The importance of money management

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On the market, the trader is always risking. As a rule, a beginner thinks little about it and my afford to risk without further thought, suffering critical losses. With time, when the trader gains experience, they begin to realize that there is something wrong to it. In trades, the trader loses more than earns, thought there might be more profitable trades than losing ones. Analyzing the history of their trades, they see that they make an insignificant profit, while the losses are substantial. Now let us figure out how we can reverse the trend and carry out large profitable trades, limiting losing ones. This is what money management is meant for.

The main goal of money management is to save money and minimize losses. It is no secret that the risk to profit ratio must be in favor of the profit. It sounds logical, but what with the numbers? There are many opinions on this, but the optimal strategy is never to lose more than you can afford. If you cannot minimize losing positions, you need to minimize losses on them.

The most widespread profit to risk ratio is 3:1. This means that of three earned points the trader may lose just one.

👉 To find more information about money management, please see this article.

Example

The trader opens a position on which they plan to make a profit of 120 points; in this case, their maximal loss cannot be over 40 points. The numbers may alter in accordance with the situation, but anyway the potential profit should be in proportion with the possible loss.

Apart from the profit to loss ratio, there are many other rules of money management, such as risk on deposit. Ideally, the overall sum that the trader may risk at one trade may be 1%, 2%, or more. However, looking more critically, a risk of 2% per open position provides optimal trading. At the first sight, this ratio seems quite hard to keep to, but try using a calculator and seeing the real numbers.

Example

Imagine the trader has a deposit of 10,000 USD. The trader decides to open a trade sized 1 lot for EUR/USD (for easier calculation, let us consider 1 point of price movements equal 10 USD, this sum will differ depending on the currency pair and currency rates). Now, we have a deposit of 10,000 USD and a 2% risk on trade, which means the trader may afford to lose 200 USD or 20 points. If this risk is not in compliance with the trading strategy, the position being opened must be reduced in size. If the trade is opened or 0.5 lot, we increase the amount of points risked while the sum of 200 USD remains unchanged.

Let us go on with calculations. If the trader makes a profit, they remain satisfied and things go on. However, we are calculating possible losses. If 200 USD is lost, only 9,800 USD remains on the account. In the next trade, the trader may also incorporate a risk of 2%. With the current balance, it makes 196 USD; if the risk is more, the rule of 2% will be broken. And then we go on counting this way, incorporating a risk of 2% from the balance in each trade.

Another important criterion for beginner and inexperienced traders is the number of positions opened simultaneously. One or two positions opened at once will be the best decision. More open position will make risks much harder to control.

Apart from what we have mentioned, there are many other options of minimizing losses and trading without excessive risks. For example, even before they start trading, the trader can define the conditions that will make them close all operations for today.

Such criteria may be:

  • Time for trading - 3 hours
  • Sum earned - 600 USD
  • Overall losses during a trading session - 200 USD (based on the ratio 3:1)
  • More criteria may be added, such as the number of opened orders or something else. If any of the conditions is fulfilled, it is recommended to stop trading for today.

👉 More profound information about models of money management you can find here.

Bottom line

Regardless of the sum that the trader has on the deposit, money management will help if not fully eliminate losses then minimize them and remain with a profit. Analyzing the statistics of successful traders, we can see that even they cannot avoid losing trades, so you should keep calm and control your emotions.

This article was submitted by Dmitriy Gurkovskiy, Financial Expert and Author at RoboForex Blog