your enrollment period.   

3. Attendance at exclusive Super Trader workshops. 

Specifically, this includes the annual Super Trader Summit. It also includes the Super Trader TurboCharge workshop and any new Van Tharp Institute workshops that are usually presented first to Super Traders only. 

4.  Access to the Super Trader online collaboration database.

VTI employee, R.J. Hixson, has completed Super Trader I and heads up the online database where Super Trader students share files and collaborate on various projects including trading systems.. They also communicate trading ideas, post valuable forms or information, and keep up to date with the new ideas that seem to pour in on a regular basis.

5. Dr. Tharp’s personal consulting and coaching.

This is a large part of the value of the program.  Over the span of the Super Trader Program, Van spends a number of hours with each Super Trader reviewing and advising them on the following materials:

• The sixteen psychological lessons

• Your business plan

• Trading system ideas, development, and approval

• Trading logs and mistake management

• Weekly/quarterly progress reports

With all the above mentioned products and services, the total value of the entire Super Trader Program is well over $120,000.  This should make the program costs seem significantly less than they may have up front. 

Until 2011, the program cost $50,000 and Super Trader students signed up for a two-year commitment.  Now the full program (both Super Trader I and II) can cost you less, $45,000. And you will have more time to complete the program—up to four years if you like.  See the timeline comparisons above for details.

If you have as little as $200,000 in equity to invest, you could make up the cost of the program in terms of more consistent and profitable results in two years. All you’d have to do is increase your returns by 10% of your base capital each year, and you’d pay for the program.

One careless trading mistake on a $200,000 account could cost you $20,000 or more. This program instills in you a discipline to eliminate such mistakes and, thus, will pay for itself many times over. Furthermore, average investors with $200,000 could lose $50,000 easily in bear market conditions. But as a Super Trader student, you’ll develop a full-scale trading business plan that will help decrease your risk exposure and make profits instead—even in bear markets.

A four-year education at a top institution can easily cost you as much as $60,000 a year. Yet the value of that education doesn’t even come close to the value of the Super Trader Program. It’s an investment in your career and in your life!

You’ll be one of the very few people in the world that get personal access to and private consulting with Dr. Tharp. Van could make a lot of money consulting with banks and fund managers, but he prefers to work with individual traders who are truly committed to being their best.  Your total investment for the entire program is a lot less than what we could charge just for Van’s personal consulting time alone.

The first trader to sign up for Super Trader Program in the mid-90s made $50,000 within the first two months of being in the program, which significantly eclipsed his program cost (which was much lower then). The original Super Trader program had only half of the product and workshop offerings that are available now. If he was that successful with only those products and services, think about how much more profitable you could be today!

The Super Trader Summit

We hold one Super Trader Summit each year that includes presentations on psychological journeys, business plans, systems, and technical innovations by Super Trader students.  Guest speakers often join for presentations in person or by webinar.  Everyone in Super Trader I, Super Trader II, and Super Trader Post Graduate can attend this annual event usually held the first week in December.  (Super Trader Post-Graduates have graduated from the Super Trader program and continue trader training with the Van Tharp Institute.)

While we fill our workshop room to capacity currently at the Summit, we might have to turn some people away at some point in time in the future. To help minimize the chances for this, the Super Traders voted to remove the workshop room desks when that point comes and to fill the room instead with as many chairs that will fit.  At some point in the coming years, however, Super Traders wishing to attend may exceed the capacity of our workshop room; therefore, attendees will be given priority in the following manner:

1. Active Super Traders (in any of the three programs) who are presenting.
2. Guest presenters.Active Super Trader Graduate.
3. Active Super Trader II (with priority given to those who have been active the longest—since the start of the program or coming off of sabbatical).
4. Active Super Trader I (with priority given to those who have been active the longest).

The Super Trader TurboCharge Workshop

This is a three-day Oneness workshop designed to increase your level of consciousness.  It is open to everyone who is active in one of our programs, but seating is limited to 20 Super Traders. Attendees are given priority in the following manner:

1. Active Super Trader Graduates.
2. Active Super Trader II (with priority given to those who have been active the longest).
3. Active Super Trader I (with priority given to those who have been active the longest).

New Van Tharp Institute Workshops

Super Traders are given priority to attend new workshops. Since they could easily fill one up, we tend to offer them at special times during the summer and/or adjacent to the Super Trader Summit.

New workshops are open to anyone active in any of our programs, anyone on the psychological completion plaque who is not active in our programs on a paid basis, and to the extent there is room, regular VTI clients. Super Traders will be given priority at new workshops in the following manner:

1. Inactive Super Traders on the psychological completion plaque (on a paid basis).
2. Active Super Traders who respond by the cutoff date with the following priority:
   1. Active Super Trader Post-Graduates (This is a continuation program for those who finish I and II).
   2. Active Super Trader II (with priority given to those who have been active the longest).
   3. Active Super Trader I (with priority given to those who have been active the longest).

Video Recordings of Technical Workshops

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The following table shows the costs of the new Super Trader program compared to the previous program.  Note that the new program costs depend on the timeline that the student completes Super Trader I

We have had students in the program with full-time jobs motivated enough to achieve the objectives of Super Trader I within one year. This new program allows them three years to complete Super Trader II, and it costs them $5K less than the old two-year program. The more time and effort you put in to complete Super Trader I ahead of schedule, the more cost-effective the entire program is for you.

VTI guarantees all of our products and workshops; however, we provide no refunds and no guarantees for the Super Trader Program. Why?  We have two reasons.  First, you should only apply for the Super Trader Program once you are certain of the quality of our services. Most commonly, traders enroll in the program only after they have completed a home study course and attended one or more workshops.  They have experienced the quality of our programs first-hand and have no doubts about the value we deliver in our training.  Second, Dr. Tharp only wants to coach people who are completely committed to becoming great traders. It can be difficult to judge someone’s true level of commitment before admittance to the program.  If you feel like you need to have a refund policy, the Super Trader program isn’t for you just yet—or maybe it’s not for you at all.

That being said, we know that life happens, and we try to take that into account during your participation in any of our longer-term programs. If you need to take time off from working on your trading, we make allowances for that called sabbaticals. Sabbaticals must be submitted in writing at least two weeks prior to your requested start date. Dr. Tharp will approve or disapprove all sabbaticals applications submitted.

We are always available to help you in your journey to trading success—when you do your part. When you enroll in the Super Trader Program, you commit to a significant investment of your time and money. It is then up to you how you delegate your time. If spend your time doing other things instead of working on yourself or your systems, you are responsible for that choice and its consequences. Activities outside the focus area of commitment to the Super Trader Program are not considered an acceptable reason for taking a sabbatical.

Acceptable Reasons for Sabbatical

• You want to stop the program, but you have not made all of your payments. The new program offers two periods when you could stop: 1) prior to the second payment for Super Trader I and 2) prior to committing to Super Trader II.

• Serious health problem for you or an immediate family member.

• Death in your immediate family (spouse or child).

• A natural disaster.

• Birth of a child (for a limited period). If this is a possibility, please let us know when you apply for the program.

• Special circumstances with Dr. Tharp’s approval.

• At Dr. Tharp’s recommendation.
  

Unacceptable Reasons for Sabbaticals

• You want to take a vacation.

• You have relatives visiting.

• You want to take time off to do some other program.

• You decide you are not committed to trading or the program.  We do not allow students to take a sabbatical for this reason, but you do have two points in the program when you can de-commit from it.

• You have one of the legitimate reasons listed above but you didn’t tell Dr. Tharp or his staff about it until the event already happened.

Can anyone join the Super Trader program?
The program is not a good fit for everyone. From a practical standpoint, you need to have sufficient capital for the program to make financial sense. In addition, because of the intense psychological nature of the program, you must totally believe that you are responsible for your trading results and be eager to work on yourself. That’s why attendance at either the Peak Performance 101 Workshop or the Oneness Awakening Workshop is a prerequisite for the program. Dr. Tharp wants to assess your receptivity to certain ideas.

The program is a lot of work and some of it is very challenging. We look for total commitment. People who are totally committed seem to reach their objectives regardless of obstacles. The no-refund policy for this program represents that the Super Traders understand total personal responsibility and total commitment.

What kind of money do I need for the Super Trader Program to make financial sense?

If you have $200,000 or more to trade, this program makes a lot of sense. You could easily save the cost of the program by avoiding a few large losses. Furthermore, you’ll probably make up the total cost of the program within a few years.

If you have $50,000 to $100,000, this program probably doesn’t make financial sense. Instead, take the time to learn about and achieve financial freedom.

Why don’t you let students attend technical workshops during the first part of the program (Super Trader I)? 

You can still attend technical workshops—for a fee.  During Super Trader I, we want you to focus on first things first.  Doing systems work or trading before you are psychologically ready means you will take more time to get through the program.  If you normally spend 20 hours a week on your psychological work, attending one workshop (about 24 in-class hours over three days—not to mention travel time!) will “cost” more than a week’s worth of work from your psychological assignments.  Not only will that lengthen the time it takes to finish the Super Trader I requirements, you’ll find your trading will suffer because you are developing systems that contain all of the biases that you have not yet overcome. We have had several people enter the Super Trader program, attend lots of technical workshops, then wonder why they can’t trade very well—all while procrastinating over the psychological assignments.  If you are truly committed to becoming a Super Trader in every sense of the term, you have to do your psychological work first. 

What does it take to graduate from the program?

There are two distinct phases of achievement for the program: completion and graduation. Completing the sixteen psychological lessons and documenting five major transformational changes in your life elevates you to “completed” status. At this point, however, you are still nowhere near graduating the program. To become a graduate, a Super Trader has to create a business handbook and have actively traded three approved trading systems at a very high efficiency level.

If I complete the program, will I be able to trade other people’s money?

What you learn in the program could help you trade other people’s money and help you manage your clients. However, the program does not teach you how to set up a money management business. Our emphasis is your psychology and efficient, mistake-free trading.

In the old Super Trader program, Dr. Tharp invested his money with the graduates. Does he still do that?

No. Van trades his own funds and manages VTI’s retirement funds. He no longer place money with others.

Is it a disadvantage to go through the program if I live outside the US?

About half the people in the Super Trader program right now live overseas. We currently have, or have had, at least four Super Traders from Australia, four from various countries in Asia, two from South American, and many from Europe. Many of our Super Traders don’t live in the US. They believe that the program is worth it.

Because frequent travel to the states may be difficult for our international clients and Super Traders, we almost always present workshops in pairs. In addition, Super Trader-only workshops are held in conjunction with the Summit.

Additionally, much of the information exchange for the program can be done by email and Skype. We now also have an online collaboration web site for the Super Traders, which is instantly available regardless of location.

We also typically hold workshops in Australia and Germany once each year.

What if something happens and someone can’t continue the program?

See the section on sabbaticals, which includes details on the two opportunities you have to leave the program should something major arise.

What if something happens to Dr. Tharp while I’m in the program?

There are risks to everything, and this is a risk you are taking.   In the event that something happened to Van, you could simply stop payments if you felt disadvantaged. We are in the process of training a new instructor and a new trading coach to help out in these circumstances. 

What if I can’t complete the program in quickly?

Our old program used to be two years. With the new program structure, Super Trader I and II should be completed, at maximum, in six years or, at minimum, in four years at a savings from the old rates. See the timeline comparisons for details.

What is your refund policy for the program?

Our workshops and products have some of the best guarantees in the business. Try a workshop or two—they have a full refund policy. Try our products—they have a full refund policy as well. If you find our products and workshop unsatisfactory, the Super Trader Program is not for you.

The Van Tharp Institute offers no guarantees or refunds for the Super Trader Program. The success of the program’s graduates has everything to do with their deep personal commitment to becoming the best and their willingness to do the work required.

We want people who are committed enough to their goals to have no need for guarantees. We also want people who are totally responsible for and totally committed to their own success.

Once you have developed your own unwavering commitment to personal excellence and are a satisfied Van Tharp Institute client, you will understand why a Super Trader guarantee is unnecessary. The Super Trader Program is for completely responsible and totally committed traders only!

If I’m interested in the Super Trader program, what do I need to do?

The first step is to attend a Peak Performance 101 Workshop or Oneness Awakening Workshop. At these workshops, Dr. Tharp meet with anyone interested to talk about the Super Trader program usually at lunch on one of the days.  If you are interested at that point, you would complete a commitment statement. We look for the depth of your commitment, the strength of your discipline, and your willingness to do the psychological work that ensures your success in this program. In addition, the program should make financial sense for you.

If you meet the entry criteria and you are ready to start, we will look for an upcoming month with an open slot. Because space is limited, you may have to wait a few months before officially starting the program. 

Thank you for your interest in the Super Trader Program.  If you have additional questions, we are ready to help by phone (919-466-0043) or by email (van@vantharp.com).

Your next step is to register for either Peak Performance 101 or Oneness Awakening. Click here to see our workshop schedule.

We look forward to your questions and wish you the very best in your trading endeavors.