How Much Money to Trade Forex?

How much money youll need to trade forex is one of the first issues you have to address if you want to become a forex trader. Which broker you choose, trading platform, or strategy you employ are all important as well, but how much money you start with will be a colossal determinant in your ultimate success.

Not all traders are alike though, and not everyone trades the same way. A day trader may not need the same amount of money to start forex trading as a swing trader does. The amount of money you need to trade forex will also be determined by your goalsare you looking to simply grow your account, or do you seek regular income from your forex trading?

How Much Money Do I Need to Trade Forex? Why It Matters

Before going to into how much money youll need to trade forex effectively, we need to look at why this issue is even important. Does it really matter if you start an account with $100 or $3000? Yes!

One of the most significant issues new traders face is being under-capitalized. Forex brokers are guilty of fostering such an environment by offering to open accounts for at little as $5 in some casesalthough the minimum opening balance is usually about $100. (See: How to Pick a Forex Broker That is Right For You )

Lets face it, if you want to start trading, its likely because you want an income stream. Well, you arent going to have much of an income stream if you start with $100. Since very few people are patient enough to let their account grow, they will risk way too much of their capital on each trade trying to make an income, and in the process lose everything.

I am a firm believer in never risking more than 1% of capital on a single trade. If your account is $100, that means you can only risk $1 per trade. In the forex market that means you can take a one micro lot position, where each pip movement is worth about 10 cents (depending on which pair you are trading), and need to keep the risk to less than 10 pips (see Position Sizing Strategy for Forex Trading  for more on position sizing). Trading in this way, if you have a good strategy, youll average a couple dollars profit a day. While this will build your account slowly, most traders dont want to make a couple dollars a day, they want to build their account much faster and therefore will risk $10 or $20 per tradesometimes morein an attempt to turn that $100 into thousands as quickly as possible. This may work for a time, but usually results in an account balance of $0.

The other problem with forex trading with such a small amount of money is that it offers almost no flexibility in the style of trading you undertake. If you deposit $100, and follow proper risk management protocols, you can only risk 10 pips if you take a 1 micro lot position. You pretty much have to be an active day trader. With a 10 pip stop there is no way you can swing trade or invest, since youll easily be stopped out if you try to hold out for long-term gains.

Traders are far better off to save up more money before opening a forex account, and thus adequately funding their account so they can trade properly.

How Much Money Do I Need to Day Trade Forex?

If you want to day trade forex, I recommend opening an account with at least $3000, preferably $5000.

With a $3000 account and risking no more than 1% of your account on each trade$30 or lessyou can still make about $70+ per day. With a $5000 account, you can risk up to $50 per trade, and therefore you can reasonably make an average profit of $100+ per day.

This is possible because lets say you risk about 10 pips per trade, so you can take a position of about 5 mini lots ($1 per pip movement), which will lose you $50 or make you about $75 if your average gain is 15 pips. Of course you wont win every trade, but if you win 3 out of 5, youve made yourself $125 for the day. Some days you make more, and some days you make less.

So with a $5000 account you can start to create a decent stream of daily income. If you allow the account to grow to grow to $10,000 you can make roughly $250 per day.

It is possible to start an account with a smaller amount, such as $500, but if doing so make a commitment to grow the account for at least a year before withdrawing any money. If you do this, and dont risk more than 1% of your account on each trade,  you can make about $12 per day to begin with, which over the course of a year will bring your account up to several thousand dollars.

For more information on how much money you can make as a day trader, see: How Much Money Can I Make as a Day Trader. You may also be interested in How to Become a Day Trader .

How Much Money Do I Need to Swing Trade Forex?

Swing trading is when you hold positions for a couple days to a couple weeks. This style of forex trading is suited to people who dont like looking at their charts constantly or can only trade in their spare time.

With swing trading, youre trying to capture longer term moves and therefore may need to hold positions through some gyrations before the market actually gets to your profit target area. If you risk 1% of your account, that means youll often be trading with at least a 50 pip stop, and attempting to make 75 pips+ on your winning trades. If you go for bigger gains, such as 300 pips, your trades will likely last a week or more and your stop will likely need to be about 100 pips.

If you select trades that have a 50 pip stop, the absolute minimum you can open an account with is $500. This is because you can risk $5 per trade, and take a miro lot (about $0.10 per pip movement) with a 50 pip stop is $5. Since trades will only occur every few days, you likely only to make about $10 or $12 per week. At this rate it could take a number of years to get the account up to several thousand dollars.

If you start with a $5000, you can make a about about $100 to $120 per week, which is more of an income stream. With a $10,000 account you can likely snag a $200+ per week. Depending on where you live, this may serve as an adequate side income.

How Much Money Do I Need to Trade Forex Final Thoughts

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It is important to be realistic about what you expect from your forex trading. How much money you deposit plays a crucial role in how much you will likely make if you follow proper risk management. If you are willing to grow your account slowly, then you can likely begin with as little as $500, but starting with at least a $1000 is recommended no matter what style of trading you do. If you want to make an income from your forex trading then I recommend opening an account with at least $3000 for day trading, or $5000 for swing trading.

Most unsuccessful traders risk much more than 1% of their account on a single trade; this isnt recommended. It is possible for even great traders and great strategies to witness a series of losses. If you risk 10% of your account and lose 6 trades in a row (which can happen) you have significantly depleted your capital and now you have to trade flawlessly just to get back to even. If you risk only 1% of your account on each trade, 6 losses is nothing. Almost all you capital is intact, you are able to recoup your losses easily, and are back to making a profit in no time.

The above scenarios assume that your average profit will be about 1.5 times your risk, and that youll win about 60 percent of the time. This is not always easy to accomplish consistently. Your personal trading style will largely determine your profitability or lack of it. Though how much money you trade forex with will play a significant in your ability to meet your trading goals.

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