2 Critical Steps to Getting Started Day Training Trading Forex for a Living by Walter Madenford

Over the past few years, more and more people have chosen to jump onto the Forex-profit bandwagon. And while some are able to consistently make profits and quit their day jobs, the majority of forex traders either lose money or make enough to pay just a few bills. But what differentiates the elite forex traders from the rest aren’t the huge bankrolls they have, or the steel-trap stomachs for trading they have. Choose to believe it or not, the critical component is your knowledge.

While I can’t guarantee your success in Forex, I can say that the best investment you can make is the investment of knowledge. If you apply the principles below, you’ll be well on your way to advancing towards the professional day trader level, where you can profit consistently. So, let’s begin.

Step 1 is to start saving your money. It appears quite obvious, yet it’s a hard step to achieve. In order to attempt to day trade or trade professionally, you’re going to be needing a bankroll that can handle the ups and downs of normal trading. While I don’t know your current spending and saving habits, I would hope that you’re not having to live paycheck to paycheck, and that you’ve been able to put money away.

Your goal should be to save at least six months of your salary, and ideally one years worth before you start trading full time. This may sound above and beyond what you feel like makes sense, but remember that nothing worthwhile is easy. It’s often easier said than done to cut back and learn to save instead of spend. Be aware that the larger your bankroll, the more money you’ll be able to risk without risking a large percentage of your entire bankroll.

Step 2 is to get an education. You must first learn something about the market you wish to trade before you can profit from it. And I don’t mean to suggest that you need a formal education or that you need to understand advanced economic principles before you can get started. The basics are enough; how buying and selling works, why the forex market exists, what are currency pairs, and the like.

There are a ton of free resources that are great, and there are resources that aren’t worth the paper the information is printed on. In your hunt for information online, you’ll find that some websites over-deliver. Learn as much as you can, and don’t be afraid to invest in courses, systems and plans as you start on your long-term forex education journey. Investments now of a few hundred dollars can save you thousands of dollars, so think of this phase as the investment phase.

There are plenty of good trading strategies out there, but realize that the one element that makes traders successful is that they will cut their losses early and let their winning trades run. This can turn out to be more difficult than planner, but is truly the key to consistent profits.