Whether you’re a novice on the trading floor or consider yourself a seasoned professional in the forex trading sphere, when it comes to turning your part-time trading hobby into a full-time occupation, it can be surprisingly difficult to separate fantasy from reality in regards to your expected income and working hours.
In this post, therefore, our friends over at Learn to Trade are helping to iron out these differences – swapping unrealistic expectations for achievable goals and defining how you can get started on your road to a successful forex career.
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Abandon unrealistic expectations
Littered with stories of success, the world’s most liquid market can be a daunting place – for both the trading beginner and veteran trader alike. First and foremost, therefore, before putting down your deposit on the Rolls Royce you’ve always had your eye on, it’s important to consider the associated risks of investing your time and money in a full-time trading career.
As is the case in most industries, the majority of individual traders start their journey with a small amount of capital – although the more money you have, the more money you can make. However, the difference with forex trading is that, while with most professions you earn a set amount of money at the end of every month, in the forex industry there will undoubtedly be months where you see losses – so don’t be disheartened when, at the end of the month, your account balance is showing a minus. However, in order to combat the fear of potentially significant losses, ensure you have a secondary source of income and aren’t reliant on the sometimes turbulent currency market.
Most importantly, when it comes to preparing yourself for a fledgling forex career, rid your mind of unrealistic expectations and weigh up both the positives and negatives, always assuming, for example, that there could be months on end where you face losses before building even a small amount of capital.
Prepare to protect
As with any self-employed occupation, you get out of it what you put into it. Due to the volatility of the market, this sector can bring with it a potentially highly-stress lifestyle, forcing you to dedicate large amounts of time to trades which you can’t always be sure will succeed. Ultimately, however, this work ethic will see you reap the rewards, so long as you ensure you prepare yourself for the poorer outcomes.
Firstly, ensure you create an emergency fund that includes a sum of money that you’re able to consult in an instance of illness or other unfortunate circumstances – this will act as a safety net and allow you to sleep easy knowing that both you and your family are safe in the case of an unexpected emergency event. Additionally, and most importantly, don’t be tempted to invest all your capital into your trading account – be smart and keep some money aside for necessary bills, food and living costs. This will help you to diversify your income later on in life if you decide to utilise the skills you’ve learned from the forex market and transfer them into another area of business.
Ultimately, earning a living from forex trading doesn’t just happen overnight and will naturally require you to invest both time and money upskilling yourself before you have the confidence and capital behind you to take it to the next step. So, work hard, research thoroughly and trade responsibly and a full-time, prosperous trading career could be within your reach.
Author bio:
John James is a content writer for Learn To Trade, the foreign exchange education and learning specialists – offering a range of training courses to help people understand the currency trading market, as well as its opportunities and risks.
