Trading for a living
Internet, online brokers and leveraged financial instruments have made it possible for regular people to trade for a living. You no longer need to be rich to be able to trade for a living. Anyone can save the money needed to trade for a living as long as they are willing to work hard to get it. As little as USD 10 000 can be enough to make a living as a trader. Some traders stated with even less than that,
The less money you start with the harder it is to succeed and the more risk you have to assume. This is why we recommend that you save up at least USD10 000 before you try to trade for a living.
Is trading for you
Trading for a living is not for everyone. It is not an easy way to make a living and it is not a good choice if you are looking to “get rich quick”. Trading for a living requires a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of effort to learn what you need to know to become a successful trader and it requires even more effort to stay informed about everything that happens in the market. You need to stay informed to remain successful.
Do not try trading for a living if you:
- Think it is an easy way to make a living.
- Are unwilling to work long hours every day.
- Are unable to stick to a trading strategy. Traders to not gamble with their success.
- Think you are going to get rich.
- Think it is easy to learn how to trade successfully.
- Are unable to stay focused on your trading.
You do not have to be a rocket scientist to be able to trade for a living. Most people are smart enough to make a living trading. The real question is not if your smart enough but rather if you are motivated, disciplined and focus enough to become a successful trader. You need to be willing to learn a lot before you start trading if you want to become successful.
You can learn everything you want to know for free online. You just need to be willing to take the time to read and understand all the information you need to learn if you want to trade for a living. This is a good place to start if you want to learn how to trade for a living.
The demo account is your friend
The best tool you have available when you start trading is a demo account. Many brokers offer demo accounts for free. A demo account works exactly like a regular account but allows you to trade with virtual money. You do not have to risk any real money.
The demo account allows you to make all beginners mistakes without losing any money. Everyone makes mistakes while learning and this allows you to minimize the effect of those mistakes.
You should trade using your demo account until you have become skilled enough to consistently make a profit while trading. This does not mean that every trade should produce a profit. Byt you should earn more than you lose each week.
The most common mistakes that new traders do is to start trading for real money too early. Take your time and learn to trade successfully before you start trading using real money.
The demo account will remain a valuable tool once you started trading for real money. It allows you to test new strategies 100% riskfree.
Choosing a broker
There are numerous different brokers that you can choose to register with. Some of them are better than others but most of them are an adequate choice if you want to start trading for a living. Which broker you should choose will largely depend on the trading strategy you want to use. Different brokers offer different instruments for you to trade. You, therefore, have to choose a broker that offers the right instruments based on your preferred assets.
You should always choose a broker that charges low fees and have a small spread. High fees make it very hard to make money trading. Your profits go to the broker instead of going to you.
You should also always chose a broker that offers you a demo account that you can use to train and try new strategies.
You will find reviews of some of the best brokers in the menu
Prepare to fail
Remember that far from everyone who tries to trade for a living end up being successful. Most people fail. Only about 2 in 10 becomes successful. The odds of you becoming successful is a lot higher than that is a lot higher if you are willing to work hard, learn as much as possible and stay disciplined. Success is never guaranteed and it is therefore important to have a plan of what you will do if you fail.
Make sure that you do not lose more money than you can afford. That you do not lose too much money to pay the rent and utilities, Hopefully, you will succeed but take precautions so that you will be okay even if you fail.
This article was last updated on: September 14, 2020