Who doesn’t dream of fast money and a job where you can be your own boss? I am Paul, 28 years old and come from Baden-Württemberg. In the following I will describe my personal experiences, which I could collect on the Forex market, within the last years.

So how did I get into trading? For years I have been dealing with the question of how you can earn money on the Internet or from home. I began at that time with Onlinepoker, with which I could collect more badly than right, the first positive experiences. But my actual fascination applied always to the share and currency market. After a little research I looked in the Store of my Smartphones for trade platforms with which I without risk, in form of a demo account my first trade locked could. Finally I decided for the app of “eToro“. Without any expert knowledge I set, on a whim, on rising or falling prices. But the amazing thing was that it worked and I had doubled my starting capital of 10 000 Euros in a very short time. No wonder I wanted to open a real money account. Thus I compared different trading platforms and read myself for the first time more intensively into the matter. Important criteria for my choice were the presence of the trading platform “Metatrader”, a low spread and a bonus that is worth it. In the end I decided for the broker “AvaTrade” (at that time still known under the name Ava FX). My first deposit by bank transfer shouldn’t be long in coming. So I paid 1000 Euro by bank transfer and made my first real money trades, which was incredibly exciting.

But the disillusionment wasn’t long in coming. I lost all my starting capital at AvaTrade after a short time, which made me feel incredibly bad. By the way, I had lost 1000 Euro in a short time. But why? Why did the whole thing work on a demo account, but not with real money?
Because I had a completely different relationship to real, hard earned money than to play money and also had a lot of luck. Believe me, the inhibition threshold here is much higher and not comparable with each other. The decisions that spoke for or against the execution of a trade were (at least for me) strongly influenced by this fact.

*** Register now with AvaTrade and become a successful trader ***

That’s why I didn’t want to give up for a long time. I got myself technical literature (“The Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets” and “The Great Book of Market Techniques”) and tried to internalize what I had read, hoping that my next attempt would prove to be more lucrative. So I shot the next 1000 Euro into my trading account at AvaTrade and imagined that I could beat the market with my knowledge. The problem this time was that I was firmly convinced that the market would rise (or fall) at a certain point and if he didn’t, I positioned myself again in the market to take an even bigger profit when the market moved in my direction again. Finally I had opened 20 trades and I was stopped out with a margin call, as the desired event of course failed to happen, which emptied my account again. A short time later the market turned and ran in my direction. What was the mistake in my second attempt is obvious. I had no risk or money management at all. This, in my opinion, is the greatest danger of total loss. Only those who carefully plan their trades and do not let themselves be guided by their feelings can be successful in the long run. For me, this was one of the most important insights in my career as a trader. I wanted “fast money” and was much too greedy.

I started a third attempt at AvaTrade, where I decided to act more deliberately and cautiously. I took a lot of time and deepened my knowledge more and more by watching webinars of successful traders and by being active on various forums. I risked less per trade and for the first time bet a stop-loss (don’t laugh, I know I came quite late). I also limited the number of simultaneously opened positions to three. The result, of course, was still loss trades but, and this was the deciding factor, I was also able to secure even profits. I was swinging back and forth between profit and loss and after a few weeks I was about two percent up, which was a huge success for me. Another lesson I learned was that losing trades are inevitable and part of the game.

All in all this time was incredibly exciting and a constant up and down of emotions. If you lose 1000 Euro several times, incidentally and in a few hours, you feel incredibly bad. But I was all the more euphoric when I could slowly secure my first winnings.

Today I’m still a trader and regularly make winnings that are not (yet) enough to finance my lifestyle, but a good additional income. The losses that I had to suffer I consider as apprenticeship money, which I had to invest in my education. Of course I still make small loss trades from time to time, but my behavior and my way of trading has changed considerably. I don’t sit in front of my laptop every free minute, stare at the chart and pray that it runs in my direction. I only check my current trades three to four times a day (including when I’m on the road with the Metatrader app) and can go to bed relaxed.

Finally, I can only say that trading is not suitable to get rich immediately. But with a lot of patience and caution you can actually make a lot of money and even make a living from it. The most important factor to success is in my opinion a solid money management, because so your money is protected and you don’t have to fear a margin call. Furthermore, a calm and thoughtful approach leads to sustainable success.

Experience report written by Paul, 28 years, from Baden-Württemberg