It depends, but the answer can be as short as six months and as long as several years or more. And it's possible to achieve great success in Forex trading while taking as little as one hour per week to manage your trading account(s).
The key question to ask yourself, however, isn't how long it takes to become profitable; it's this one instead - How fast do you want to grow your capital? For example, let's say that you only need $1,000 total to invest in forex trading and you've got $500 saved up already.
Learn the basics
Before you jump into full-time trading, it's important to know some key concepts. Forex (or foreign exchange) is simply trading one currency for another (e.g., USD for EUR). A pip is used in place of a percentage when describing how much value one currency unit has over another.
The size of each pip varies between currency pairs. For example, EUR/USD has 8 pips, while GBP/USD has 4 pips. On average, most currency pairs have around 5 pips.
Because traders are constantly buying and selling currencies at different rates, they need a way to keep track of their profits or loss. This is where leverage comes in handy.
Leverage allows traders to control large amounts of money with only a small amount of capital on hand—for example, if you have $1,000 and use 10:1 leverage on your account, you'll be able to trade as though you had $10,000 at your disposal!
Keep at it!
What can I say here that will make you decide to start and keep going on your path of becoming a very profitable Forex retail trader? I guess there is nothing new or revolutionary in my answer, but that’s what you need. You need dedication and perseverance.
This is not something easy and if there were shortcuts then all of us would be wealthy with great lifestyles. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in one day and neither will your success be achieved overnight.
Sure some people are successful right away, but most of them are few and far between; definitely don’t count on being one of them. In fact, all pros I know have had their ups and downs before they made their fortunes trading currency markets.
Become disciplined
A common trait shared by most consistently profitable traders is that they have good discipline. This can be one of your most important traits as a trader. If you are undisciplined, then any sort of success in trading will elude you.
Being disciplined simply means knowing what things are important to do and when those things need to be done, and sticking with that plan no matter what.
The good news is that discipline can be learned, but only if you're willing to make trading your #1 priority until it becomes ingrained in your mind and body.
If necessary, hire someone else (like an assistant) whose sole job is to remind you of key things like regular breaks or meal times; also, consider using alerts and calendars as further reminders of upcoming trades or actions needed on charts.
Think about how much time you spend watching TV every day - how much time would you save if instead of watching TV for entertainment, you spent that time doing something productive towards becoming a better trader?
Would your income increase at all from just cutting out television altogether? What about giving up other activities such as playing video games or going out to parties/bars/etc.? Can these activities really compare to saving more money and becoming a better trader?
Try spending just 10 minutes per day writing down everything that comes into your head related to trading - everything from goals for tomorrow's trade, possible ways to improve performance in certain areas, and current problems/opportunities...just write down anything related to trading and sees where it takes you.
Set your goals
Have realistic expectations about what you can accomplish in a year. Most successful traders log 5 to 10 hours per week, which is all some people have time for. If that’s not feasible for you, set aside as much time as possible for trading and look for small gains (1 percent or less) each day.
This is more achievable than trying to increase your trade size from $10,000 per trade to $50,000 in one fell swoop, which will surely result in failure if attempted. Setting reasonable goals gives you something tangible—something that is smaller and easier—to focus on daily or weekly.
And when you achieve those goals, give yourself a pat on the back! What motivates you to continue setting new ones? When you reach one of your goals, keep going; don’t stop there. Set another goal and then another.
After six months of meeting your goals every single day, you will be amazed at how far you have come. You are now officially on your way to becoming a very profitable Forex retail trader!
Trade-in and out of the market
Make sure that your trading in and out of positions isn’t excessive. The market is like a spinning top: give it an initial push, and then let it spin freely on its own. On average, only 15% of all current positions are being traded at any one time (some days less, some days more).
It’s not uncommon for accounts with big turnover ratios to see major drawdowns as they trade in and out of their positions far too frequently. If you want to maintain profitability over time, make sure your trading stays in line with averages. As a rule of thumb, try to stick with around 20-30 trades per month.
Conclusion
In summary, after spending time on your learning curve, you should be able to turn $10,000 into $100,000 in 3 years. That's 100% return every year for 3 years. This is based on living expenses of only $15,000 per year (about 50% lower than the U.S. median income), and 15 hours of work per week (3 hours per day).
I hope that answers your question regarding how long it takes to become a profitable Forex retail trader, Robert! Good luck with your trading career! P.S.: If you have any questions or comments about my response, please feel free to leave them below. Thank you for writing in!
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