Forex trading is an attractive career prospect for many people, with real profit potential, and the freedom to work from anywhere in the world and be your own boss. But in order to achieve this dream, there’s a crucial question to answer: “Where to learn how to trade forex?”
Solo forex trading is still a relatively new concept, and while there is a plethora of material out there, it can feel like the Wild West. Where to start and how to avoid the cowboys? The search for up to date, high-quality information that suits your learning style can feel overwhelming. Here’s how to cut through the noise and actually learn trading the right way.
Define what you need to know
Before diving down the rabbit hole of endless Google searches, start by understanding what a good forex trading education actually includes. This will help you to sort out the genuinely useful stuff from the hype and the chancers. You’ll need to get a handle on:
- Market mechanics: What moves currency prices? (this is sometimes called ‘fundamental analysis’). How does the forex market differ from stocks or crypto?
- Technical analysis: How to interpret price action, trends, support/resistance, indicators, and patterns.
- Risk management: How much to risk per trade, using stop-losses, managing drawdowns, and protecting your capital.
- Trading psychology: How to avoid revenge trading, fear-based decisions, and emotional burnout.
- Backtesting and strategy building: How to create a system that works for you, and stick with it even when the market wobbles.
This might seem overwhelming if you are new to forex trading, or you are just impatient to get down to the business of making money. But trust us: you will have a much better chance of setting yourself up for success if you put the effort into learning these steps.
Skipping this stage is a bit like getting into a powerful car without understanding the rules of the road: it probably won’t end well. Be prepared to roll your sleeves up now and it will stand you in a much stronger position for the rest of your forex trading career. Steer well clear of anyone claiming you can learn trading in 30 minutes: you can’t.
Free online learning resources
If you are a complete beginner looking for a free introduction to forex, there’s plenty of online resources. One of the most popular free courses is Babypips.com – School of Pipsology. It’s written in a fun and accessible style, and includes learning tools such as quizzes, infographics and real world examples.
The course content begins at a basic ‘kindergarten’ level, and progresses through steadily to Graduation level. The content is comprehensive and you’ll have a good grounding in what you need to know. However, it is a theoretical introduction, and your knowledge will need to be backed up with live experience such as a 14-day free trial with a prop firm at some point.
If you prefer the interactiveness and immediacy of face to face educators, YouTube is bursting with forex creators. However, you should be very selective about what you choose to take on board: while some offer useful insights, others are surfing trends, which may be fine for more advanced traders, but it’s not where you need to be right now.
Others may grab your attention with unverified claims and unrealistic goals such as “Make a million in six months” or “learn how to be a forex expert in an afternoon”. Avoid anyone who downplays the importance of risk management or claims to have “secret insider knowledge”: they do not have your best interests at heart. Some of the advice is simply out of date.
Offline forex learning resources
If good old fashioned books are more your style, again, there’s plenty of choice. It’s easier to make well-informed decisions about books, as generally there are online reviews from credible sources that can give you an idea of the quality of the content.
Good books or audiobooks for beginners include: “Currency Trading For Dummies” and “Forex Trading: The Basics Explained in Simple Terms” by Jim Brown. Books are also an effective way to learn more about the psychology of forex trading, because they’ll be able to give you a broader depth and understanding than most of the briefer online materials.
Recommended books about trading psychology and mindset include: Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas; Trading Psychology 2.0: From Best Practices to Best Processes by Brett N Steenbarger; and Market Mind Games by Denise Shull.
Paid courses
There are paid forex courses, but as you might expect, some are worth it and some are basically scams. If the course is led by a trader who can demonstrate a verified track record of success, and is upfront about the risks and challenges of forex trading, this may be worth exploring.
Check out reviews and testimonials from other students on independent sites and forums. A paid course should be transparent about results and offer benefits such as ongoing mentorship and coaching, and lifetime access to updates.
On the other hand, avoid courses that make unverified claims about huge profits, timescales of less than three months, and do not talk about the risks as well as the rewards of forex trading. Other red flags include using pressure tactics to get you to sign up, and promoting tools and signals instead of teaching the full process of trading.
The importance of hands-on experience
So far, we’ve emphasised the importance of taking a structured approach to learning and ensuring that you have the breadth and depth of knowledge to make well-informed decisions. When you’ve got to a point where you feel that you can confidently put together and carry out a trading plan, it’s time to put everything into practice.
By this stage, the best way to continue learning is by doing. Many platforms offer demo accounts, which allows you to place trades with fake funds in a simulated market environment. This lets you test out and refine your trading strategies, and get familiar with the interface of trading platforms.
However, the lack of real-world pressure means that it’s all too easy to disregard the importance of risk management and get into bad habits that are hard to break. This can be discouraging and ultimately it can make it more difficult to become consistently profitable over time.
Learn with a prop firm free trial
To strike the right balance between pressure and risk management, consider a 14-day free trial with a prop firm. You’ll be given access to a live simulated account and professional trading software with no strings attached.
There’s also the added motivation of profit targets to hit and the firm’s risk management rules to follow, so you won’t feel as though you are just playing at it. If you approach your trial as you would if you were trading your own money and prove that you’ve got what it takes, you’ll have the opportunity to progress to the evaluation stage and beyond.
This provides you with a stepping stone to gaining a funded traded account with a prop firm. This means that you’ll be trading with the firm’s money so there’s no personal financial risk for you. The trading plans are designed to reward consistent performance over time: traders who hit their profit targets will have bigger profit shares and more funds to play with.
Most solo traders aspire to a funded account with a prop firm, because of the minimal amount of personal capital required and the low financial risk to themselves. Therefore, a 14-day free trial is the ideal way to step into the live trading arena and set yourself up for a profitable second income stream, or even a new career.
Tips for ongoing success as a trader
So you completed your free trial or maybe even passed the evaluation phase: congratulations, you have already put in a lot of hard work and effort to make it this far. To continue to prosper, some traders find it helpful to join a trading community. Trading can feel lonely and isolating, and at times you may find your confidence or motivation dips.
If you join an online trading community, you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions of more experienced traders, and get feedback on your ideas and strategies. You can also learn from the mistakes of others, or simply find likeminded people with whom you can share the stories of your wins and losses.
When selecting a community to join, scroll through the posts and discussion boards to get an idea of the ethos. If it seems competitive with an emphasis on profits over process, move on and look elsewhere. Many prop firms will give you access to their private communities and educational resources when you sign up for a free trial.
Above all, track your trades in a journal and regularly review them so you can reflect on what’s working and what isn’t. Learning forex is a continual journey, but if you start off on the right foot you’ll soon be on a steady path to profits.