[Albert]

Hey peeps,

I’ve been looking into active trading, primarily intraday setups and have been tip toeing around how seriously to take it. I guess one question I have is how much money realistically do you need to day trade properly for a living?

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[Stephan]

How long is a piece of string 😂

Sorry I know that’s not helpful!

But this is difficult to answer because it will depend on various things. 1. What are you trading? If you want to buy and sell US technology stocks direct for instance then you’re going to need a fair amount, yet forex is more accessible generally. 2. How much do you have? Obviously the more you have at the beginning the larger and more varied positions you can take and the greater the potential returns. 3. What broker are you planning to use? They all differ but many have come down in starting investments over the years and you can get started with a few hundred dollars.

I doubt anyone will be able to give you a specific figure but if you’re looking for something, we’re talking thousands not hundreds.

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[Albert]

Hey, yeah I know it must vary lol. Mainly interested in currencies and softs but planning to use contracts for difference which seem to be what most brokers have anyway so I can obviously leverage my positions.

I mean I have a few thousand I can put to it but do I need all of that or can I get away with less?

Broker wise I use a couple at the moment (Capital.com and Pepperstone).

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[John J]

Albert, where are you based? If you’re in the US like me then you might need $25K if you meet the threshold of pattern day trader. That is for a margin account mind which you may well be considering?

Not sure what the regs are outside the US.

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[Albert]

Hey, I’m in Ireland so I don’t think I need to worry about that US rule but thanks nonetheless.

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[BTC Ben]

$5000 minimum. Just be prepared you might lose it all 🤣

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[RHTrader]

When I first dipped my toes into day trading, I made the mistake of thinking I could turn a small amount of money (around $250) into a fortune overnight. Spoiler alert – that did not happen.

Day trading isn’t like playing penny slots, it’s much more like high stakes poker. You need a decent amount of capital to weather the inevitable ups and downs without getting wiped out.

I started with a small account, thinking I could grow it steadily, but I quickly realized that my gains were being eaten up by fees. So to have a realistic shot at day trading success, you need enough capital to cover not only your initial trades but also any potential losses (and there will be many).

The exact amount is going to be different for everyone, but I’d be thinking $5-10,000 not $500.

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[Intraday Insider]

Yep, it’s the fees people don’t talk about.

They are so important when you day trade and lots of firms make it almost impossible with the size of the spreads and commissions so you need to go in with a healthy bankroll.

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[Christian Harris]

This is an interesting question, but I don’t think it’s necessarily the right way to look at trading. Having a large account balance isn’t a guarantee of success.

Instead, look at percentages and scaling.

If you can consistently trade with a small account, you can scale up using the same strategy.

Fractional share trading and leveraged forex trading allow you to test your strategy with a small account balance of just a few hundred euros.

So, if you can consistently generate a monthly profit from a small account, you can add more funds to increase your returns, as the percentage ratios will be the same.

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