How to trade part time: How to be a part time forex trader
BY Chris Andreou
|February 3, 2022If you are like most people and work full time, but at the same time you love the idea of generating a side income, you should consider trading forex. Being able to trade forex part time and potentially making a significant side income is what attracts most people to get started in this business.
At first glance it may seem impossible to juggle trading and having a full time job but with a little organization and structuring, it’s absolutely possible!
This article is going to outline how to trade part time and how being a part time forex trader is potentially more beneficial than trading full time. As long as you’re dedicated, willing to learn and have the right expectations, you can make a success of it.
Keep reading to learn more.
How to trade part time and become a part time trader
We all have the same amount of time each day. The question is, how do we choose to spend it?
Some people prefer to spend their free time watching movies or playing videos games. Others prefer to socialize with friends and family or enjoy their hobbies and play sports.
Then there are those who like to trade forex, which to some people is sort of like their hobby as well. The great thing about this is that it has the potential to earn them a side income too. For most of these people who trade part time, it involves trading during the evenings or following the markets infrequently throughout the day.
To get started, the first thing you need to do is;
1. Pick a broker and open your trading account
There are many good brokers out there to choose from; it’s just a matter of researching them and going with one according to what features you think is important to you. TIOmarkets is a great example; theres excellent customer service and exceptional trading conditions. Also we have account type for every budget with fast free withdrawals. You can get started from as little as $10 and even try trading on a demo account before you commit.
Once you have done that, the next step would be to;
2. Deposit funds to start trading
The best amount to start trading with is an amount you are comfortable with and can afford to lose. It can be something relatively small, to allow you the time to learn or something more substantial to make things a bit more interesting.
If you choose to start with something small, you can deposit more and trade with larger amounts later on once you have some experience.
Then;
3. Decide what currency pairs to trade
If you want to be a short term trader, you should pick currency pairs that are going to be active during the times that you are available to trade. The alternative is to try to find trading opportunities in a dull market when there isn’t much price volatility. If you plan to trade in the evenings, then the most active currencies will probably be those belong to countries in an opposite time zone to yours.
4. Focus on the higher timeframes
If you are going to trade the forex market part time, then you need to keep things simple. You probably won’t be spending your entire day monitoring charts and trading with all the distractions that come from working your day job. This is where monitoring the higher time frames can come in useful. Apart from getting stronger trading signals on the higher timeframes, price action takes longer to develop. This allows you the time to focus on other things and make decisions infrequently.
5. Develop a trading plan
A trading plan is a recipe for making good trades. It can be as simple as a list of rules on the back of an envelope, or more detailed and written out like a computer program. Your trading plan isn’t a crystal ball; it can’t predict the future but it does have the virtue of being written down, so you know what to do. From this point on, you will be well on your way to being a part time trader. The rest of your time can be spent learning to be a better trader and improving your trading plan. And if your trading plan is simple, you can easily be a part time forex trader while working as well.
6. Keep a trading journal
A trading journal is a list of what you did and what you learned from the trades that you took and whether they worked out or not. When you begin to keep a trading journal, you will be able to figure out what your mistakes were and learn what works faster. This is something many traders hear early in their careers but most put off actually doing it. Consequently, they have nothing to review and benchmark their progress against and their development takes longer.
You should read over your old trade journals every week and month and look at your old trades with the benefit of hindsight.
7. Have realistic expectations
One of the biggest problems new traders have is unrealistic expectations about how quickly and how much money they can make. Don’t get me wrong, the potential to make significant amounts of money in a relatively short period of time exists in forex trading. However, the likelihood that a beginner will outperform their peers with experience, trading with small sums just isn’t realistic. You need to be able to manage your expectations from the very start or you will most likely fail as a part time trader because you are setting yourself up for disappointment. That alone has a way of making you want to quit before you reach your full potential.
There you have it, now you know how to trade part time.
Other than that, there are other ways to get involved in the forex market that doesn’t require much or any of your time.
Alternative considerations to trading part time
Part time trading is ideal for someone who wants to achieve a greater level of financial wellbeing, while keeping their full time job. At least for the foreseeable future until proven that they can make a success of it and replace their primary income.
There are however a couple of alternative considerations that are more hands-off and don’t require as much time as trading yourself.
These are just considerations that you can do instead of, or as well as trading forex part time. You can investigate these further;
Use trading signals
Trading signals are a way to start trading without having to spend too much time analysing the market. You don’t need to know as much because you will be following the trade ideas of other traders. Trading signals are a way of leveraging other people’s skill, time and experience to trade the financial markets. Whenever an opportunity in the market presents itself, you will get an alert so you can execute the trade as well.
TIOsignals app is available to download to your smartphone and comes with a free trial. To get unrestricted trading signals you will have to fund your trading account with at least $500. Other signals services usually have a monthly subscription fee, but TIOsignals doesn’t have any ongoing costs.
Use a trading robot
Most people only have a limited amount of time to work on their side projects. This can be frustrating, especially if you need to learn how forex trading works first. After that, you need to find a method and style of trading that works. The time and effort required to monitor the markets, research and back test trading strategies can be a limitation. You can overcome these challenges by using a trading robot.
A trading robot will allow you to put your forex trading on auto-pilot. It will monitor market conditions and execute trades for you whenever rules or conditions have been programmed in to it. The key is to find a trading robot that works (not all of them do) and there are many available for sale online. Just do your due diligence before committing your funds to a black box.
If you find either of these interesting, you might want to know that TIOmarkets MT4 and MT5 trading platforms have trading signals built in. Other traders in the community have published their trading performance and allow anyone to follow them. Some signals are executed manually and other signal providers are using trading robots.
You can investigate this further for yourself by creating an account and downloading the trading platform.
The benefits of trading part time and why part time trading is better
The great thing about part-time trading is that you will still be able to carry on with your normal working life when you are not trading and can enjoy the satisfaction of being your own boss. In fact, this is one of the key benefits of being a part time forex trader, you are not tied to office hours or a physical location. You can trade from anywhere, anytime, so long as you have access to the internet.
There are few activities that can be carried out part time with huge earning potential; forex trading is one of them. Trading while working and having other commitments and responsibilities is possible and it’s the best approach when starting out.
The idea behind trading part time is to generate another source of income from trading. As a part time trader, it also allows you to control your risk because you can limit your exposure to the market. For many people, over trading or eagerness to trade is a real thing that usually leads to making mistakes and losses.
The main drawback is that you have to work that little bit harder. Trading part time means that you will have less time to study the market and less time for everything else that goes into being a successful trader. You are working full-time, after all, and you need to find the time to trade as well outside of any other commitments.
It’s possible to trade part time; millions of people are doing it right now
The markets work on their own timing and all you need to do is be available to take advantage whenever opportunities present themselves.
If you want to be a part time forex trader, you need to ask yourself what you are looking for in your career as a trader. Are you happy just to make some extra money on the side, or do you plan to transition to trading full time and making it your primary source of income?
The advantage of trading part time is that there is a lot less pressure than when trading full time. Mainly because you don’t have to rely on trading profits to support yourself. With such a safety net, it means that there will be less emotional involvement as well.
Trading involves losses and you will probably have losing days, weeks and months. So you won’t have an income during those times and you will have to recover to get back to par.
Conclusion
This article outlines how you can trade part time, it is great for people who have busy schedules and can’t spend the whole day trading. You will be able to avoid the stress that comes with full time trading and having an urgent need to make money.
Having a job, family and other responsibilities is not an excuse to not be able to have multiple income streams. Trading forex part time can potential generate an extra income or be a career if you want to put in the work.
Take your knowledge further with TIOmarkets
This is where education meets excellence, take your knowledge further with our suite of educational resources and sign up to our free forex trading course. Then put your knowledge to the test on a demo or live trading account.
With TIOmarkets, you can trade more than 300+ instruments in the forex, indices, stocks, commodities and futures markets, all with low fees and fast order execution speeds.
Whether you are a beginner or experienced traders, we are committed to providing you with 24/7 customer support and the tools you need to trade effectively.
Register your account with TIOmarkets today.
Risk disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Never deposit more than you are prepared to lose. Professional client’s losses can exceed their deposit. Please see our risk warning policy and seek independent professional advice if you do not fully understand. This information is not directed or intended for distribution to or use by residents of certain countries/jurisdictions including, but not limited to, USA & OFAC. The Company holds the right to alter the aforementioned list of countries at its own discretion.
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