dandman

Hard work, discipline, and control over your emotions in stressful situations are good qualities for an investor. I've heard it helps in the armed forces too.

Start networking now, and do/read/research as much as you can as early as you can. I'm not sure how, but you may want to look for portfolio managers with military backgrounds and just ask to talk to them for guidance on what to do and who to meet. Before you retire, you should be developing these networks into friendships, by trying to communicate briefly but regularly with the people best positioned to help you. Then, when you are about to retire, you will be partly an insider.

The field is tough to break into. But I do think that military types who demonstrate good situational awareness of markets do get the respect of the investor community.