Anyone-Small Investment-Trading for a living

[ahefner33]

Hello.

I was just wondering if any others could share their experiences(if any) if they started with a small investment and now trade that investment for a living? When I mean small I mean around 5,000 or less (US dollars).

Most often you hear people advising others to never start trading until you have so much capital to trade with. Im looking for the ones on the other side of this.

Anyways, I'm interested in others stories. Sorry to the mods if this isn't posted in the correct thread.

Hefner

[Yarcofin]

$5,000 seems like way too small of an amount to me, if you anticipate trading to be your full-time income and you want a relatively decent amount of money, like $30,000 per year. Keep in mind that if you trade for a living, you will need to withdraw money to pay for food, rent, etc each month at least. The more you withdraw, the less your account can grow. All of a sudden you need to make 10%+ on your account every month just to survive... what happens if you have a bad month?

It's enough to start with part-time just as a hobby, then once you grow your account enough maybe you can start trading full-time.

Or if you did absolutely demand to start with $5,000 only as a full-time trader, you would need at least a few month's worth of extra cash to cover all your expenses without a job until you got going, preferrably several year's worth.

[4xStar]

Originally Posted by ahefner33

Hello.

I was just wondering if any others could share their experiences(if any) if they started with a small investment and now trade that investment for a living? When I mean small I mean around 5,000 or less (US dollars).

With Forex it is possible, IMO. The first 3-6 months the goal would be to preserve the capital and learn the ropes.
But let's say you get to where you consistently make an average of 10 pips a day, or 200 pips a month. It doesn't sound like much and most traders in here should be doing a lot better than that. But, the point is if that is all you make .. well with a mini account, that is $200 per month, but as your confidence & account grow, you can place 2 mini positions at a time and now you have $400 a month. Double position size again (remember we are assuming your method to make an average of 10 pips per day works consistently) and you have $800 per month. Trade a full lot and you have $2k per month. Two full lots = $4k per month, you are getting close to an amount where you could live & grow the account.

Point is, with Forex it is all about finding what works for you to make money consistently .. whether it is 100-800 pips per trade as OzFX does, or 3-10 pips per trade as Tymen does multiple times per day .. then when you are confident it is working, you just increase position size until you are at the level you need to be.

That for me is the true 'magic' of forex ... find what works (this will take time & effort) and then just keep doing it

[Modine]

Hi,

I started with $5000 now I'm up to $12,000. Getting into the forex is the best thing I ever did.

[sterlo]

Originally Posted by Modine

Hi,

I started with $5000 now I'm up to $12,000. Getting into the forex is the best thing I ever did.

how long ago did you start trading if u don't mind me asking and by the way good work

[rhodytrader]

Originally Posted by Modine

I started with $5000 now I'm up to $12,000. Getting into the forex is the best thing I ever did.

But to the point of the question, did you take any money out to live on?

I'm with Yarcofin, though. You need consistently very high monthly returns to be able to live on the profits from a $5k account.

[sterlo]

Originally Posted by rhodytrader

But to the point of the question, did you take any money out to live on?

I'm with Yarcofin, though. You need consistently very high monthly returns to be able to live on the profits from a $5k account.

yeah true and how long until you blow your account but i believe you could grow a $5000 account to a level that you could live off but not taking anything out at all while you are just growing your account

[Modine]

Originally Posted by sterlo

how long ago did you start trading if u don't mind me asking and by the way good work

Sorry I hadn't check messages for awhile. I started 3 mths ago and have to say I think I've hit a jack pot.

[Modine]

Originally Posted by rhodytrader

But to the point of the question, did you take any money out to live on?

I'm with Yarcofin, though. You need consistently very high monthly returns to be able to live on the profits from a $5k account.

No, I have not taken any money out and don't plan on it until I have enough to take $5000 a mth which will be in approx 5/2011 depending on the interest rate and how much money I add.

[Modine]

Originally Posted by sterlo

yeah true and how long until you blow your account but i believe you could grow a $5000 account to a level that you could live off but not taking anything out at all while you are just growing your account

Hi Sterlo,
I won't be blowing my account. Yeap I'm just growing my account and depending on interest rates and deposits approx 5/2011 I can take $5000 a mth out to live on and still grow the account.