People who understand that knowledge is the key to wise investing are the people who are rich from investing. The many people who go broke investing, well, they’re the folks who thought they could read the proverbial tea leaves and ended up feeding the accounts of the knowledgeable few. Make sure you side with the few and avoid the fate of the many by reading these tips.

Before you make your first trade, take a while and figure out your personal goals. Are you just looking to supplement your income, or do you want to make this a full-time career? Understanding where you want to go with Forex is the first step in any trading venture, because if you take the wrong approach, you could end up losing everything.

Target a set percentage of your capital to risk on any given trade. If you set a standard of four percent of your capital as your risk level, you can invest less than this in the initial trade and add the rest to the trade if you are in a winning position. Stay within this amount when adding though, as there can always be a turn for the worse.

After becoming familiar with the forex market’s peculiarities a successful trader may have surplus cash on hand. It is vital to manage these profits carefully. The nature of the forex market dictates that yesterday’s profits may be cancelled out by tomorrow’s losses. Handling profits prudently can protect a forex trader from the vicissitudes of the market.

Do not make the mistake of competing with other traders. Just because someone else is making 20% return does not mean you need to immediately change your trading strategy to do better. Every trader is different. Work with the tools that work for you. The purpose is to make a profit, not to get rich tomorrow.

Stop trying every system that comes around. There is no secret formula to trading. It’s fine to research the new systems, but unless something tells you that it will be a marked improvement from your current, leave it alone. Forex trading is about following your plan and following your trading rules. Simple is usually best.

Do not place protective stops on round numbers. When placing protective stops on long positions, place your protective stop below round numbers and for short positions set the protective stop above round numbers. This strategy decreases risk and increases the possibility of high profits in all your forex trades.

If you encounter a string of bad trades on the forex market, resist any temptation to increase your liquid capital and make bigger trades to make good your losses. Bad trades are a sign that your trading strategy is no longer working. It is time to pull back and re-asses your plan, not dig yourself further into a hole.

Why do so many people fail at investing? They either receive bad information or they believe they know something the rest of us don’t. Either way, failure is failure and that is something you want to avoid. Apply what you’ve learned above if you want to avoid failure and actually win some trades with forex.