I did read in few places that it is not recommended to enter Forex with the hope to make a living from it.
But, it must be making some people able to make a living from it at some point.
Does any body who read/visit Babypips wonderful HP makes a living from trading ONLY Forex?
its just speculation done here in the market.I can say that we can surely make the “EXTRA” income for our living from here. There are people I know who do full time trading forex, however they also have other sources of income so they are kinda safe.
I would like to be able to do this for a living…I am actually having fun doing it. How much money do you need to put in to make money…
10,000 , 50,0000?
Donald Trump always said the only way to make money is to use other peoples money…If i take out a loan, i risk losing it all… any advice out there
Aren’t you already using someone elses money trading on margin with whatever leverage your broker allows?
Good point RoddyPipper…you are using the broker’s money when trading with leverage…
roddypiper got it right! As far as how much money do you need to make a profit? The answer is enough to keep from getting stopped out. With good money management there is no reason that you can make this your full time job, starting with just $250. Its just a matter of time. Do you really want to borrow money to play the market?? That is the riskest thing to do, you are not making money with other peoples money you are risking your money and credit rating. You should read the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” goto richdadpoordad.com to see his list of products.
Maybe it would have make more sense to ask this question into another forum category than Newbie forum, I would have more answers:rolleyes:
I only know a few other forex traders personally. One is learning like me, one lost quite a bit of money and appears to have given up, one trades to supplement his income and a friend of his trades for a living. The last two seem to be doing quite well and are the ones that introduced me to it.
I think it comes down to your approach to the market. If you come in to get rich as quickly as possible with as little effort as possible you’ll probably lose as greed and unrealistic expectations takes over and blurs your vision causing mistakes. I’ve seen it happen.
If like me your goal is only to replace your salary so you can make better use of your time then to make your boss rich then how many positive pips each day do you really need to average in a week? Using 1 standard lot I can replace my salary with 18-20 pips average per day. Of course I want to see more then that to allow the account to grow over time and compensate for bad days/weeks but you can see how little is actually required to get out of it to live on. You can browse the forums here and see people posting their gains for example, James’ live trading group for his 40-100 pip per day system with days where people in the group are making 16-80 pips in a day or 40-60 pips in a day with James getting 300 pips. Another example, Elang’s posting for consistent FX trading where they posted a weeks trading report and even with 52% losing trades still pulled out $2600 in a week. That’s a months salary in one week.
I believe it’s possible to make a living from it but it’s not something you can just jump into. There’s a lot to learn, a lot to practice and a lot of mistakes to be made along the way. I’ve wiped out a small live account once already figuring I’d demo’ed long enough boy was I wrong. Now I’ve re-funded my live account but I’m back working on the demo again for some more practice. I obviously wasn’t ready to make a living at it yet but I’m not ready to give up either.
Persistence, determination, patience and most of all … good money management. Being successful at it to make a living comes down to not how you enter a trade but how you manage the trade once you’re in it. We manage risk. That’s really what traders should be calling themselves. Risk Managers. Without learning this skill there’s no way to making a living at it and Elang’s week of trading in the link above demonstrates that perfectly.
Thanks a lot roddyPipper, I appreciate very much your time for this very precise answer.
I do understand that it takes a lot of practice and patience and I am very much prepared for it.
I would be very happy when I can substitute my salary already 
Yes but i am in DEMO mode… fake money…i don’t have 50 grand
to play with like the Demo account gives me…
My question is can i make any money, with smaller accounts when i go live
$500.00 or 1000.00
Thanks for the Tips GUYS!
Thats my biggest problem,I am not getting any younger
and i have to sing or swim one of these days.
I will be 40 this year…this FOREX market seems to be the best
way to BE YOUR ON BOSS…
Thanks again , I hope you don’t mind me asking alot of questions!
When you say “make money” what would you consider a reasonable return, let’s say %-wise?
if you ask me, If I quit my job to trade the forex market, I might do well, I might not. The bottom line is I’d be more stressed out trading than having fun knowing that I do not have a stable income anymore from my regular job. Imagine trying to make 1 month income, and having a bad month, especially if you have a mortgage, and family to think about. I couldnt do that.
I’d rather use it to make “Extra” income and have fun trading, and find some way to use the profits. That way it releases the stress on me, and I can make a better trading decision.
Cheers!
Making a living from FX only might depends on many factors such as how much someone does needs in relation with local cost to live.
I guess it is nice to live with 1.000 USD/month in a poor country where average income is few dollars, but it might be very difficult somewhere like in “western countries”.
My interest was mainly to know if there were many people out there making a living ONLY from FX. (which must be indeed 
)
As for Stress from current job Vs FX, well, it depends also how you see it.
If you have a nice secure job and like the guarantee of receiving every months your salary, it might be stressful to rely on FX only one day.
But thinking of an entrepreneur running a small or medium business, I don’t think there is much more stress from FX.
Both require wise money management, experience, determination, etc… (I tend to think of FX having more advantage though )
I for one will never depend on the forex market to survive! That is just ridiculous! When push comes to shove I don’t want the mind set, I have to get my 100 pips this week or I am going to be evicted, what could be worst for your trading!
You do not have to be a full time trader to be profitable! I think the real advantage of going full time is the learning experience. It will probably cut down on the learning curve a lot, but to depend on making pips so your not homeless would totally destroy progression in forex!
Don’t get me wrong! I am not saying it is not possible to making a living off of forex. By golly I plan on making my first million in forex between the ages of before 25. I am nearly 19 by the way. So what would it take for me to make my first million dollars in forex in less than 6 years? It takes 2,000 USD, 130 weeks, and 5% weekly returns! You know what, I can pull that off! No doubt, but first how am I going to survive for the next 6 years? Well I am going to get into the automotive industry. Every morning I can wake up go fix 8-10 cars a day and go home and realize, everything I have is here to stay and only better things are to come once I hone my trading skills!
We take a gamble in life. We assume we will have our carriers and that we are relatively safe. But that really isn’t the case. Company can go under, could get laid off, all these are realities we have to face. But to face the reality that you need to make so many pips a week so you can keep a belly full and stay out of the rain would be way more stressful.
So unless you can afford to sit home and trade and not have to worry about paying bills from your capital gains from forex I would not suggest going full time at it. However, if you are lucky enough (or unlucky) to be in a situation to trade full time then I say go for it!
All I know is that I am going to live as cheaply as possible and roll in some green backs with forex. I believe my ambition will drive me further and I won’t be stop and I will make my first million before my 25th birthday with Forex. What a wonderful next 6 years this will be and for many more enjoyable years after that Because you know after your first million you can’t stop 
My final note, you can make a living trading forex, but you shouldn’t
I saw the potencial in FOREX right away as I am sure many of you did as well. It was exactly what I was looking for in investing: Interesting, fun and lots of money (if you know what you are doing). Right away, I opened a few demos after going throught the pip school and started to learn by trading. After a four thousand dollars learning curve of $20,000, I slowly made head way and now I am upto nearly half my original sum. However, the ups and downs worry me. I want to not work and the FOREX is very attractive but I don’t want to dig in my savings to cover my loses if I don’t have to.
I thought what might be worthwhile though is getting enough money together through FOREX to invest in rental property. I would not be counting on the FOREX to deliver each week a pip quota. When I do make enough through FOREX, I can make a large down payment on a property. It might take me a while but it seems like a surer way to invest until the time I do not have work for someone else.
Im not understanding why everyone is talking about pips/day. You can bet a larger amount of lots and make a living on 1 pip/day.
If you trade 10 standard lots/trade then you are at $100/pip. Now if you make 3 trades during the day which leave you with 1-2 pips then you can be making a living off of 1-2 pips.
On the other hand, if you are trading mini lots and only trade one mini lot/trade then you are at $1/pip. You can make 18-20 pips and only have $20 a day.
So why ask, “how many positive pips each day do you really need to average in a week?” You dont need alot of pips, just the right trades with just a couple pips can make a lot?
Someone clear this up for me if possible.
Thanks,
Mike Lewthwaite
P.S. I understand that Roddy did say that this was based on “1 standard lot” which of course bring in 180-200 dollars per day. What I am wondering is where all the 100 pips per day, or 5-10 pips per day systems come into play.
It seems that what matters is that you come out more often then you come out below. If you can do this then trade off more capital and you will make more money regardless of how many pips you make.
For me…it is impossible to make a living for FOREX!!
Maybe extra income will do…
“As a man thinketh, so he is.”
If you’re making 30-60 pips a day consistently,I would say quit your job!
and focus on what you love which is fx trading.
All good things come to those who wait…patience patience is need to win
in FX game,so stay up and practice your demo game then go for live.
I am not live trader yet but i will be and i will be a very successful!