I wanted to see if there were any other Mums who trade forex for a living for a bit of moral support.
I have 2 young children and currently on maternity leave. I have time to dedicate to forex during nap times/bed times. I am still on demo account exploring trading strategies/devising my trading plan and not ready to go live as yet.
My short term goal - to learn a new skill, keep my brain active through the daily grind of feeding and nappies. Be something other than just Mum.
Longer term goal - be consistently profitable so that I can be at home with my kids for as long as possible (I do have a good career I can return to as Plan B but the kids are my priority right now, career will have to wait).
I have a PhD in Neuroscience and want to learn something new that will keep my mind active that I can do from home. Forex/trading seems to be exactly what I’m looking for.
Hi there. Welcome to the site! I’m not entirely what you are looking for - for starters, I’m a Dad rather than a Mum, and for seconds, our kids have just moved out of the entirely dependent, 24/7 stage - but your reasons for finding Forex might be similar to mine. My wife has a ‘career’ job, we both joined graduate training schemes straight from university (the same one, we met there). Fast forward ten years, we had our first child, my wife took maternity leave, but then returned to work. We didn’t want to hire childcare for the kids - just a personal choice, no judgement! - and my career was incompatible with a young family, and as I was in public service, the UK Govt offered a scheme whereby I could take up to 14 months off work and then return, for each child under five. So we took a big breath and I did that from the end of my wife’s maternity leave. I was a stay at home Dad for around ten months, and then my wife came back off work into a second maternity leave with our second child. My work got particularly incompatible around this time, so I did go back, but then at the end of my wife’s second maternity leave she went back to her career job and we took the plunge and I handed in my notice. Gulp. We took the opportunity to relocate out of the city (London) and into a rural area, with my wife working mostly from home, but with two days a fortnight in London. This was in 2007, we had a three year-old and a one year-old. I needed something to do, for similar reasons to you, I imagine, so initially we built a house overseas, and renovated a couple of cottages in the UK, all of which we rent out as holiday lets, but once those were up and running and in search of a new challenge (and a paycheque…!), we looked for something else. My wife was mailshotted by a Forex trading training company, she thought it a good fir for me (calm head under pressure, knowledge of international issues, good maths and happy to work at odd hours), so I pursued it and here I am, several years later and it turned out very well. And owing to the freedom these various choices gave us, we were able to have two more children (had we stayed in the city and in two career jobs we both doubt that we would have had three and four). So now we have four kids, my wife still has her career job, I won’t go back to one as we have started a couple of businesses and I am a trader, and trading really delivered the freedom, challenge and income that we were looking for. Our kids are now 13, 11, nine and five, and our youngest started big school last September, so I am now ramping up my Intraday trading again (during the intensive childcare periods I just did EOD), and have dusted off my old BabyPips login, as it’s the first time in many, many years that we have had no small children around the house.
Anyway, that was an enormous ramble, and I realise that I am not a Mum, but I thought I’d post all of that waffle because if nothing else it hopefully reassures you that you are not the only parent of a young family on here who turned to trading for family reasons. It really worked for us.
I hope that you enjoy your trading adventure. I have! Although what I do all day confuses the heck out of the kids…!
Thanks so much for sharing your trading journey. In hindsight my title should have said stay at home parent as that’s the kind of support/inspiration I’m looking for and what you’ve just given. It’s great to hear that others have taken on trading for family reasons and use it was a way of staying at home with the children as long as possible. I would also like more children but do not want to put them all in nurseries and head back to work (no judgement from me either). I want something that I can do from home where they come first but I can do on the side. I am looking at trading the daily timeframe so that I can look in the morning, then at lunch time (I get about 2 hours at lunch time nap which i’m currently using for research) and then after 7pm bedtime. What did you find the best in terms of timeframes when the kids were young?
You’re welcome. And yes, I used to bridle a lot at the ‘mums’ thing, and still do a little, but have also become somewhat inured to it over the years, and try not to take it personally. I have taken the lead role in the parenting for the bulk of the past decade, but still get copied in on invitations to ‘mums’ coffee mornings’! I just figure that there are many, far worse prejudices in the world and nothing is meant by it, it just takes a long time for the world to shift a deep-seated assumption of the way things ‘are’. So I’m glad that I provided the sort of response you were hoping for. Dads are helpful, too! (There’s an implied ‘lol’ after that, in case when read it is not clear.)
Your question: I found trading ideal for when the kids were young (and my youngest, Alice, turned five at the end of February, so I’m not that far out of little ones, we still have bedtime routines, mealtime routines and all of those joys…)), as Forex is a 24 hour market, so there is always something going on, and always a market with a bunch of traders watching it, waiting for some action. Which timezone are you in? I’m in the UK, and I found that when the kids were small (and ours were born in 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2013, so I have had a kid I’d consider truly small in the house for most of the past decade!) that EOD trading was ideal. The London market opens in the morning (UK), Japan opens at midnight (UK) and the NY market opens after lunch (UK). So there’s an instinctive shift in Forex at those three moments pretty often, as the market adjusts for the difference between collective expectation of what will happen ahead of open, and the reality of what actually happens. So when I can only trade low frequency, I look for Entries off the Daily chart. I look for setups late at night (some time between 10pm and midnight, but my scan takes only 15-20 minutes if I see any setups, less if there’s nothing. It used to take me 45 minutes or so, again if there were valid setups). The Daily bar is pretty close to forming at that point. I enter those EOD trades by placing an order: if Price hits x level, then enter me into the trade to buy or sell at x £ per pip. I set a S/L, and an optimum target. Then I look in on that trade the following morning when I get up. If it has triggered, great. If it has not triggered, I look at whether my Entry criteria are still valid. If they are (perhaps I was trading a rejection, and I got a rejection pin bar, the day I placed my order might have simply created a second, similar bar, which if anything might strengthen my case for the trade) then I might adjust my Entry price but leave the order open. If my trade Entry criteria are no longer sound (perhaps the market moved my way but didn’t trigger me in as my Entry was close but off, or perhaps the market went further in the opposite direction than I expected), then I will cancel the order. If the trade triggered and I am in the trade, then I will leave it until that night. WIth any open trade, I simply manage them at the intervals taken from the chart on which I entered, so checking each new bar as it forms. So for EOD trading, I only look in on any open trades (and then trail Stops, adjust targets, whatever) during my evening scan, as then I have a new bar to look at. Most trades take three bars or so to clear their throat anyway.
Anyway, sorry, that’s getting a bit all over the place, and I don’t know where you are, yet - basically, EOD trading only needs maintenance in the evenings (anything more frequent is just a temptation to meddle, in my experience), so I place orders five evenings a week (Sunday to Thursday) and then manage them during those same evening sessions. If I’m not Intraday trading alongside, I can then go to the kids’ Assemblies, mow the lawn, do washing, take my wife out to lunch, whatever. So you could time your own nap to match your kids’! You don’t need to look in on an EOD trade at lunchtime, in my view.
I hope that that gives you some insight - sorry if it is a bit all over the place, I’m new to this new format on the site, and am about to leave to get my eldest two from Scouts so rushing a bit. Hope it’s helpful.
Stick with it, either way - I have found nothing to beat trading for having a fun income and a funner family life.
Hi I’m a single mom with 3 children. I am trading Forex as part of my financial freedom plan of course. I have been trading for a little while now. By way of regular 9-5 I am a medical coder for a 100+ bed hospital that also includes hospital based clinics. I am on a wealth journey and I’m immersing myself in Forex and all things that’s financially responsible. Forex is an exciting journey. Keep practicing in your demo account and learn as much as you can if you don’t have any experience trading. Its nice to meet you! [How to trade Forex Successfully ]
Hi i haven’t started my Forex journey yet but i am in a similar situation to you, i have 2 young children, one of them a baby and i’m currently on maternity leave but don’t plan to go back to work.
I have a degree in Biochemistry and have a decently paid job but tired of the grind and need a more flexible way to earn money to allow more of a work life balance.
I would love to keep in touch.
Sally
I am appreciating your initiative to engage in forex trading even in your leisure period. And yes, there will be many Mums in the forex market who are engaging in forex market to earn money from home. Try to engage in trading with smaller amount and try practice with demos.
I started this thread back in March and have only just realised I had some more replies so thank you for that! I went live in April and have been doing well with a couple of currency pairs mainly the GBPUSD. I’m really enjoying the challenge and it is fitting in well with preschool runs/naps/bedtime. Come April 2019 i need to decide whether I need to go back to work or see whether I am earning enough through forex to stay at home longer. I hope its the latter!
Great to hear that it is working for you so far. If you’re calm and consistent it is possible not to lose a fortune while learning your craft, as you are seeing.
And trading via EOD orders is a very low stress approach which can work around pretty much any kid’s routine.
I am finding the market fine at the moment. It’s always a little quiet over Summer, and Brexit has moved me to more of the exotic Pairs rather than trying the Euro much, but yes it is all good and I am looking forward to the Autumn season, which is always a good one. My biggest issue with this time of year is that a fortnight ago I was trading in a laptop at our holiday place in Portugal with a cold beer - now I’m sitting in a UK Autumn placing the same trades on the same laptop but in around a quarter of the temperature! It is easier now that the kids are back at school, though, although I do miss 'em.
Great to hear from you. Your initial words of encouragement have really stuck with me and your description of your lifestyle is my goal! I have decided to stop trading GBPUSD for now as theres so much uncertainty around Brexit and so I’m starting to look at the Aussie and Japanese pairs.
I didn’t realise that the market was quieter over the summer but that would make sense as August was my lowest monthly profit by quite a bit even though I am sticking to a strategy. Do you find December also a bit more quiet too?
I see my biggest obstacle as discipline and sticking to EOD and leaving them alone. I am checking my trades many times (probably every 30 mins) a day and I am closing them somewhat randomly if i see a profit i’m happy with rather than letting it run its course. The days im really busy I am more profitable because i dont close things early when i see a profit. I have a long way to go but I’m really enjoying it!
You’re more than welcome, glad that you found it helpful.
I like AUD and JPY Pairs myself.
Yes, I find it quiet in August every year, so there’s less momentum (I wouldn’t generally do anything other than EOD trading in August). Also, I stop by 20th December every year, just get out of the market and come back to it in January. Works as a nice family holiday but I traded through a couple of times early on (and I look in on the charts each year) and it simply isn’t decisive enough for me to fancy it. December can still be a good month, and it’s nice stopping, having a clear break, and being up on the trading account for the month/year then kicking back with no pressure.
As for the discipline - in my view, you can throw out any strategy without it. If I enter a trade off the Daily chart then I will monitor that trade when doing my scan the following evening. I always check in on a trade as frequently as the TF of the chart. When I broke that in the early days overall I made the trades worse. So Sunday to Thursday evenings I scan for new setups, and look in on anything I have open. If it’s an EOD trade I don’t glance at it during the day. Quite apart from anything else, it leave me more time for other stuff!! And it works.
Hope you don’t mind me asking you a question… I wondered if you incorporate fundamental analysis into your trades and if so which websites do you generally find the most informative? I’ve largely focused on technical analysis alone…
I’ve taken the plunge and have decided to take another year off work to be with the kids and to continue to pursue forex.I really hope I can make a go of it!
I’t doesn’t matter if you are a mom or a grandma What i would recommande to you is to be careful and to think not only twice, but 3 times before you deposit with your broker. be sure they are a regulated broker and not a scam. Read all about their withdraw policy so you wont be surprised like me when you ask for a withdraw. ( i had to wait like 14 days only to make a withdraw of 30k$ with 4xPremium as a broker). And also try to learn as much as you can with your demo account. I made the mistake to invest with fx pro for my first time, i invested 2k$ and lost the money in 2 months time. This happen’d because i didn’t take the time to learn everything i had to know in this business. But anyway welcome to the world of investing and i wish you all the good luck.
Take your time, mind your risk trading is like building a house. Plan everything, stick to the plan based on success of the long term probabilities. Build a strong foundation then manage and always be learning
Best Wishes & Continued Success
Gp
What i would recommande to you is to be careful and to think not only twice, but 3 times before you deposit with your broker. be sure they are a regulated broker and not a scam. Read all about their withdraw policy so you wont be surprised like me when you ask for a withdraw. ( i had to wait like 14 days only to make a withdraw of 30k$ with 4xPremium as a broker). And also try to learn as much as you can with your demo account. I made the mistake to invest with fx pro for my first time, i invested 2k$ and lost the money in 2 months time. This happen’d because i didn’t take the time to learn everything i had to know in this business. But anyway welcome to the world of investing and i wish you all the good luck.