You can become part-time Forex trader with your full time, 9 to 5 job, whenever you want. It is only a decision you need to make, and that is Forex truth.
But if you make that decision, you can become Forex full time trader with time and effort.
I think that you have answered this trading question because you are already searching how to make that happen. If not as a Forex full time trader then at least as a part-time trader.
Even though it is not easy to find a spare time with your full time day job, and if there is a family with small kids then it is even harder to find spare time but you need to give more to succeed.
Early in the morning you want to sleep or you need to prepare the kids for school and after the work there are kids which demands to play with them.
Wife or husband wants you to give some time to socialize together and maybe there is some job to do around the house or to buy groceries.
But there is a way to realize that and it only depends on your will and how determined you are. You will need to make a decision and make priorities.
To make that decision easier and to make a good plan I have made a list what you can do to make it happen and what is there for you when you decide to pursuit that dream.
Contents
Stay on Your Daily Job as a Part-Time Trader
Maybe you did not think I will say this but it is somehow correct. It is wise move to stay on your day job while trading on the Forex market.
If you do not know many traders lose their money by trading on the Forex market. The reason behind that is they are to much in front of the screen.
If you have read about the trading you have find that many people suggest that you do not look to many to the charts. And there is a good reason for that.
When you are all the time in front of the screen you will for sure open some trade just to look at it how it brings you money. But when the trade is losing one then you stress and make yourself nervous. To frequent trading will lose your money.
On the other hand, day job is good for secure income. You need to live from something and you need money for Forex.
If you do not have stable income you will see Forex as only income stream where you will be forced to trade. Forcing something in Forex will lead you in bad direction.
You need to free you mind from this forced thinking about the money. Until you find solution how to stay calm in trading you should not start trading on the Forex.
Problems Part-Time Trader Have While Doing Daily Job
If you are already a Forex trader with full time daily job and you are not successful then you have one of these problems:
- No strategy
- You do not have a plan and structure how to trade. There is no trading pair which you follow, no time frame you are watching for signal, no clear entry and exit strategy
- No goals
- Without goals, small ones that drives you to big ones, you are lost and jumping around. You cannot see the big picture and you are demotivated because there are no results from your trading
To overcome those problems you need to calm down and be strategic. Be a trader that makes almost everything automated so you do not need to much time for trading.
Part-Time Trader Style That Suits You With Full Time Day Job
Without trading strategy you should not bother being a part-time trader with your full time day job. You cannot succeed in this business without profitable strategy that guides you to success.
The trading strategy must be profitable so you can earn money and not to lose it. Also it must be the strategy made for you where you feel good when following that strategy.
You do not want to have a strategy that tells you open the order at the noon when you are not available. Or open an order with the 1.00 Lot when you know that you do not feel comfortable with so large lot size.
So, the strategy must be inline with you and tailored for your available schedule. That strategy can be for the day trading or for the long term trading, called swing trading.
Part-Time Forex Day Trader
Part-time Forex day trader can be a trader with full time day job where the decisions are made at the start or at the end of the working day. You need to pay attention that you are fresh after working hours because you need to make a decisions that are important for good results.
Day trader spends and hour or two to analyse the market and prepare trading ideas for the next day. Day trader can trade at the evening or in the morning if he have time.
So, if you can trade an hour or two in the morning or at the evening you can take a look into Forex market when is open and see which pairs are traded at that time. Another site is Forex Factory, the forum where you can see which market is open and when.
Part-Time Forex Swing Trader
If you want to be part-time Forex swing trader then you will need less time per week because most of the time you will spent on the weekends. On the weekends you make an analysis of the market and prepare trading ideas for the upcoming week.
The trades are executed when the market opens, in the morning or the evening after the work. The advantage of swing trading is not watching the market each day but only few times just to see does the market moves in the predicted direction.
If the market does not move in the right direction you can react and adjust your open position which will take small portion of your time.
Forex Data at the End of the Day
If you are Forex day trader or swing trader the data you see at the daily close or weekly close is the most important data you can have on the chart.
The close must be on the New York time when the final day’s settlement takes place between the bulls and bears. The New York closing time is 17:00h New York.
At that time the chart candlestick patterns are the most accurate with highest probability of correct move of the market. By using them you can have great chance of wining.
You do not need to read candlestick on lower time frames which allows you to spent less time analyzing the market. By using less time analyzing the market you can avoid over-trading and over-analyzing which could led to bad results.
Trade Less and Make More Money
If you become day trader on daily candles or swing trader you will trade less compared to day traders who trades on smaller time frames. Less trading means you will open smaller number of trades.
By doing so you will avoid one common mistake traders think that is good. And that is over-trading where you open a lot of trades in short period.
Over-trading is a trap where many traders fall into and lose all the money. Do not think that trading more will give you more profit. Instead think to open less trades with larger outcome. That way you will earn more money by spending less time on the screen.
Over-trading can cause you to open trades that are not fully by the trading strategy. Leading your account to zero and then frustration that kicks you out of the market.
Be consistent on the long term and that is much more reachable with less trading and trading on the larger time frame. That way you should practice patience and discipline which are major characteristic of a professional trader.
Trade Smart With Trading Strategy
The trading strategy that is inline with your personality and your free time should prevent you going from one idea to another one. This problem many traders have and you would surprise how many traders do not have a trading strategy.
Many traders enters into trade just by looking into the chart without confirming other steps, like candlestick pattern, support/resistance level etc…
Some traders develop trading strategy which they follow for few weeks/months and then follow another one.
Those traders mostly do not see any progress and they destroy their account. They cannot move forward because they do not know where they were wrong.
Have a Trading Journal
You need to have one trading strategy which you will follow for the next year or more. All the trades you open should be recorded for analyzing.
In the journal you should record your thoughts you had when you spot the signal. Save the image with the entry, image with the exit so you can see which pattern you have used.
Whenever you have a losing trade you should analyze that trade what went wrong. Where was the wrong decision or maybe the market did not obey the rule like you have predicted.
If the trading strategy is not correct you can fix it based on the new knowledge and improve your trading results on future trades.
In the future when the similar pattern happens you will know was it profitable or losing in the past. By doing so you can improve your success rate on each trade.
Imagine what you can have after a year of recordings. You can have a great database with correct signals on each trading pair with the success rate.
Be Better Version of You
Being better version of you as a Forex trader you need to have a trading strategy and journal. Without them you will be lost as a trader and you will lose your money.
If you trading strategy is not profitable you can make some steps to make that strategy better. If you trading strategy is profitable then you need to find is there something else that prevents you to be profitable. Many traders have a trading strategy but they have other problems.
I will show you here some of those problems and maybe you find yourself in them. If you do find yourself in them, you need to change your self and here are few steps to do that.
Be Adult and be Responsible
As an adult you have obligation to be fair and responsible. In trading you need to be responsible for your decisions and you should accept when you make a bad decision.
In life we all make bad decisions and move forward by avoiding same mistakes. To avoid same mistakes in Forex trading you must be disciplined.
Follow your trading strategy and do not wonder around looking for fast results with some other trading strategies. Do not gamble with your own money which you have earned by hard working. Stick to your trading strategy and improve it until you are profitable and happy.
If you have other problems like not being professional, greedy, not motivated and blaming others for your bad trades then you need to calm down.
Sit down and write all problems you have and make a plan how to solve those problems. Solve one problem after another and you will get to the end with the list. Small steps is the main point here.
Have a Goal and Focus on Technical
If you have set a goal to make you a rich person in some period of time without backing that goal with small steps and solution how to do it, then you are doomed to failure,
In the trading strategy you are the weakest point unless you have 100% automated strategy. You will eventually make a mistake by not following the trading strategy.
You need to have small goals that are reachable so you can confirm that you are on the right track. Each goal should be one step to the final goal and that is to be rich by trading.
Make a trading a process where the trading is following steps. You need to make the goals as a steps in your trading strategy.
Goal should be that you have each month 2-6% of profit by trading. Make a sum of all trades and see that your wining trades are larger than losing ones.
Goal should be that your orders are executed as you have planned. All the signals for the trade must be written down and must be fulfilled before the trade is open.
Do not look on those trades as money earned but as a technical percentage. Money is behind all the time and when you are technically positive then you are money positive.
The goal here is to think about your losing trades and wining trades as a normal thing. Not as a failure for bad trades because you will change your mindset and you will start acting in bad way. You will change you approach that is not by your trading strategy.
Do not Lose the Time
You need to free some time even you do not have so much free time. But if you think again I am sure you will some time that can be spent more wisely.
I my case I have changed the time when I wake up. To make that happen without affecting my sleep time I have cut the TV time at the evening. I have make a decision to wake up earlier one hour to make me better person.
You need to make some changes in your life and cut some time on useless things like watching to long TV or Youtube. Make a Forex trading as a priority.
You can make a list of the things that use your time and that are not crucial for your happy life. Make a priority list and free some time for Forex trading so you can fulfill your goals.
Conclusion
Do not quit your job that easily and move to the Forex trading. Keep your income input while you are educating yourself by using Forex Trading for Beginners tutorial.
Your personality, emotions and most importantly, your lifestyle will change completely. You will be thankful for these improvement because it will help you in other areas in your life.
You can become rich by trading but the road to that finish line is a long road. Use small steps like climbing on the mountain.
Select which type of the trader you want to be and adapt to that routine. Master all the tools you need and make a trading strategy.
Take away that you should not trade to frequently, have a daily routine and time away from the screen to increase your chances being profitable.
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Thank you for the advice. I was thinking of quitting my day job and hop onto forex trading. I guess that is not a smart move. I am still trying to learn things and planning to get fx leaders to help me through my forex journey. Again, thank you for this simple yet full of thoughts article.
Hi Jayson,
You are welcome.
It is not smart to move into Forex without having successful trading history.
First learn, practice, make money and profitable trading history and then think about moving from daily job completely on trading.
Having a mentor is very useful and if you can afford one it is good decision. You will speed up your trading learning curve.