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Can you honestly earn a good living or even get rich through forex?

  • #21
  • Feb 21, 2013 12:40am Feb 21, 2013 12:40am
Quoting Ishtana
So the bottom line is, can you earn a living purely from trading forex (no teaching whatsoever), or even get rich from forex alone?
Yes it's possible to earn a living from FX trading. Many people do. 'Rich' is a term that could mean many things, so I won't go there.

What you need to remember is that most of us are self-taught traders, and we are competing against some very highly skilled and trained traders, banks, hedge fund traders etc etc, all of whom have 'paid their dues' and been schooled and mentored by some even more highly skilled people.

It is silly and arrogant to think that anyone can download MT4 and start competing, and winning against traders of considerable calibre and who are trading eye watering amounts. It is the same as saying that I can go to my local engineering supplier and purchase the best welding equipment available, read a few books and then expect to gain a highly paid job as a welder. No one would even dream of trying to that, for obvious reasons, right? So why does anyone expect to download MT4, throw a few dollars at it and make large amounts of money straight away?

The bottom line is yes, it is possible to earn a living from trading, but it takes thousands of hours of learning, without much help from anyone else, and there is no guarantee that you will 'graduate.' Some people can weld, and some will never be able to.
Doing what you like is Freedom. Liking what you do is Happiness.
  • #22
  • Feb 21, 2013 1:30am Feb 21, 2013 1:30am
Quoting realjumper
Yes it's possible to earn a living from FX trading. Many people do. 'Rich' is a term that could mean many things, so I won't go there.

What you need to remember is that most of us are self-taught traders, and we are competing against some very highly skilled and trained traders, banks, hedge fund traders etc etc, all of whom have 'paid their dues' and been schooled and mentored by some even more highly skilled people.

It is silly and arrogant to think that anyone can download MT4 and start competing, and winning against traders of considerable...
This summarizes what I have been saying for some time now. Experience is #1. You can have people teach you certain things (and it helps some), but you won't learn the jungle without having walked through it yourself.
  • #23
  • Feb 21, 2013 1:40am Feb 21, 2013 1:40am
Quoting 2+2=4ex
This summarizes what I have been saying for some time now. Experience is #1. You can have people teach you certain things (and it helps some), but you won't learn the jungle without having walked through it yourself.
Hey there 4ex....hows things?

You're so right....trading is not easy and there's no substitute for experience.
Doing what you like is Freedom. Liking what you do is Happiness.
  • #24
  • Feb 21, 2013 2:13am Feb 21, 2013 2:13am
Quoting Ishtana
I'm just concerned that you have to trade full time to be successful in this business. I thought trading should give your freedom. Both in terms of financial and time.
Just quit. Now.

FX is not for you.
What is any ocean but a multitude of drops?
  • #25
  • Feb 21, 2013 2:27am Feb 21, 2013 2:27am
Quoting Ishtana
I see. I think it is safe to say that this is possible, but is limited to a very small number of traders who pay their dues to be successful. The rest are just gambling and involuntarily donate their money to the market.

Simply another case of "go hard or go home."

Well, now at least I know it is possible. I just want to make sure that I'm not fighting a losing fight. I'm just concerned that you have to trade full time to be successful in this business. I thought trading should give your freedom. Both in terms of financial and time.
If you do not love the game, how do you expect to be consistently successful at it?
And if you love it, why would it bother you to do it full time?
  • #26
  • Feb 21, 2013 2:30am Feb 21, 2013 2:30am
Quoting realjumper
Yes it's possible to earn a living from FX trading. Many people do. 'Rich' is a term that could mean many things, so I won't go there.

What you need to remember is that most of us are self-taught traders, and we are competing against some very highly skilled and trained traders, banks, hedge fund traders etc etc, all of whom have 'paid their dues' and been schooled and mentored by some even more highly skilled people.

It is silly and arrogant to think that anyone can download MT4 and start competing, and winning against traders of considerable...
I mostly agree....but I came to realize the average pro trader is pretty whack...wallstreet makes most of it's money from selling financial services....there is a lot of dumb money around.
wo-yoy! wo-yoy! wo-yoy! wo-yoi! wo-yoy-yoy-yoy!
  • #27
  • Feb 21, 2013 3:00am Feb 21, 2013 3:00am
I do not know what you have put in your words by saying 'good living or get rich' as people in some countries earn 5$ per month and they consider being rich and happy about their living.
However I do suppose you are trying to find out the figure which is reasonably possible to be made in a day, week or month with the regards to your initial capital / funds.
I can firmly assure you that making 10 % per week is really feasible having in mind that your trades are not tens of lots. I am not going to explain you why it is so. As soon as you reach some high numbers in terms of lots some other game rules will kick in to help you loose your capital / funds unless you are really lucky or you know what are you doing.
Now, all the crap about super duper bank and fund managers which are extremely skillful and always are ready to outsmart you shouldn't really be a concern for you.
I could also ...erm... suggest you forgetting about extremely difficult fx business. Being profitable (in trading financial instruments, especially fx) has nothing to do with hard work or being extremely smart. I can also give you a hint: trading is a gambling. It is the secret known for more than hundred years

I also have the advice for you and all other so to say traders that are not successful (hopefully yet): open live account, put there so much money you are usually spending for a good dinner in local restaurant and try to make 10 x that amount trading every day over a period of two or three months. If you loose it, you loose your dinner If you succeed, you will know what to do next.

Happy trading.
For my fallen angels.
  • #28
  • Feb 21, 2013 3:00am Feb 21, 2013 3:00am
Hey Ishtana,
Of course its possible to earn a good living trading forex. With a profitable way of trading (strategy, method, etc.). Just have more positive pips than negative and with compounding after a few years maybe you will make your million And here is the big problem, thats easy to be said but hard to execute.
About the example you gave in the first post with the $200k per year. I suppose most traders live and trade from countries with high living standart and that ($200k) means a good living to them, but there are countries that with only $20k its possible to live very good life.
Its a hard way to become a profitable trader, just keep learning everything about forex and the positive results may come one day, and still nothing is for sure.
  • #29
  • Feb 21, 2013 3:21am Feb 21, 2013 3:21am
Quoting Xhale12
Just quit. Now.

FX is not for you.
You told me to stay away from this forum, and you told me to quit when I ask the possibility to do this part time. You're not very helpful at all.

Thank you for the rest of the guys who made intelligent contribution to this thread. Thanks for giving me an assurance that I, or anyone, can be successful in this business. I was actually about to give up because I know I'm not the smartest tool in the shed, and my trading account validates it. I spent countless hours and nights studying forex. I've exhausted all books in my city's library on forex trading. I've tested hundreds of free and paid systems for the past few years. But I just still haven't found my edge and trust my edge just yet. I do think success is around the corner and to quit now would be a huge waste.

I like the analogy of gambling house. We are indeed playing in a gambling house with house advantage. It is so visible on the chart. And I agree about the need for experience. Backtesting and studying past chart help only a little in real life trading.

I love this game, but it doesn't mean I absolutely have to do it full time. What is your definition of full time anyway? Mine is 9-5, every weekdays.

I don't want to be glued to my monitor watching my trades going up and down, playing around with my adrenaline. And I get dizzy from watching the computer for a long time anyway, so that's why I can't afford to do this full time. I also have an equal passion in music, yet I'm not a full time musician. What pays your bill doesn't necessarily come from your passion. Some people have that kind of luxury, most don't. I'm part of the latter.

Ok, I think I'm about to pay my dues. I've burnt my bridges. I won't look back. Failure is not an option. It's onward from this point on.
  • #30
  • Feb 21, 2013 3:31am Feb 21, 2013 3:31am
Quoting Ishtana
You told me to stay away from this forum, and you told me to quit when I ask the possibility to do this part time. You're not very helpful at all.

Thank you for the rest of the guys who made intelligent contribution to this thread. Thanks for giving me an assurance that I, or anyone, can be successful in this business. I was actually about to give up because I know I'm not the smartest tool in the shed, and my trading account validates it. I spent countless hours and nights studying forex. I've exhausted all books in my city's library on forex...
Why'd you start this thread? So you can get more losing traders to pat you on the back and say its all going to work out in the end?
What is any ocean but a multitude of drops?
  • #31
  • Feb 21, 2013 3:49am Feb 21, 2013 3:49am
Quoting Xhale12
Why'd you start this thread? So you can get more losing traders to pat you on the back and say its all going to work out in the end?
That's a very weird assumption you're making. I started this thread to see if you can make a real living out of forex and even get rich from it. The title says it all. I don't think I'm asking for anybody's sympathy in any of my lines.

I just wonder how someone with $5,000 or even $10,000 deposit can pay all his/her monthly bills through forex trading.
  • #32
  • Feb 21, 2013 3:57am Feb 21, 2013 3:57am
Quoting Ishtana
That's a very weird assumption you're making. I started this thread to see if you can make a real living out of forex and even get rich from it. The title says it all. I don't think I'm asking for anybody's sympathy in any of my lines.

I just wonder how someone with $5,000 or even $10,000 deposit can pay all his/her monthly bills through forex trading.
Well if you can risk $25 a trade with that $10k account and make $200 a day, I'd say you could pretty easily pay your bills (well not easy, this business never is "easy". nothing that is worth it ever has been easy)

There are people here who sometimes make over $10,000 a day. Not many of them, but definitely a few.

If you trade 20 lots with 5 pips of risk thats $1000. But 20 pips profit $4000. So you can see how its not exactly difficult to make these huge sums if you are good with entries and targets. Of course these people have well over $100k in their account so $1000 risk is not too much.

Remember Forex has average of 40-50 million lots a day ($4-5 tril). So order sizes of $2million do absolutely nothing to the market price, especially in EURUSD.
Be hopeful in a winning position, and fearful in a losing position.
  • #33
  • Feb 21, 2013 4:19am Feb 21, 2013 4:19am
See that's the thing. Never in wildest dream would I trade bigger than 1 lot size, let alone 20 lots. That's just beyond me. How much is your deposit and leverage need to be to trade 20 lots?

My highest achievement so far is trading 0.5 lots with 30 pips TP on 2 currencies in one day, giving me around ~$300 from memory.

And how can you trade with 5 pips of risk? Is that 5 pips stop loss? I'm using 10 pips, and already everybody told me that it isn't a very smart thing to do.
  • #34
  • Feb 21, 2013 4:21am Feb 21, 2013 4:21am
I dont trade 20 lots most I've ever traded was 3. I don't have that kind of money, yet!
Be hopeful in a winning position, and fearful in a losing position.
  • #35
  • Feb 21, 2013 4:23am Feb 21, 2013 4:23am
Quoting Ishtana
See that's the thing. Never in wildest dream would I trade bigger than 1 lot size, let alone 20 lots. That's just beyond me. How much is your deposit and leverage need to be to trade 20 lots?

My highest achievement so far is trading 0.5 lots with 30 pips TP on 2 currencies in one day, giving me around ~$300 from memory.

And how can you trade with 5 pips of risk? Is that 5 pips stop loss? I'm using 10 pips, and already everybody told me that it isn't a very smart thing to do.
Don't listen to them. The most effective way to trade is to enter when the market is about to take off and not even think about hitting your stop loss. If you can time the market properly you can even use a 3 pip stop loss. Especially if you have a 1 pip spread. 5 pip is smarter though.

I think the reason most of them recommend wider stop is because beginners cant usually find the "accumulation point" and enter on that big move so their stop isn't hit. Also they don't know how to pick tops and bottoms within 2-3 pips (talking about intraday swings of like 20-30 pips).

Also some of them are trading 100s of pip moves, not 20-50 pips like myself. This might be why they recommend wide stop.
Be hopeful in a winning position, and fearful in a losing position.
  • #36
  • Feb 21, 2013 4:30am Feb 21, 2013 4:30am
CONSISTENCY is the KEY to be profitable in trading for living.
We should stop counting pips and start to CRAVE consistency in our trading activities.
... and I can say from experience trading without emotonal discomfort (either from loss or big win) is challenging, but for all challenges there are solutions ---> in our case we should search inside our head.

happy trading !!!
"Trading require mental flexibility far beyond the scope of most people"
  • #37
  • Feb 21, 2013 5:39am Feb 21, 2013 5:39am
I thought that was a given? The question here is whether it's probable or not. If you have already been on Forex Factory for this long it's impossible for you to be oblivious to the answer.

"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't."
  • #38
  • Feb 21, 2013 3:47pm Feb 21, 2013 3:47pm
Quoting Ishtana
See that's the thing. Never in wildest dream would I trade bigger than 1 lot size, let alone 20 lots. That's just beyond me. How much is your deposit and leverage need to be to trade 20 lots?

My highest achievement so far is trading 0.5 lots with 30 pips TP on 2 currencies in one day, giving me around ~$300 from memory.

And how can you trade with 5 pips of risk? Is that 5 pips stop loss? I'm using 10 pips, and already everybody told me that it isn't a very smart thing to do.
10 pips stop loss is good for a beginner certainly (not saying you are a beginner but kind of sound like it). I use 10 pip stops a lot with smaller sizes if I missed the ideal entry point with larger size and 5 pip stop.
Be hopeful in a winning position, and fearful in a losing position.
  • #39
  • Feb 23, 2013 6:24am Feb 23, 2013 6:24am
Anyone can earn a living from this market, but it takes dedication and research into every aspect of the system. If you do not learn the market then it is almost impossible to make a living from it
Quoting Ishtana
The cliche image of someone who made it big in forex is the big house show off, the expensive sports car show off, the big yacht show off, etc. But notice one very important thing: You always and only see these pictures as part of a sales page! Which means they earn more in teaching or selling products than trading.

Let's think about the best case scenario. A professional trader aims for 50 pips per day per currency, and they usually get it. Maybe out of all majors and crosses, 2 gives profitable setup every day. If this person manages to...
  • #40
  • Edited 7:18pm Feb 24, 2013 12:37am | Edited 7:18pm
Hey Ishtana,
In all sincerity, before asking that question about earning a living and getting rich, first ask the following:

1. Do I like and enjoy trading?
2. Have I learned and are following a winning method with good money management rules?
3. Have I paid my dues: Spend a few years on charts, forward testing, fine tuning the edges and personalizing the method?
4. Have I read most of the great books and articles about trading?

Then you have to master trading psychology, which is going to be much harder compare to learning the technical analysis.

After learning how to trade: i.e learning what constitutes a good entry signal and trade management, the only thing that will stand between a trader and financial success is the trader himself.
Never Trade without a defined risk, never, never, never.
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