Table of Contents
- The main costs to consider to start trading Forex
- Brokers minimum deposits
- Make sure to start with proper education
- What about trading platform costs?
- How much money do you need to obtain funded trading accounts?
- How much does it cost to purchase trading hardware?
- How to minimize costs when starting trading
The idea of becoming a full-time trader who earns a living from trading Forex sounds appealing. And while it may be just a dream for many at the moment, a fair number of people actually live this reality. What does it take to get there? How to start trading in 2023? How much money do you need? Let’s delve deeper.
The main costs to consider to start trading Forex
Well, Forex trading is not as cheap to start with as it may seem to be. Even though ‘experts’ in social media assert that it’s possible to start trading with just $10 and an iPhone on hand, it’s far from the truth. You will hardly make significant profits to live the ‘Forex lifestyle’. Most likely, you will lose your $10 in one trade, and then you will have to start from the very beginning. Forex trading is a serious business.
How to become a trader? For sure, your appearance in the arena should be well-planned and properly calculated. That will give you a clear understanding of how much money you need for the job. Below, we will spell out the details of your potential trading costs. That way you can realize how much money you need to start Forex trading. And we are talking about the least amount of money needed as possible!
Brokers minimum deposits
When you start Forex trading, first, you should consider the minimum deposit that brokers will accept. This amount ranges from broker to broker. Actually, it depends on where brokers are based, their regulations, and leverage.
In a perfect world, you’d like to find a regulated broker who would gladly offer you a live trading account without a minimum deposit of $300. In fact, you will find many unregulated/offshore brokers offering $10 deposits with abnormal leverage. Sure enough, these brokers will be just taking your money.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that you should start trading stocks on a demo account first and do so for quite some time. Demo accounts are free to open and simulate real market conditions, but with fake money.
The reason for the training on a demo account is credible. Without an in-depth understanding of lot sizes and risk management, you’re going to lose your money before you even know it. Following risk management rules, such as planning your trades, having realistic profit expectations, using a stop loss, and limiting your use of leverage, will not only protect you from losses but also make you very profitable in the long haul.
After all, a trader with substantial profits may end up losing everything in just one trade without a strict risk management strategy. Remember, even if you start with $100 at first, most likely you will lose them. However, once you have mastered the profession of the trader, we hope that you will apply proper risk management and won’t lose your trading funds from the get-go. Notice, that minimum broker deposits aren’t less than $300 – $500!
Make sure to start with proper education
Some traders like to learn from courses while others prefer to learn from markets. Unless you’re looking for free online channels, most likely you will have to pay for your trading education to start trading Forex off on the right foot. We’d recommend not to overlook free online resources, such as video tutorials on YouTube. They are going to teach you the basics of trading. At least, you will realize what you’re getting yourself into. You may even understand that trading isn’t what you want to do for the rest of your life. One must agree, it’s better to realize it for free.
Once you’ve learned trading basics, including candlestick patterns, it’s time to get really invested in the idea of online trading. At this point, it makes sense to invest in a course. Luckily, you can find plenty of them out there. They cover all kinds of different trading topics, including crypto trading.
However, it’s worth being cautious. Many of these courses are just rehashed versions of free online content. In fact, most ‘experts’ are just unprofitable traders eager to make money from their failed ventures. It’s hard to consider it a good investment, isn’t it?
So, how do you choose good content? You need to see a verified track record from the third-party website. As for the price point for trading education, it can vary a great deal. We’d recommend you not ever spend more than $600-$700 on a trading course. Remember, there is no secret strategy within the markets. No one has something to sell that you wouldn’t be able to find online for free.
What about trading platform costs?
In the next stage, you can get a trading platform for free through a brokerage account. The finest trading platforms provide low fees and also make sure to limit gamification tactics that may lead to overtrading. They also offer a vast array of investment options, advanced trading tools, and a wide range of educational materials. The majority of brokers offer traders to use MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 as their trading platforms.
Some brokers even offer self-made platforms, but they may vary in quality. Many retail traders prefer to use TradingView, and then switch to MetaTrader to execute the positions. The reason for this is simple. TradingView is designed with all the user experience perks that MetaTrader does not have. So, if you feel like it’s necessary, you may want to invest in the highest functionality as well. To that end, the costs associated with trading platforms are approx. $30 per month in.
How much money do you need to obtain funded trading accounts?
The fourth cost we’d like to discuss here is the cost of obtaining trading capital. Even though $1500 is enough to do Forex trading, it’s not enough to earn any kind of decent profits. Let’s see what the numbers say. An average return a very profitable and successful trader may get is around 4% monthly. Trust us – this is a figure to strive for and dream about. Thus, on an account size of $1500, this will be a $60 profit per month. It’s obvious that if you’d like to get decent profits, you need to have at least $10,000 in trading capital behind you. Of course, most people don’t have this level of capital to invest. And that is where prop firm funding steps in!
FXCI is ready to fund their traders with up to $200,000 in real funds, in exchange for a percentage of profit. It’s easy to understand: traders’ profit is our profit.
With us, you can obtain a funded trading account if you’re sure you can be disciplined and consistent. This is the cost that you need to consider. The lack of trading capital is one of the reasons why traders give up when the only thing they really need in this case is to proceed with executing their system on a larger trading capital.
How much does it cost to purchase trading hardware?
You may think that as a trader you might need numerous monitors and a state-of-the-art computer, just like it’s shown in the movies. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. If we’re talking about retail Forex trading, you don’t need to purchase any additional screens or computers, unless you have no access to the markets through your current hardware. If you run into problems while downloading trading software, don’t despair! The solution might be logging into a VPN. The one that’s suitable for trading purposes will hardly cost you more than $20 per month.
How to minimize costs when starting trading
The greatest cost you might face as an active trader is fees. Expenses on the Internet, proper software, and training courses could also be high, but not as high as the cost of commissions.
Thus, it’s always best to shop around to find the prop trading firm. With FXCI, you never take unnecessary risks. You can actually dive into your trading journey during the evaluation challenge. Once you pass it, you’ll get funded! From our experience, you’ll have to have at least $10,000 on hand to get started with Forex trading. With $10,000 – $200,000 at your disposal, you will be able to spend on trading platform costs, invest in proper education, and use prop firm funding. Are you ready to obtain your first funded trading account?
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