Over my 15 year trading career I have been asked countless questions about Forex trading but the questions around growing an account are the most common. These questions are probably familiar to you:
- How long do you think it will take to grow my account from $1,000 to $50,000?
- How long until I can quit my job to become a full-time trader?
- How long until I can make $20,000?
- How much can I make per month?
You may notice a theme with these questions: money. Let’s face it, a vast majority of people are attracted to Forex because of the money. That’s fine – Forex can make you money. It can make you a lot of money, but it won’t happen as fast as you hope.
Reality Check
I am sure you already know Forex is not a get rich quick scheme. A lot of traders will advocate this to lure people in. However, what many people won’t tell you is that Forex trading is a career. As with any career, it takes time to master and eventually reap the rewards. So, if you are considering becoming a Forex trader you need to ask yourself two simple questions:
- Do I have the passion needed to take on a new career and achieve success?
- Do I have the patience and diligence to get through the bumps in the road?
If your answer is no to either of these questions – well, maybe Forex isn’t for you.
Getting Rich Slow
It has been 15 years since I started my Forex journey and I have yet to meet anyone who has gotten rich fast in Forex.
I am not saying it is impossible.
But I am saying that for the vast majority of traders, becoming rich in Forex happens slowly. Becoming a successful Forex trader can be broken down into 5 steps:
- Learn the basics
- Plan & Prepare (Use a trading plan and money management plan)
- Developing your trading method
- Testing your trading method
- Updating and tweaking your trading method
- Understanding your trading psychology.
- Put everything into practice (get rich!)
Most traders would love to jump from step one to step five in the space of a few months. Realistically, you will have to go through each step and succeed in each one before you can get rich. It will take you some time.
So, overall, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that Forex is a get rich slow and steady kind of game. The good news is that you can cut into the time it will take to find success. You can find the right advice to enable you in becoming a profitable trader. That is what Forex4noobs is all about – helping you to becoming a profitable, independent trader.
If you want to check out the basics of Forex, you can head on over to the fun and interactive basics course. I also show you how to put together a trading plan in the free video course that teaches you a little about my strategy. I strongly encourage anyone looking to become a trader to research different strategies and methods of learning. We all learn and progress in different ways and no single approach will work for everyone.
So Why Bother?
Well, the fact is most people don’t get rich quick in any business or career. So giving up on Forex because it won’t make you rich quick is silly.
In my personal experience, the best thing about Forex is the freedom it provides. Unlike most careers, when you become consistently profitable in Forex you can scale back the amount of time you dedicate to work.
Over the past years I have occasionally tracked the amount of time I spend trading per week. When I wrote this post 6 years ago, my trading time was, on average, six hours per week trading. Now, my trading has further scaled back to about 4-5 hours per week on average.
Compare that to the average 8-12 hour work day and you can see that Forex is the clear winner.
Financial freedom is something we all would enjoy. But freedom to spend more of your time in the way you want is even more valuable. These benefits can turn your life around. Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking that getting to this place will take you 6 months and little work.
Okanemochi
Hi Nick,
When I log into the Super VIP area I see your course but I can’t see Fetor’s course (which I also bought). I also don’t see anywhere to post or anything else at all.
But anyway, good to have you back!
Nick
Okanemochi » Sorry for the confusion but we only switched over to a new Super VIP system recently and we have yet to do a full public release. It is very much in the beta stage right now.
You are still on the old Super VIP system. Eventually all users will be upgraded but only users who purchased Super VIP in the last three months have access to the new Super VIP system.
petros
Hi Nick, https://bullrushacademy.com/forex-blog/forex-tips/forex-get-rich-slow/#respond
I would want to Purchase Super VIPS, How do i go about the purchasing process?
adejonwo taiwo
Always refreshing advice from an experienced trader.i bet all you`ve said are the HARD TRUTH.this is my 4th year in this business and i know what you`re talking about.I PRAY IT SINK DIP INTO THE SUBCONSCIOUS OF STARTERS.just to add that one need 3 E`S TO SUCCEED:
1.EDUCATION
2.EXPERIENCE
3.EXCESSIVE CASH- AS START UP CAPITAL(not funding a fx account with $100 and expecting to make $5000 profit at the end of the month.). Thanks Nick ur method have been life saving for me.
Mcaochuka
You do not have to have excessive cash in order to succeed. What you need is know someone who has blown theirs risking too much any any amount. You could succeed with $100.00 if you have such a person.
Okanemochi
OK.
Thanks Nick.
TradeProfits
Good stuff Nick. As always..
Andraste
“only users who purchased Super VIP in the last three months have access to the new Super VIP system”
I don’t see any logic in this statement – either a system is available or its not available. What has the purchase date got to do with anything?
Nick
Andraste »
I see what your saying but the logic is quite simple and is commonly used by software and web application designers.
The new web application that allows users to view the course is currently in the beta stage. The fact that it is new means that it can have a lot of bugs. I am only allowing a small group of people to access it at the moment so they can give me their feedback and I can fix bugs. If I give access to over one thousand people I will receive hundreds of bug report emails weekly. I will also get a lot of emails from angry people saying something along the lines of “why release this if it doesn’t work”…..
As with most new software or web apps we are currently beta testing so it is not publicly available.
hickh
Top notch post Nick! I still remember starting out and thinking how fast I was going to make money. Until I started losing it of course.
I would like to say to the younger croud that I hope you fully understand how lucky you are. There’s absolutely no reason that you won’t succeed if you just take it slow. Take the following to heart!!! You do not want to be 50 and looking back saying to yourself, “what could have been”. If at 50’ish, I can take it slow, you sure can. Oh; for you smarty pants that think at 50 we have to take it slow; just 3 years ago I smoked a local highschool sprinter in the 40. Never underestimate old peoples (o:
year45
Thanks Nick. I spent the last 2 weeks contemplating if I should continue. I lost $30,000. I started with $12,000 and grew the account to $30,000 in about 4 months. Then I lost it ALL! Very scared of loosing any more but this is my chosen career. I will start over but take it slow.
Johnny TQM Jenny
This is my first time that I will post here as I feel that what Nick said is important. I want to share with everyone a trading story and why it is better to wait for your trades.
Many years ago when I was young and naive and living on Long Island I used to pass by a brokerage firm in Bay Shore on my way to the marina. The brokers would leave the door open and you can see the ticket tape. This how I got interested in trading. Back then I had no idea what the numbers and letters represented. One day out of curiosity I was standing outside the door looking at that ticket tape and one of the brokers invited me in. He told me have a sit and enjoy the show. Sitting a few sit from me was this old man. Must have been about 70’ish or more. I don’t know I was a kid and I thought everyone pass 16 years old where old people to me. Anyway, as I was sitting there this old man got up and started yelling. I still remember the words as it startled me. So did everyone else in the room. “BUY, BUY, BUY THE BACON!” One of the brokers that was sitting at his desk immediately looked over to where this crazy old man was and said, “Buy June Bellies at the market!” I think it was June or July. It was a long time ago. The old man reply “BUY 50!”. At the time I did not know what that meant. Now I know that the old man meant “Buy 50 June Bellies”. The broker picked up his phone and said something like buy 50 something something. I could not hear him but now I know that is what it was. A minute later the broker answer his phone, turned around, looked at the old man and said to him, “You bought 50 June Bellies at price…..”. The old man sat back down at his chair. I had no idea what just happen. I was just as confused as when I saw “The Crying Game”. Who the hell was gay in that movie? I went to talked to the broker that invited me in asked him about the crazy old man. He told me he comes here a couple of time a month and trade the meats. When ever he gets a buy signal he jumps up and yell BUY BUY BUY. Trade the meats? Buy signal? What, what! He told me just sit down and watch him again in about an hour. So I sat there, watching all those numbers on that ticket, still confuse but more intrigue then before. About an hour and a half later as I watched the ticket tape the old man did it again. He gets up and yell “SELL, SELL, SELL THE BACON!”. Now what? The broker that took his order turned around and said to him “SELL June Bellies at the market”. The old man said, “SELL 50!”. The broker pickup the phone, said something like “Sell 50 June Bellies…..”. A minute later the broker picked up the phone, turned around and told the old man, “Sold 50 June bellies at price…..”. Then old man then leave. Everyone in the room just watch him leave. I went to talked to the broker that invited me in. He told the story about this old man. He said a couple of times a month this old man comes in and buys the meats at the CME. Mostly he trades the bellies. He only trades 50 lots and always go for half a point or more depending on the time of day. I had no idea what this man was talking about but he told me that this old man makes a nice living doing this. Later, as I got older I realize what this old man was doing. If my theory is correct, this old man would trade off of the meat and agriculture reports and buys after the selling stop. He would wait for the trade to COME to him. Guys, “He would wait for the trade to come to him”. This is important what I am saying. You don’t have to trade everyday to make money. This old man only traded a couple of time a month. Lets do the math. He trade 50 lots. One full point on pork bellies is what, $440 or so? Half a point is what, $220. Multiply that by what, 50 lots. How much is that? Nick only trades about 6 hours a week and is making a living.
I hope you all enjoy this story. BTW, last year issue of Traders magazine they have their annual top 100 traders. One of the top traders is a DAX trader from the Netherlands or Germany, I think. He only trades a couple of times a month and takes the rest of the month off. His boss don’t mind as long as he makes money for the company. How would you like to have that job?
Johnny
Joseph
Do you remember the month dis list was released? I would like to read that article. Thanks.
fxtrader
With Forex trading you definitely get out what you put in… choosing the right times to trade and what to trade doesn’t come by luck. Put in the research and hone your trading skills and it doesn’t have to be a slow process getting rich
The Forex Koala
Good post. I have seen many newcomers who thought that forex is a get rich fast scheme.. myself included when i had my margin calls last time. Been there but i survived ! slow and steady is the key to success :)
Jassal2009
Good post. Verry verry thanx for this…i am trading for last 1 year and lost huge money ,but from last three weeks iam in proffit….
Mailgeeque
Nick is very right, there is no profession that does not need initial time investment before success and to think forex is an exception is a big mistake. Cheers
John
If it was a get rich over night scheme then everyone would be doing it and we would have hyper inflation and suddenly our new found wealth would see us where we were before we started forex.
Unfortunately (for the impatient) it is a long road. Like any trade or professional, there is much to learn and I can guarantee you 100% it is easier to burn your whole account than it is to double it. So sit back, have a beverage and listen to what the experienced people like Nick have to say.
Nick
hahaha, great comment.
Alexander Collins
Forex brokers (market makers) shows the market for newcomers as the Holy Grail. In one article I read that you will make more than your neighbor sitting on the couch.
However, it may take year before you can trade for living.
Nick
Realistically it takes several years to master Forex but you could be profitable in under a year. You simply need to start on the right path which most of us do not do.
Efewfwe
scam
Nick
You mean Forex? Well maybe I should give all my money back then…..
MrCool
what do you mean?
sumailaadamu
these are great tips, I’m going to practice friendly forex brokers
David Wilson-Holmes
Albeit a short article but nonetheless is of monumental importance. In the past looking for the magic EA and indicators has cost me a lot of grief (and money). Nick you have nailed it entirely. By far the best technique is knowing the key SR levels and the understanding of candlesticks which will betray who is in control of the market, the bulls or the bears at any given time. Larger time frames rule absolutely because they are reveal the true nature of PA movement. Add to this recipe good risk management and diligent patience and the market will reveal itself. The market will not co operate with fools and and as such will chew and spit them out by the wayside.
Alexander Collins
I see some newbie traders trading with automated software without learning the ropes and then scream that software doesn’t work. It pisses me off.
CNFINFOTECH
Thanks for the beautiful and exiting facts shared above. I am new here and will like to share my experience. Sometimes 6 Years ago I walked into a Cyber Cafe where I saw a young guy with his Laptop containing some lines, charts, graphs and dots. I went closer to him and asked what the whole was all about and he told FOREX. that was the first time I saw a REAL TRADING PLATFORM. I eventually decided to take a career in FX as I always to be free and be my own boss. I launched into learning FX and got my method tested for 2 years on a DEMO through crash and reinstalling. Later I opened a real account and was thinking of multiplying my account in a couple of days but the mistake was “GET RICH QUICK” so the account crashed as I loosed out in the market till I cannot trade anymore. I later went to the drawing board and relaunched into the main FX Market.
LESSON: I learnt that FX is not a destination but a JOURNEY in which you are getting to the destination through GRADUAL PROCESS.
mart
Thank you for sharing with the world.Truely forex is a get rich slow game.I have been back testing and demo trading for the last two years and it is untill now that I have been able to come up with a consistent strategy. Being in a position to harmonize displine,patience and self control is not a small task and definitely not something you can achive in a day.For those aspiring to become forex traders the road is not easy but with the right mind set and the willingness to learn and improve yourself there is nothing to stop you. I remember back in the days I used to be exicited by moves that made 20 pips now that is normal. As one continous to learn you will know what to expect the market to do though that can only happen if you have a trading plan.In my country Kenya athletees are aready preparing for the olympics that will be held in four years to come they know well that to win there they have to start preparing now. Those starting forex now give your self about one year and a half to develop a trading strategy and your self. Thank you NickB
Chisha Sinyangwe
Mart I’m in Kenya too and I’m learning forex. Email me so we share ideas! thanks.
Sanford Hall
This got to be a tough business, still working at cracking this one. I am used to stocks but find it difficult crossing over here.
David Skysummers
It is quite hard to change the mentality of newbies when they try their hands on trading especially fx. With all the hype n promises of EAs and forex signal provider. I’ve been reading n trading for 7 years and it ain’t good. But as long as you manage your loses properly and add position when winning. I believe the odds can change.
Just need to know where smart money goes.
Regards
David
stressfreefx
Get rich slow and emphasis on low drawdowns in the key here.
Eko Gober
forex is a high risk business, we need to do it slowly :)
i am still practice right now using free deposit account. I get 15 eur from armadamarkets
MikeVA
It’s interesting to see many others who have lost a lot but have not given up. Back in like 2007 or 2008, I started trading Forex. I had $17k invested and back then leverage was 100-1. I tried to research and learn quickly but I dove right in. I had no idea how bad overleveraging could be. I got super lucky in and I turned $17k into $50k in a week or two. I was leveraging to the hilt and had the best beginner’s luck ever. I made $10k overnight on a USD/CAD 100 pip move. That means I had $1,000,000 leaning for or against USD…I can’t remember which way I had it. I was super happy of course making $10k overnight but I could’ve lost $10k overnight. I had no idea what overleveraging could do or how fast the market can move on unexpected world events or when economic news comes out and it is not what the market expects. I found out. I lost that $50k down to about $4k in just a matter of a couple of days. I pulled out the $4k and I’ve been in and out since with $500, $1000 here and there. I KNOW I can make a go of this…I can consistently get a small investment up to double or triple…I don’t max out leverage but I am impatient and eventually make risky bets. I don’t like putting in stop limits because they get stopped out when sometimes it would have been fine if I let it breath. I am going to try to be patient and make a go of it. The returns on Forex are still 100x better than stocks, quicker too but you can lose your $#!. Hope I can eventually learn and make a go of it. I love Forex. Good luck and happy trading.
SamuelL
I still remember when I used to have margin call so often that I lost count of them. I won a lot, but came to lose them all again, continue to deposit more money and repeated this process countless times. Until last year, I fine tuned my trading style and started making profits consistently. Self discipline is important, I enter my trades “emotionless”, I set my stop loss every time. Most people have a profitable strategy, only to lose money to poor discipline. Trust me, fine tune your psychology and risk management, then have a go for it. Wish you success in fx trading!
TyBaby2005
Very nice!
Austin Foong
so,what is your new trading style?mind to share? :)
SamuelL
When I used to get constant margin calls, that wasn’t because my strategies did not work. Its because I over-leveraged, I still remember having a particular trade that went opposite my bet for less than 100 pips, then boom, I blew account. How foolish I was at that moment.
After some readings, I realised sound risk management system is the key to trade profitably. To your question about my “new trading style”, it is something so simple that you might not wanna believe at first. I simply capped all my trades to a maximum of 1% risk, in other words, I set stop loss to every single trade and make sure non of them will ever lose more than 1% of account size.
Here comes the argument, although capping risk to 1% saves me from losing much, it prevents me from earning big. Yes, but just like what this blog’s author mentioned, Forex is a get rich slow investment.
After all, what I learned from losing my entire account multiple times is, when you lose big, it is very hard to recover (E.g. If you lose 50% of initial account, you need to make 100% just to break even). So it’s not how much you can rake in with a single trade, but rather how consistent you can bring in profit.
Just to conclude again, what’s in my new trading style since I know my strategies work? It’s risk management.
TyBaby2005
Wow! This is a good story and much to learn from your experience. Did you have a good trading plan established before you jumped in the market?
Eric D
I must say the very first reason I started now some years ago to trade the FX was the freedom it provides, patience of course is the key factor in this business, now that I think about it, I remember writing an article about the false expectations traders get when first exploring this business, its title was something like “get rich quick!” of course I tried to explain the reasons that the market doesn’t care or works that way and the futility of this thinking, however it had lots of reads and clicks because of that title, it is still a powerful factor on traders mind.
TyBaby2005
I really appreciate the upfront to the point advice. This relates to any market (i.e. stocks, ETFs, Options, Futures). Thanks! Advice well taken!
LeeMilano
A good read for a new forex trader like me. I really agree that this is a good platform to make money but not a fast money. Thanks.
Trading Market Online
You should start looking for investors as soon as you start making consistent profits. PAMM accounts are the way to go. Without investors, the profits would always be too small comparing to other businesses.
Paul Preston
I’m a newbie here, and I’m liking the look of this site very much, I
have been a Trader for 18 months and all I ever do really is lose money.
I’m going back to basics and starting at the very beginning again, this
time I’m gonna do it the Forex4Noobs way.
Molly Beckett
You’re definitely right!!
Addiction hasn’t done good to anyone yet. Thanks for sharing a good story and the valuable advice!
Dennis Miole
i truly believe that forex is not a get rich quick scheme. it needs time and perseverance to succeed in this endeavor.
peter
Steady and slow win the game！
MartiX
Hi, can anybody tell me what monthly profit can be for average forex trader? Most people trying to avoid this kind of questions… can that be like 100$, 500$ or 1000$ per month? Can you get profit on every month? I know that depends on experience, etc.
Nick
It depends on your capital. If you have $100 in your trading account you will make almost nothing. If you have $500,000 you can make a lot. Nobody can possibly answer this question unless you tell them how much capital you have.
You won’t make profit every month in Forex. You will inevitably have some negative months.
Bruce A Kocher
Hi
I am a fulltime realtor and that means that my time is my own. I tried to get rich fast 8 years ago when I was trading on the news with some on line friends and we were using a proprietary software that worked fine until the broker increased the pips spread and I lost all the money I had earmarked for learning how to trade. That said I had to deal with a job loss and a new career and a kid in private school and so on ….
I was passionate about trading but didn’t have the patience nor the will nor discipline. I wanted to do this for a living. Now I have a decent career and think I can dip my toes into the pool again. I want to go slow and learn and hope someday I’ll know enough to do nothing but this. I am in no rush! Any advice?
Bruce
Nick
Hi Bruce,
sucks to hear you had to go through that! It sounds like you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. I don’t know how much you know about trading so I would suggest to brush up on your basics first! Get familiar with all the trading terms again so that when you look at strategies you don’t get too confused. This is just assuming you haven’t really looked at anything in these past 8 years though, but if you have of course feel free to skip this step!
You’ll need a strategy, so go ahead and check out my free course and strategy to get you started.
Once you’ve gone through that, I hold daily analysis on tuesday, wednesday and thursday for members, but the recordings are uploaded to my youtube channel for everyone.
No matter what you do, I always advise people to open up a demo account and use that for at least 3 months.
Hope this helped,
Nick