Anyone can trade, but not everyone can trade successfully. If you want to be a successful trader, it will take time and effort and a lot of practice. You can start out trading with no experience at all, but make sure you have set yourself up with enough funds and ensure you have the right plan in place. That way you will be able to gain experience before you start trading full-time.
It is a good idea to trade part-time for at least six months in order to gain the experience you need to make it a profitable venture. With that in mind, let’s look at the best way to go about gaining experience before you finally become a serious trader.
Knowledge
There is a lot of knowledge to be gained about trading and, fortunately, this is all easily accessible online. So start by reading as much material as you can find; watch videos, do tutorials, read tips from the pros and look at examples of trading plans. Learn how the markets work, how to trade, what affects the markets and how to approach global news when trading. There are free investing apps for different types of investors you can try to identify which investment is best for your budget and risk appetite.Take your time with this step. It may not feel concrete, but the knowledge you gain here will help you going forward.
Learning to Trade
In order to learn how to trade you will need to practice. Begin by choosing a brokerage firm. Read testimonials and choose a safe firm to work with. You can then open a free demo account where you can practice trading. These accounts allow you to trade on real trades without using real money, allowing you to see real outcomes, but without the risks. You can then work on your strategy without having the pressure of making real money profits. Making real trades without the stress that comes with a real money account, gives you the time and patience to optimize your trading plan. Once you are seeing consistent success with your trades, you can move to a real money account and begin trading for real.
Gaining Experience
Of course, the best experience comes from practicing real-life trades. Most traders will not begin to see significant profits from their trading for at least a year. While it is important to begin with a demo account, you will need to move onto real trades at some point. Even then, your successes are likely to be patchy; however, over time this will improve. As with any job, the best experience is on-the-job experience. If you treat trading like a business, with all the research and business plans that need to be put in place, you are setting yourself up right for success.
Photo Credit: francisco.j.gonzalez
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