What is realistic profit acheivable?

So I have joined the trading world with the aim to earn some part-time income and not with a dream of rich by next year thing, however, I have read many many posts where few members asked how much they can make if invest $500 or $1000, etc, the most answers were that you will be lucky and if an only experienced trader can make 2% to 5% return ? is that really all traders can earn? means if someone wants to do it for living and needs $3000 a month then need at least $70,000 of trading account?

Again as I said I am not expecting to be rich quick, but if I invest like $5,000 and spend two hours a day thatā€™s like 40 hours a month and only expect a return of like $100?

It depends entirely on the amount of risk you are willing to take. If you are compounding 5% per month thatā€™s not a bad return, not amazing though.

I started with larger capital. Around 4200 in June and am up 51% currently. At the same time Iā€™m sat here in dd waiting for 7 positions to turn around so this approach may not be for everyone.

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So you saying your account is around at 6300?
What is you trading approach if you share please? And do you do fulltime or part time?

The answer really is a how long is a piece of string , the bigger the account the harder the % increase. If you have Ā£500 its easy to double but if you have 50k not so easy as the mindgame is so much different. If I can pull around 0.5 to 1% a day I am happy.

If I can do 0.5% at some point I am more then happy as well, however what concerned me was quite few posts mentioned 2% to 5% return per month, very good point with string example though

Really depends on the trader and the amount of risk as may take a few steps back before moving into profit. I work in money terms rather than % as its my job rather than investment.

For quick math 20 pips a day at Ā£5 a pip is Ā£100 a day or Ā£500 a week which is a good wage for a little time.

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Absolutely good if Ā£100 a day, I read donā€™t use more then 1% to 2% of the account for trade, so to get 20 pips at Ā£5 a pip what will be the trade size? sorry I am new and learning from forums and courses before the move to demo trading, and now before even spending time on education trying to understand if its really for me,

Also will you be so kind to mentoring me at some stage when I finish my course at BP and get the theoretical knowledge? even couple of days will be helpful.

Find The Scruffy Trader on youtube and you see what I do , the risk really depends on the trade as all trades are different but yes you on the right track regards % of account , in the early stages its hard as need to build up a fund to cover the size

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Trouble is, if youā€™re making Ā£100 a day and treating that as a salary then your account is staying static, your total pot isnā€™t growing at all. There will be bad weeks or months, there are tricky times of the year, or big events which affect the market. You donā€™t ever want to be in the position of having to trade in a choppy market because you need your Ā£100 that day. Small accounts are fine to learn, or to run as a side action to oneā€™s main income. If trading is to provide your principal, full time income, then Iā€™d say you need a larger account or it wonā€™t work out.

Think how much someone invests in an education and training for most skilled jobs, in terms of both cash investment and time invested. If trading is to provide a comparable income, it is inevitably going to require a comparable commitment somewhere along the line.

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Letā€™s give an example:

1000 dollar starting account.
1% risk over 10 SL per trade.

Position = Risk/SL = 10/10 = 1 minilot (i.e. 1 pt = $1)

You win 10 pips. That means ten dollars.

Now, you have 1010. Thatā€™s 1% gain.

250 trading days in the year, gain 1% every day 250 times, thatā€™s 12032.16 by year end.

By end of year two, thatā€™s 144772.77!

So your question is money. Yeah, itā€™s possible to make a full time living.

Most CCY pairs travel around 100 points every day. So, how can you not grab 5 to 10 points every day?

You may ask, huh, 5-10 pips only?

Well, it is easier to grab 5-10 pips everyday than 100, right?

Look, if youā€™re a beginner you really need to stop thinking about money if you really want to succeed. Not joking. Just focus on grabbing 5-10 pips on every trade and hone your skills.

Iā€™ve seen many traders still trying to be successful after 10 years of switching from system to system and they never make it.

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Thanks, thats very promising but yes not everyone successful everywhere.

Being a Chartered Accountant, I agree with you about the time and money I spent to became one, I have no plan to withdraw any funds for next few years and want to grow my account.

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@humility777trader

So true. If beginners stopped thinking of the money, the money would find its way to them much quicker.

Of course that seems nonsensical - but itā€™s a fact - and one only profitable traders know.

If someone wants to make 5-10 pips a day (and I suggest aiming a bit higher than that) they should quit thinking like a beginner thinks and start putting together a profile of how a professional thinks - theyll get there much quicker.

Asking how many pips you can make a day is the wrong question.

@Chullbulla

I notice you have an accounting background - nothing at all wrong with that.

Butā€¦you may be seeing the markets as an accountant would see them.

Structured, logical and making sense, with strict rules.

Trading doesnā€™t work like that. There is a whole psychological side of trading that can get in the way of ā€˜basic accounting principlesā€™

Just something to think about as you begin your journey.

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ā€œThanks, thats very promising but yes not everyone successful everywhere.ā€

Explain, why do you think this?

What makes them ā€œlosers?ā€

Agree with you.

We all want ā€œthe prefect systemā€ but thatā€™s not a reality.

Yes, we need rules, but rules for ourselves, not for the system we trade.

For example, once you entered the market, you have zero control, hence, you must have rules on what you should be doing; if this, then, if that then.

Many failing traders never follow their own plan. Even then, some donā€™t even write down their plans.

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A realistic return for Forex trades is usually considered to be somewhere around 1-5% on a monthly basis. However, it needs to be outlined that this number is a combination of hundreds or even thousands of traders that each trader makes, meaning that there is always something that could potentially go wrong.

generally when making a trading target particularly profit ratio , we the traders got emotional and greedy , at the end of the day we make unrealistic plan which not achievable. so we have to be more practical.

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A 5k account is decent size for a new trader and it should give you the opportunity to learn some valuable trading lessons. I would try to focus on trading well rather than the monthly profit you could earn. Obviously the more you risk the more up/downside % you will experience. There is no set % that is correct for everyone so you will need to find out what you can stomach or have the means to lose. Some professional traders do put on big risk when they feel itā€™s appropriate or if they exceed their profit target for the month.
The great thing about trading is anything is possible, so donā€™t be discouraged by the math behind it.

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Thanks, so after reading forums and watching videos, I decided that my strategy will be based on scalping trading, I will restrict to two trades a day since I will do it part-time, will not risk more than 1% of capital with each trade, my aim will be to stop loss at 20pips and take profit at 40pips, I will not try to recover previous day losses next day and will stick to it.
However, I am struggling with how to execute this strategy? I am struggling with indicators, I have not gone through BP training yet which I will, what are the best indicators for scalping trading? and is my strategy realistic? also, I heard about backtesting and I am not sure how to do it? I will use demo for a couple of month and I cannot see many indicators there.