How to Become a Full-Time Forex Trader?
How to become a full-time forex trader is a question tens of millions of traders ask themselves each day. Looking at retail trading statistics among online forex brokers show that an average of 75% of traders lose funds. In other words, only one out of every four succeed. The percentage of forex traders that attain sufficient yield for a living and earn a full-time forex trader income is far less than that. Some estimate that less than 2% achieve the most sacred accomplishment of trading. The numbers are not in favor of retail traders succeeding, but it remains a possibility for all if they follow the most-common rules for successful forex trading and build their strategy accordingly.
Before we look at what traders should do to become successful and grow their portfolios with consistency, let’s take a quick look at why so many fail. Avoiding those mistakes will smooth the path to earning a full-time forex trader income and place new traders in the 25% that earn a living here. From there, it will take time to reach the top 2% that mastered how to become a full-time forex trader and made forex trading their primary source of income.
Traders must avoid the following mistakes to become one of four successful traders, from where they can wok on becoming a full-time forex trader:
- Never skip the education part of forex trading. It will form the foundation of your success. Many new traders rush into trading without understanding it, then get frustrated when losing their capital.
- Do not approach forex trading with unrealistic expectations. It is not possible to trade with a small amount and earn substantial income. Some traders use high leverage without risk management to achieve the impossible and become a statistic as part of the 75% that lose funds.
- Never trade with insufficient funds. It requires capital to become a full-time forex trader. Until your account reaches the necessary size to support your goals, traders should make monthly deposits into their trading account after they have a financially successful strategy.
- Do not trust the marketing of unknown individuals or companies who try to sell you education or trading signals. You can get them for free.
Can Forex Trading Be A Full-Time Job?
Yes, it can be, and it is for tens of thousands of traders. Becoming a forex trader full-time requires knowledge, patience, discipline, capital, and time. Other requirements are a reliable and trustworthy broker, a trading strategy, sound risk management, and a monthly deposit strategy suitable to your budget. It does not matter how little you start with, as long as you start. Even $10 per month, especially with a deposit bonus, will create a habit of repetition and position traders on a lucrative path. It should be the last part of a strategy after a successful trading strategy exists. More and more full-time traders rely on automated trading solutions to ease their burden, and it became a necessity to remain competitive. Now that we covered how to be a full-time forex trader let’s cover a few aspects of the life of a full-time forex trader.
Forex Trading As A Full-Time Job
Most retail traders who rely on forex trading as a full-time job do so from the comfort of their homes. Despite working from home, it requires a dedicated and quiet place. Forex trading is one of the most demanding and stressful jobs, requires mental toughness and mastery of psychology. Anyone who wants to become a full-time forex trader must approach forex trading with the same mentality as any other profession like being a doctor, lawyer, pilot, engineer, etc. Even traders who base their portfolio entirely on expert advisors or EAs, which are automated trading solutions in the MT4 trading platform, the market leader in this category, must spend time in monitoring and fine-tuning.
It is best to follow a set schedule the same way one would do if they have to go to the office. Successful forex trading is all about good and healthy routines. Traders who do what they want, when they want, and how they want will quickly find themselves in the 75% of traders who face losses. Anyone with forex trading full-time job aspirations must understand that to succeed at it, they must treat it as a job and not as a hobby. Bad habits will result in bad trades. It is as simple as that.
Can You Make A Full-Time Living Using Forex?
Yes, you can make a full-time living using forex, but it will not happen quickly. It usually requires a decade of preparation and growing your portfolio before achieving this status. Most may find this discouraging, but not starting at all, or rushing it, will be worse than preparing for the challenging path ahead. Those who succeed will reap the rewards of full-time forex trading, which is priceless.
Life As A Full-Time Forex Trader
Many focus on the full-time forex trader strategy and ignore a dozen moving parts that need to work together for any strategy to be successful. While life as a full-time forex trader can provide rewards most professions cant, it requires a behind-the-scene effort most will never understand. Many make forex trading as a full-time job sounds easy. They preach that a few minutes per day and little capital is all you need. Social media is overcrowded with doctored screenshots of portfolios showing high volume trades and big gains from small price movements. It is known as scalping and can be prosperous, but not without an automated trading solution.
One of the most visible differences between forex trading as a full-time job and other professions is income. While all others receive their monthly salary on time each month, life as a full-time forex trader is different. There is no fixed monthly income, making stability an issue. There are months where forex traders earn a lot of funds, followed by months of minimal earnings and maybe a few losses along the way. It makes planning another important aspect of trading successfully.
Before part-time traders move to become a full-time trader, they must not only have a big enough portfolio to deliver the annual results necessary, but they must also have enough capital reserves on the side. The amount differs from trader to trader. Anywhere between six to twenty-four months of living expenses are required, depending on the risk appetite of traders. Now you begin to understand why it takes a decade or more to get ready. The worst thing for a trader is to rush into full-time trading without a capital safety net, have a few bad months, and feel pressured into getting enough return to cover living expenses. It is one of the fastest ways to lose all the capital. Most never recover and give up trading altogether. A small part-time job will ease the pressures of trading, and many full-time traders have one. Plan ahead, understand what it takes to become a full-time forex trader and start your path one trade at a time. That way, you will reach your goal of making a full-time living using forex. Anyone can achieve this if they follow the steps outlined above.