How much does the average forex trader make?

[angelnish]

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering how much the average full-time forex trader makes. You can express this amount either as a percent return on their investment, or a dollar amount. I realize that there is likely swings in their return, but I just mean on average over the course of the year.

What kind of initial deposit is required to successfully trade full-time and make a decent living at it?

Finally, is there a large difference in return between day-traders and swing-traders?

The reason I ask is because I will be done college at the end of this month, and I would really prefer to trade forex full-time rather than get a regular office job if it is at all feasible. I've been trading forex in a demo account for over 2 months now and I've had relatively good results. I started with a $10,000 balance and some days I can be up $1,000 or more... of course I got a margin call and went broke once, but I've learned from my mistakes. I plan on spending at least the summer honing my forex skills, but I was hoping I could make this a viable alternative to the average mind-numbing desk job some day.

Thanks for the input!

 

[pboyles]

The average forex trader loses money. Get a proper job and forget about trading forex for a living.

 

[natureboy]

To learn to trade, it takes time. Its a continual process too. It only takes one trade to lose it all. Somehow that fact can slip out of awareness.. "at least the summer", won't be long enough. Get a job, dedicate your free time to learning trading - give yourself 3-5 years to be able to make money consistently. focus on swing trading.

Your initial deposit is meaningless compared with how much you make... haha... pboyles said it - avg is losing. Trading is a very risky way to make a living. Better to think of it as your high ROR part of your portfolio, which you develop over time.

Its not a normal job. You are totally responsible. No one else directing your behavior. Everything on YOU.

You can learn trading, it takes time and money and persistence.

Joe Lewis - not average - made billions in FX. Avg - come in with big expectations go home broke. I can only speak for myself, but i'll tell you I see some down to breakeven months, so if you need that money each month, you need to be very careful. Its possible to make huge returns in FX, sure. Honestly i don't hear many people talk about their profit/returns

 

[chinabean]

The average forex trader loses money. Get a proper job and forget about trading forex for a living.

lol did someone get out of the wrong side of bed hahahaha

I do agree though, too many people see trading as an "easy" way to make money.

 

[chinabean]

For what it's worth, I'd keep the mind-numbing day job and trade on the side. If (or hopefully when) you get to the point where your LIVE account is consistently increasing and the overall sum is one that you can afford to take some losses without it affecting your standard of living, then quit your job if you want. That probably means an account above 200k i'd say. $10k whilst not an amount that if lost would ruin your life forever is still a reasonable amount of money therefore, I really do advise you not to "pile in" to trading full-time until you have your trading locked down which in all honesty will likely take a few years.....a summer of honing one's technique is probably a tad ambitious.

Also, unless you're pretty well-off, you don't want to be trading for living until you actually know you can otherwise you invite pressure onto yourself. For a start, with $10k, you'd probably have to over-leverage to get a decent amount of $p/l, 2nd you don't want to be in a position where you are literally trading for your life - it should be a passion that you do because you love not because if you don't make any money this week/month you can't do the things you need to do.

That said, if your reasonably well off and $10k doesn't matter to you then f**k it, go for it!

 

[BeginnerJoe]

I do agree though, too many people see trading as an "easy" way to make money.

Them beeches moved it 60 pips this morning just to take my 30 cents. I mean, like, are they desperate or what ? It's easy when they know how.

 

[chinabean]

lol, you should feel honoured, people move markets for you!

 

[ph_trader]

there is nothing wrong with taking up forex trading as a career, but like what other veteran traders say, its takes TIME to learn forex and make a decent buck out of trading, its like a double bladed sword pointed at you most of the time if you lack the knowledge, just a suggestion, try learning forex in your free time while taking up a real/day job, start as a part time trader and build your knowledge from there, imagine trying to study the forex market in a cycle of one year, but who knows its a land of opportunities

 

[duderex]

Its really depend on how they trade

 

[NVP]

This is a risky market, if one not good at these dealings. Only experts can earn a good profit out of this. It depends how much one makes on the trading. So if you are good in this then only try to go in it. We are launching a new site for people out have lost money in such type of things, to help them solve their debt related problem.

get penny

catchy title........not sure Debt collectors can help idiot traders get money back though ....

 

[NVP]

real traders live, breath, sleep and eat trading ....24/7 .....

they cannot do anything else and will not do anything else ....there re no other alternatives

read the market wizard series........in there we see a few successful Traders.....and also the superfew who live it ......24/7 ......screw family life....screw trivial persuits and other things .......trading is all

now.... have you got what it takes ?

N

 

[NVP]

Its really depend on how they trade

well.......I always suggest that aiming to be profitable is a good goal for traders

 

[angelnish]

well.......I always suggest that aiming to be profitable is a good goal for traders