Many traders like to see themselves as professionals or business people. Many of these people are business people or industry professionals outside trading and have high power job roles. When it comes to trading however, the actions that most traders take are far away from being professional and lean more on the side of a gambling.

I talk to traders everyday of the year and one of the most worrying myths and false beliefs I come across time and time again is traders think or have been told that the only way to gain solid trading experience is to trade using a live account, risking real money. I have seen this sort of myth spread in forums and around the internet myself. One unsuccessful trader has been told this myth and they then pass the same message onto the next trader coming through. The new trader takes it is gospel and on the cycle goes.

One problem with being a new trader is that every other trader out there seems more experienced and more knowledgeable.

This often leads to the new trader taking everything another trader says on board and treating it as fact.

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Whilst it is true that trading with real money brings about many different emotions that traders have to deal with and work through such as greed and fear, these emotions are only brought out when there is enough money on the line to mean something to the trader.

Trading with small amounts that are insignificant to the trader is not going to bring out emotions such as greed and fear. This is the reason that trading with small amounts does not work and is just plain gambling.

The only time the emotions will come out and can be learnt to be dealt with is when there is enough money on the line to be significant to the individual trader. When a trader trades in a live account and risks real money before working out if they are consistently profitable or not, they are not trading, they are gambling.

I have spoken to countless amounts of traders who have emailed telling me how they have been fleeced by the market and wanting help because they have not taken then trading seriously enough and treated it as the business it is! It is the business of making money. When trading as a business the trader has the odds tipped in their favour. Whilst they will never win every trade, overtime their edge will play out and they will come out on top.

When a trader trades a live account with no idea if they are profitable or not, it means they are guessing and hoping they will make money and obviously all the odds are stacked against them doing anything, but getting flogged and losing their money.

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It does not have to be like that and it should not be like that. When learning to trade and become a consistently profitable trader there is no reason to lose money. Every dollar lost whilst learning to trade is another dollar that will have to be made back to move into overall profitability. The traders that succeed are the traders who take their trading seriously and treat it as a business. The best businesses are the ones that use plans and strategic steps to implement new strategies and with trading it works exactly the same.

Forex traders are so lucky in the fact that they have some of the best demo accounts available to learn to trade with. Traders can open a free demo with many different brokers and these charts will normally move and behave in the same way as what the live platform does.

This is a super advantage for Forex traders and something that is widely underused to its full potential. Whilst many traders only use a demo account to familiarise themselves with the trading platform before jumping to a live account, the demo accounts can be used for much more.

For serious traders looking to treat their trading like a business the demo account provides a platform to become successful.

Before ever risking a cent of real money on a live trading account, a trader should know if they are consistently profitable or not. This is where the demo account can be used by smart traders. Demo accounts can be used for full dress rehearsals for the real deal. Before moving to a live account, traders can perfect their method and make the journey from struggling to profitable trader before ever risking a cent.

Once a trader has become a consistently profitable trader, they can then take the step to a live account knowing that they are no longer just guessing and hoping. As we spoke about above the best businesses are the ones that use plans and steps to implement new strategies. Once a trader has become a profitable trader using a demo account they should not then all of a sudden load up their account with all the money they have and start trading.

On a real account there are going to be challenges to face that were not present on the demo such as dealing with greed and fear.

These are new challenges that will have to be faced and dealt with. If a trader has got to this stage they know they have a method that works, and it is all about working on the mind and discipline. Instead of loading up the account and making huge trades right from the start, traders should use a step-by-step path to gradually increase their trade risk. The key with this is not to rush it and end up back at the start on the demo wondering what went wrong! If at any stage you cannot sleep or are constantly stressing about your trades it may mean you have hit your current limit and are risking too much.

Everybody has a psychological money limit and whilst this can be increased gradually over time, trying to do it all at once can cause major psychological hurdles. Many traders try to trick their minds in to thinking they will be the lucky one who makes profit right from the start.

Even though most traders have no idea what they are doing when they start out they still hold this hope that somehow they will manage to make money.

I can tell you it does not work this way and trading a live account from the start will just ensure you lose money. You may win a trade or even three in a row, but overtime you will lose what you made and more. Start with a demo.

Forget what someone tells you on some random forum and understand that whilst trading on a demo means you are guaranteed of not making money, you are also guaranteed not to lose any!

Stop Blowing Your Money Gambling on a Live Forex Account

There will always be more trades and always more time to make money. Until you are consistently profitable stick with the demo and when you are ready to make the change to live account do it in stages. Johnathon Fox is a professional Forex and Futures trader who also acts as a mentor and coach to thousands of aspiring traders from countries right around the world.

Johnathon specialises in helping traders reach their full trading potential by helping them master the art of price action trading and correct money management techniques. I agree, when I started, many traders said do a live account. I did a demo and lost because I forgot to close out 2 trades. Anybody new should start with a demo. You would be amazed how many people I talk to who email who have lost money trading live accounts when they have no idea if they are profitable or not.

Hello Johnathon I totally agree, I started with a demo account and didnt open a live account 2 years later. I do not agree with this, I think you should make up your own mind, with trading a demo account or not.

It depends on the type of person you are. I personally think that you should trade from a real account. When you have business, like I do, it from day one real, there are no demo businesses in live. So you think you should risk real money on a live account, like most do, before you are yet to work out if you have a profitable method or not?

Great article johno… I started a demo account and never even considered funding it. I traded very small amounts and built up from there.

I laugh when the broker keeps asking me if I would like to fund my account. Thanks to them I have never had too. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting. Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: Stop Blowing Your Money Gambling on a Live Forex Account was last modified: August 13th, by Johnathon Fox. About Johnathon Fox Johnathon Fox is a professional Forex and Futures trader who also acts as a mentor and coach to thousands of aspiring traders from countries right around the world.

Comments Bao Jie says: I agree with what is said here as I have experience it myself. Heya Gary, this is a very common story. Thanks for your comments Frankie! I leant from the article. Am a beginner on forest just need someone who will put me through. Cancel reply Login with your Social ID.