Is Forex Trading Easy?
Many experienced traders can make it look as if Forex is easy. Just as many professional race car drivers make what they do look easy. It takes a lot to be successful in anything.
Slava Loza Forex Trader & AnalystThe truth is, Forex is hard work to learn. It doesn’t require any special skills or qualifications to learn how to trade Forex. However, it requires a lot of time, dedication and discipline to master how to trade Forex. All you need to start is willpower and a keen interest in financial markets and economics.
Why do People say Forex is Easy?
Various online trading and Forex communities are jam-packed with members who declare with a high degree of certainty that trading Forex is easy. Unfortunately, it’s not. And, as mentioned in the opening of this article, Forex is hard in the sense that it requires a lot of time to develop skills and put them into practice.
Those who say otherwise are typically affiliates of Forex brokers who stand to gain a commission if you sign up and start trading right away. They are unscrupulous because they push newcomers to risk money before they have the necessary research to make informed decisions.
People who push others to start trading Forex before they are ready are providing the entire industry with a disservice. By giving new traders a false sense of security and assurances of success, they are not just mentally unprepared for the fact that losing some money is inevitable. Still, they are also financially unprepared as they blow their entire available capital by not expecting to lose some and win some.
Why is Forex Trading so Difficult?
If you think that it is easy to make money on Forex, it depends on what your idea of difficulty is. For example, being a firefighter is a difficult job. So compared to other jobs, yes, Forex is easy in the sense that it requires minimal physical exertion. But it does require vast amounts of studying, continuous self-development as well as plenty of trial and error.
What makes trading Forex so difficult is the constant trial and error. You need an incredibly thick skin to stick with it.
To compare trading Forex to another career; imagine being a surgeon and only 70% of your patients survived your operations. That sounds like a very discouraging success ratio. A Forex trading strategy that closes 70% of positions on target is very successful. You need to be prepared to let go of a number of your positions.
Is Forex Hard to Learn?
Many new traders approach Forex trading in a moment of their lives when they want to make money here and now. Anyone can teach themselves to learn how to trade Forex, but not overnight.
Just like you can’t learn a foreign language overnight, you also can’t learn to trade in Forex in a matter of days. That’s just not possible.
There aren’t any shortcuts, the time you waste looking for one could actually be spent learning. One of the best ways to make Forex easy to learn is to see what others are doing. We’ve developed a number of Forex Sentiment Indicators which gives you valuable access into the minds of many traders.
How Much Money can you Make Trading Forex
For a new trader to want to know how much money they can make trading Forex is a valid question. However, the question is too vague to give a reliable answer. The answer is somewhere between “a lot” and “none”. Compare this question to one like; how much money can I make by running my own business. There is no clear answer until you can start learning and developing your trading strategy.
What are the Hardest things about Forex Trading
In a lot of ways, Forex trading is easy. It does offer a gateway to that picturesque lifestyle that so many strive for. Theoretically, you can work from anywhere, be your own boss and make thousands of dollars a day.
As your own boss, you might find that you end up working harder than ever before. The idea of trading from an infinity pool might not be the best place to concentrate on market analysis; thus, you spend more time indoors. And did you know that the market is open 24-hours a day? That’s right; your shifts are potentially much longer than your previous job.
More specifically, these are some of the hardest things about Forex trading.
Losing Money
You might think that losing $50 or a $100 from a few bad positions isn’t the worst thing ever. For many people, $100 is negligible. But that feeling of failure stings, and it’s hard to shake off.
You Won’t Make Money Every Day
As a Forex trader, you aren’t guaranteed a wage. You could spend the day at the computer waiting for an opportunity to enter the market but never find it. You need to expect that you won’t be making a profit every day. Even if you make some money, it might not be enough to cover your living expenses.
No one else can do it for you
What makes Forex trading hard is that there is no path to follow. In many other professions, you learn a specific skill to do a particular job. For example, a carpenter learns how to join, or a handyman learns how to paint. If you repeat it over and over again, the outcome will mostly be the same. Forex trading is nothing like that.
How to Make Forex Easy to Learn
The best way to make Forex easy to learn is by finding the best quality educational material online. Don’t be fooled into thinking you need to pay for premium courses or content. Much of the best content online is free. The best place to start is an earlier article we published on our blog, which is called 9 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Trading Forex. You cannot put a price on hearing the experiences of other traders who have undergone the same journey you are just now embarking on.
Slava Loza Forex Trader & Analyst