How to keep your job and learn to trade Forex

Looking for a way to earn money while you work? often called passive income? Maybe you would like a way to earn money while you sleep or while on vacation? Retired or about to be retired and need income? Forex is also great for Baby Boomers. I recently read that more than 50% of Baby Boomers will continue to work in some capacity during retirement to make ends meet. If stocks don’t increase your wealth, currency trading could.

But how do you learn to trade Forex if you already have a job?

1. Get started now

2. Start slow

3. Find a mentor

4. Learn to trade long term

5. Find out how the currency markets work

1. Get started now – There is no better time to start than now. You don’t need to invest a lot of money, but you will want to invest something to get the right education. This does not mean taking expensive Forex courses or joining a trading institute that costs thousands of dollars. There are many free resources, and you can find all kinds of trade information at your local bookstore; also online, where many merchants help other merchants to improve.

2. Start slow – There is no need to rush to learn Forex trading. In fact, doing so will increase your chances of failure. The failure rate is high in Forex as in any type of trading because traders are often misled about how easy it is to trade. It is easy but it is also easy to lose money. In my opinion, it should take at least a year to get informed and do a trading demo, or trade a mini or micro account.

3. Find a mentor – It has started to operate and is slow. If possible, find a mentor. This person does not need to be local. With email, texting, and Skype, your mentor could be on the other side of the world. Don’t necessarily take the first one either. In fact, you may have several people advising you. Eventually, you will gravitate to the one that is most helpful and gives you the tips to help you make money, the fundamental criterion.

4. Learn to trade long term – Many traders work all day and then return home and spend some time with wife and family and then retire to their office for a few hours of negotiation. If so, you are probably looking to score a few pips before bed. There are problems with this mindset. You can lose one trade and enter another quickly and recklessly causing another loss. You can enter a trade when the market is like water in a swamp, without moving. Learn to trade long term first. In other words, a trade that lasts for several days or weeks, allowing for the ups and downs of the market. Then if you are retiring, you can take that trip and check into the market once or twice a day and make your decisions.

5. Find out how the currency markets work – This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s not. Many traders do not understand the dynamics of why a particular currency pair would move in a certain direction and why. This is crucial and it takes time to develop this skill. Just spend a little time each day at one of the many financial sites. Learn to read to people who are not selling an agenda. Learn to get a feel for the economy and how it will affect the currency you are trading. This skill may seem obvious, but in my years of trading and mentoring, I find that most people have not developed this skill. If you develop it, you will make it successful.

These tips on how to keep your job and learn how to trade Forex will ground you in trading and allow you to establish an income for retirement. Good luck and let me know how you are.