Hello! I’m still learning forex trading and I want to know how much money you guys invested when you started forex? 
Thank you!
Lol - It;'s not an “Investment” - It’s betting !
I guess my first major loss was £15,000 - After that - £5,000, £3,000 & now i’m "doing ok ! " 
Hope that helps.
2 Likes
hi mate
Not that you should do this.
but… My first one around 7 years ago, i think was around $300 or thereabouts
Regarding what @Falstaff said about Betting
Look…
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I respectfully Disagree that it’s betting
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in saying that, everyone has an opinion on What Forex is
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it certainly is not INVESTING
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Maybe a better word to use would be DEPOSITED “how much money you guys intially deposited into your your account”
as to whether it’s betting or not will depend on your skill level.
if you are capable at trading forex and you are profitable, you will still lose at times, but it’s not really gambling or betting, it’s TRADING and you do it with a degree of certainty (We call this RISK MANAGEMENT)
Betting and Gambling implies that you put down a bet and leave the rest up to luck and blindly take the decision that is given to you, Win or Lose
Forex is not like that
there is a big difference between Blackjack, Roulette etc and Forex
so even though Falstaff’s comment has some merit, and i understand it and i understand the LOL and probably would also laugh
i think it’s fair to say that AS A NEWBIE it probably is a gamble
but as your experience grows it becomes less of a gamble and more a plan with a degree of certainty that is based on a track record that proves the high probability of the outcome
NOW, LET ME ASK YOU ANOTHER QUESTION.
WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH WE STARTED WITH ?
What is the REAL QUESTION you are trying to ask
or
Are you just curious
Ok Martin, look at it this way - How many professional Gamblers are there on horses ? 5% of the total "Investors " ?
How many Poker players consistently make money - 5% ? There are plenty of professional poker players, but they will still acknowlege they are “Gamblers” because of the nature of the risk. They assess the odds and the probable outcome in strict terms of ! “Risk ;Reward ratios” and if probability is far enough on their side, they will take a calculated risk. They are still “Betting”
Now how many new entrants into Forex [Those are the people we are talking to here ] will actually make money ? 5% ? - Yet you say it is not “Betting”
Ok mate - play semantics if you want - In the UK "Spread - betting " does not attract Tax, because it is officially classified as Gambling. You show me any difference between “Spread betting” and “Trading Contracts for difference” - which is what Retail “Traders” do.
@Falstaff
First of all… MATE SERIOUSLY, can i get something out of the way before i start
- You sound like your pissed off or angry, do you have something against me, or not ?
i just want to be clear on that
Secondly
Mate, i’m not playing semantics… ok Honestly and genuinely… ok
Now, Assuming i was , i would understand why you are angry
Understand, though, that i’m not.
Now let me point this out
honestly, i have no idea, i’ve never done that, nor have any of my friends
again, i don’t study them, i have a few friends that like Texas Hold em, Me Personally, i’m not a gambler.
but I’ve read and heard that a lot of poker players don’t consider poker to be a gamble (i’m referring to professionals only)
but none of this is really important to be honest
I"m not here to disprove you on horses or poker.
MOVING FORWARD
OK, NOW THIS IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TO WHAT I MEANT
i agree, if we are talking JUST PURELY BASED ON HOW MANY NEWBIES ENTER FOREX
yes, then 100% Gambling, No Question about it, No argument from me
ok
so i guess this is where the confusion was
and i prefer to work things out than to argue… OK MATE,
if it’s possible i’d like to have no bad blood between us
bob once said to me (Even though i’m not speaking to him), he said, something like “so martin, is no one allowed to disagree with you”
Mate, same thing here. ok
if i disagree with you, IT DOESN’T MEAN I’M SPITTING IN YOUR FACE… ok
it just means, i disagree, and i’ll provide a reason
simple as that
so… look
it’s not semantics, CLEARLY it’s a misunderstanding
because when you said it, you were talking about how many newbies enter
When i said it, i wasn’t referring to that.
i was referring to for what it is
(and… hehe… i guess we can debate as well, can’t we, Let’s not, but, i’m just saying we could and i’m not getting into semantics again, i’m just saying)
so… I was referring to it as i see, , as i believe it to be
THAT BEING
if you’re a newbie - it’s definitely a gamble
when you get experience - it’s not really a gamble so much anymore
now the word BETTING
Honestly, I hate this word, i don’t like using it, i’m not a gambler, and i believe that anyone who uses the word BET or BETTING while Trading has the wrong mindset
they have the mindset of a gambler (Which is not good)
now we all have individual opinions. right
i respect yours and i hope you respect mine
MY OPINION is…
Forex is Trading, Not Betting
look at it another way, a long time ago i used to play Snooker Competition, i was a B-Grade Player (that means i was very very good , in a nutshell) that’s snooker
now, i also played pool competition for fun
compared to Snooker, Pool is a piece of piss to win
you would go to a pub, guys would say it’s luck, Guys would call it betting
Mate… When i can at times drop a table 5 times in a row (it’s not betting, IT’S A SKILL)
at my worst… I require 2 Turns on Pool to win a game
Meaning, if someone EVER allows me 2 turns, IT IS 100% GUARANTEED THEY WILL LOSE THE GAME
so if they can’t finish the game within 2 turns, they lose
THAT’S A SKILL, Not Luck
i practiced at one point 18 hours a day to gain this skill
it’s not gambling, it’s a skill (this is just one example)
now, i’m a business owner (I.T. Company)
it’s usually accepted that with business clients i do the job, then i invoice them and then they pay 30 days later
now. that’s a trade (and this is not semantics, by the way,i’m just showing you something)
that’s a trade
would you call it a gamble or a risk or a bet… PROBABLY NOT… right
but YET, i still am taking a risk as to whether the client will pay or not
now. if you think i have a level of security because they are a business… I DON’'T , that’s BS Mate
doesn’t mean a thing
i literally AM TRUSTING THEM ON THEIR WORD AS A BUSINESS OWNER, that’s all it is
if they piss off and don’t pay, i can’t do anything
Technically you could call that a gamble or a bet … right
same thing
well it’s not
Because running a business is a skill
Playing Snooker is a Skill
so is Playing Poker (Even though i don’t do it)
in my business when i meet the client i asses them and see if it worth the risk vs the money of giving them 30 day terms
sometimes i make a mistake and they look ok, but they don’t pay up and they piss off… it happens
now
APPLES WITH APPLES
When a newbie starts in forex, IT’S A GAMBLE… Just like you said
When a person starts a business for the first time… Truth be told… IT’S A GAMBLE
same thing
so…do we go around saying to people that want to start up businesses
DON’T DO IT THAT’S GAMBLING…No We don’t
Because GENERALLY OVERALL, Business is not a gamble IF YOU HAVE THE SKILL TO RUN IT
Now there is definitely a teething process involved, at which point you could go bust or make a million
like in forex
but generally, overeall IN MY OPINION , Forex is not betting or gambling
There is an element of risk… sure
that risk is extremely high with newbies… sure
but i think we can agree there is a teething process involved (So to speak)
SO, MATE, I THINK WE JUST HAVE DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEWS… ok
I don’t want to argue with you ok
i don’t want any bad blood
and in previous posts it has sort of sounded (no offense) like there was some bad blood
I want it to be cool (if that’s possible)
and i figured, i’d take this opportunity to try and iron out the kinks so to speak
so to finish this up
I’m not attacking you
i’m not spitting in your face
i’m not being a D…K Head ok
i just disagreed because i had a different opinion and a different point of view
I understand why you told the newbie it’s betting and not investing LOL i get it
I just look at it a little differently
Mate, if i thought Forex was gambling , from the beginning, i would not have done it
FYI, I sometimes have people say to me “why don’t you buy a lottery ticket, it’s only $2”
i don’t buy Lottery tickets, NEVER HAVE
i think it’s stupid
when i started around 7 years ago in forex
i saw forex as VIABLE and DO-ABLE
ON THE CONDITION that i learned how to do it
that was my view from the beginning
i observed that the Binary Options traders for the most part looked at it like a casino
i always thought this was stupid, but i understood why they did it
so… THAT’S IT MATE
that’s my point of view
and i respect yours whatever it may be
but, honestly mate, i don’t want to argue ok
so… Are we cool
(i’d like to know Honestly)
speak soon
This is absolutely right.
Not only is it absolutely right, but it’s also one of the most important and significant things to understand clearly before you start.
Spot forex “brokers” aren’t really brokers. They’re counterparties. When you “buy” or “sell” a currency pair through them, no currencies are actually changing hands at all. They just treat your account AS IF that were happening. (Unless you have a 6 or 7-figure account and use a genuine, commission-only broker without “spreads”.)
What’s really happening is that you’re having a bet against them, and the bet’s settled according to their own prices, not interbank prices (the real market).
Unfortunately (and very mysteriously!) the Babypips educational pages/“school” don’t mention this key fact anywhere in their content!
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I think it should not to be your first concern. Because more than investing money you should focus on learning about forex. If you don’t have forex knowledge you will not able to select your trading style. As a matter of fact you will be confused to select the right trading platform for your trading style. Than your focus point should be in investing money. I you are a day trader than you can start with limited investment. If you are long term trader then you have to invest big amount of capital.
Falstaff and Lukas are both right, of course.
I started with $500 and lost almost all of it quickly. Then I reloaded another $500 and lost it much more slowly.
Then I switched to demo for a year and didn’t fund my account until I knew I was unlikely to lose any more, which gradually happened because I read a few books and practiced sensibly and with a lot of patience, and learnt about price action rather than depending on indicators.
I don’t agree with this, at all. I can see no logic, there. You need much wider stops for longer-term trading, of course, but you can reduce the position-sizing accordingly and still trade with however much or little you want.
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My guess would be that he wants to have an idea of how much should he start with as most people say that it’s dumb going too small yet going too big is basically bankrupting yourself
Frankly, I was super excited when I was newbie; I invested 1K in my 1st day of trading and crashed this balance within just 5 hours! Then I go for demo!
I think this is very common scenario by the new traders! I
started from the demo. But I used my 1st demo only for the 8 days,
then I opened my live and lose as-usual then come back to the demo again!
The minimum investment that the pages ask for is $ 100, I advise you to start with that amount. Do not be like frustrated investors who invest all their monthly payments and then stay in limbo.
i Realize that .
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i don’t like to assume
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Forex is about thinking, I’m trying to get him to think for himself.
if you start with an amount that is too small you basically throw your money away
This is not true though
if you start with something like $100,000 and you trade in lots of 0.1 Lots
you won’t bankrupt yourself
That is what you say you started with , but now you’re recommending $100,000.00
I’m puzzled ?
@Falstaff
When i said $300
i was answering the question of “How much did i start with”
i believe at one point i also said, i don’t recommend it, but IT IS how much i actually started with the first time.
what i was trying to say with $100k was that having a greater account balance is safer than having $300 or some amount less than $1,000 because it allows for more options and better control of Margin vs Equity vs Account balance vs Risk
does that clear it up
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£250 to start 4months ago. Made £180 first day off 4 trades, next day made £190 off 5 trades,
Haven’t looked back since. 
I’m waiting till after Xmas to up my trade sizes. Until then gonna keep small trades and practice on demo, as i have some interesting Hedging strategies i want to refine.
Also looking after my kid so Haven’t a lot of spare time at the moment.
I Agree you need 1,000 + to be safer.! But 10,000 would be ideal. lol with a lower leverage.
But, without proper trading knowledge and experience 10,000$ wouldn’t be safer.
that’s right
keep going dude, some gutsy moves there, but hey, sometimes we are all make gutsy moves.
just don’t blow your account
Be Safe and keep moving forward
Yes Peter thanks for adding that point.
i am guessing most new traders would start with £250- 500 // Not £30 like advertised in some brokers.?
Or 10,000. ! unless they had more money than sense.
But i am new myself and still learning.