What's the difference between part-time and full-time trading?

Trading itself is not different because market runs at its routine ups and downs of market are there daily in forex trading. Part time traders not avail all opportunities that a full trader can . Because he is connected to market for much time he can get good market any time.

I agree. Full time trading takes a lot of discipline and focus as it is their only source of living. It also needs huge investment to be a full time trader. Not everyone can afford to trade full time.

I believe if someone is a full time trader then most of their income is from trading. As in a part time trader would be someone who does it just as a hobby. When I think of a full time trader I imagine you know the guy/girl at home infront of his/her desk all day trading for a living.

Full time traders work for more hours in trading . They do trading as regular business. However part time traders avail time when they are free from other activities. They do trading for more or less hours. They had no fix routine to trade in market.

Becoming a fulltime trader is like getting a commission only job. You need to think about how you survive at least till you turn over a healthy profit. Unlike a day job you may have to take profits if any 3 months down the line, this means covering expensive and day to day living. This is like any investing activity. If you run losses (which you will) it will affect future income meaning you have to budget well, you cannot treat life like you are on monthly salary.

There is the issue of taxation. In the UK the lines are blurred which brings a lot of complication, you could escape taxation based on Down V Compton case in 1937 but that means that you have no paper trail. So some people need some kind of shell to create paper trails (important if you intend to get a mortgage or that kind of thing). So if you have a secondary income source keep it. A job and serious trading may prove stressful (in some cases), so it may be wise to start a business around your trading to mitigate this issue if you want to exit the 9-5. This is exclusive to FX, if you trade futures and stocks you will pay taxes, in some countries like Germany tax is taken upfront annually meaning you have to budget for this, in the UK you get a tax bill so accounting is crucial. To be honest if you have what it takes to go exchange based trading, you will not even be able to fit in the head space to make income on anything else beyond dog walking, I am sure that doesn’t pay much.

So in response to the question of prop trading, it cannot be classified as part or full time, rather the question should be, other income sources besides trading. Most traders have other income sources besides trading. Someone’s main activity could be trading and trading related activities so I suppose they are traders by definition, others will be investors as it is not their main activity and treat trading as secondary and in some cases don’t mind much if they don’t turn a profit, it is merely a fun endeavor that makes them feel special.

It is good to have part time trading, like that you could keep your other options open and could earn double way.

True. But one should be aware that progress would be slow and difficult because they wouldn’t be able to focus all their attention on training themselves to trade.

Yeah and if we have more than one source of income than we could make more money in Forex Trading.

I am not sure how these two things are connected, please elaborate?

i would say that a part time/full time trader is not dependant on the amount of time you spend infront of the charts(this will be more dependant on your trading style).

like others have said i would agree that a full time trader is someone who’s main income is through trading.

thats the first mistake, you are thinking like a employee and not a trader…full time part time is only relevant if you get paid for hours worked… a traders sole focus is to make money. which can happen in secs minutes or hours. it depends on market movement.

I agree. What is more, a trader, unless he’s employed somewhere in a professional capacity, is always on their own. They make their own decisions and take responsibility for both their successes and their failures.

Part time trading is more advisable as we can have our other options open. So that we have more options to make money.

It’s not just adviseable, for most people it’s necessary and unavoidable because the income from forex trading is not enough to keep them afloat.

Part time trading means, trading based on any specific session or few trading hours mainly! Since, Forex market is open for twenty four hours that’s way, part time Forex traders are available here! Besides, of course you can be a full time swing trader! Full time traders spend here minimum 8 hours in a day, they can use maximum opportunities of market!

Full time traders have much more capital :smiley: not 500 bucks as many think. such depos are normal for part time traders who do it for getting additional income or as a hobby… people that don’t have some free money to risk with, wouldn’t be able to trade full time

True. Besides, it’s very difficult to profit enough money to live off for the month off such a small deposit.

Forex Trading needs money to invest and it also has a chance to lose it all in it. But if you earn through more than one source, you could have the money when you lose it all in Forex.

True that! Forex income is totally uncertain so relying solely on it is not a good idea unless and until you are pretty sure of making profits every time. Having other sources of income active would not always haunt the trader of losing all his money and also he can think of investing further.

The question is, how does one juggle between their regular job, Forex trading and taking care of one’s family in case they have one? It’s a very difficult balancing act, unfortunately.