Hello readers, hello subscribers. I can’t believe I’m writing my last blog post of the year. I have said this before that anyone who blogs does it for the readers. The aim of blogging is to share information with those who might need it. If I was blogging for myself, I would have posted all these blog posts on my wall or under my mattress *smiles* (not the FB wall but the actual wall at home in my bedroom where access is limited)
I decided to write this post to extend my gratitude. Thank you for hanging out on this blog. Thank you for giving me a chance to share my past mistakes with you. I have tried to keep the content on this blog as practical as possible. Most of the tips that I shared are not from researched information but are from my own experiences.
I know the tips have assisted a lot of people and most people have since changed how they view Forex trading. I have also tried to answer the frequently asked questions like how much trading Capital one can start with. I have shared tips on how to trade for a monthly income. I also get a lot of questions about whether it is a good idea to quit your job to trade Forex, I have shared some insights on this topic as well, you can check this post HERE. Some people just wanted to know if Forex trading is legal in South Africa.
I haven’t posted much lately. If you subscribed recently, I know you haven’t received weekly posts consistently. I promise to come back in 2019 to share more tips. Thank you for subscribing, thank you for reading and sharing my posts. Thank you for referring your friends and thank you for signing up for my private lessons & mentorship. I know I have met most of my mentees from this blog. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you again till we meet again in 2019 with more practical tips and weekly economic news updates. May you all have a blessed festive season and please do stay safe. If you are in South Africa, kindly stay away from the “Idibala” dance on the road, hahaha. Cheers guys.
Hello readers, it’s been a while since I published a blog post. It’s towards the end of the year and it’s been a bit hectic on my side. I thought I should pop in today and answer this frequently asked question about whether Forex trading is legal in South Africa or not.
Forex trading can provide a great opportunity to increase one’s income streams. People are trading for different reasons. Some people are trading just because it seems to be popular. The people who trade for that reason are usually very clueless about what is expected from them in order to succeed in trading and they make up a huge percentage of people who are failing dismally. “Side note” to this group “Forex trading is not the screenshots that are circulating on social media”. Before investing money in Forex, one must acquire a proper skill. There a people who are trading for a monthly income. But before you think about firing your current boss just because you just found out that Forex trading is legal in South Africa, make sure you read this post HERE.
Forex trading is legal in South Africa as long as it is done within a regulated environment and participants are legal citizens with a South African Identity Document or Passport . There are Forex Brokers who are providing traders with trading platforms where the buying and selling of currencies or any other financial instruments that they may offer takes place.
Because Forex trading is legal in South Africa, Forex Brokers are compelled to be registered with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) formerly known as the Financial Services Board (FSB). When a trader funds his/her Forex account using his/her local credit/debit bank card, the same method should be used to withdraw money from the Forex account until all the money that was deposited from the card is returned. To withdraw profits, Bank wire is the preferred method used by most brokers especially those that are international brokers but also regulated locally.
Withdrawing money from the Forex account via bank wire involves the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) as the banks do require the reasons why there’s money coming in to your bank account. This should be proof enough that Forex Trading is indeed legal in South Africa. Plus a Forex Trader/s should declare the income with SARS (please do speak to a tax practitioner for more on this subject if you have been trading profitably). Should you want to open an account with one of the regulated Forex Brokers, you can find them on this post HERE. Thank you for stopping by, please kindly share this post with your peers and friends.
How You View Your Forex Account May Affect How Your Performance
Welcome back after a few weeks of not publishing any blog post, I thought I should just pop in to share a few practical tips on how to manage your Forex account. We are getting closer to the end of the year. A week ago I was talking to some of my mentees about the power of the mind when I was preparing them for live account. I was saying to them that how they think will have an impact in how they treat their Forex account. I will try to keep this post very short (hopefully so) and straight to the point.
We all started our trading journey with one common goal which was to make money (still is the main goal). Most of us did not really have any idea of what will be expected from us in order to reach that goal. We were never taught about the fact that trading will require us to be able to manage ourselves and keep our emotions in check. We all learn that along the way. If you are reading here and you are still struggling, just know that it is very possible to overcome yourself (these emotions are yours akere). I’ll give you 2 tips today that have helped me in my own trading journey. You can choose how you’d want to view your own Forex account using the tips that I am about to share.
I have my favorite saying which is “my account, my rules”. I always say this even to my mentees when they start sounding like they want me to take decisions for them (giggles). I always tell them that they must create their own rules “their accounts, their rules”. A few years ago when I was still trying to figure out different ways to keep this as real and less stressful as possible, I decided to view my account as a business and also as an investment. Let me share this in detail.
1.View it as a business
I am aware that a Forex account is not really classified as a business. If you can actually decide from today to view yours as a business like I did, you will witness a huge mindset shift in terms of how you treat it. If you can make your mind to believe that your Forex account is a business, you’ll be likely to apply all the principles that we apply on businesses. Principles like keeping the records of your stock, knowing how much you spend on your stock, how much do you pay for other required services to keep your business running smooth and so forth.
Imagine if you can get your mind to think on that level, you can definitely see change. If you view your Forex account as a business, you will also understand how important it is to nurture it like we do with other businesses. Most traders fail not because they can’t trade, not because of their trading strategies but because of their emotions and the fact that they view their accounts as a cash cow of some sort. Viewing mine as a business has shaped my mindset and has worked wonders over the past few years. I don’t really care much about the fact that Forex account is not classified as a business. In my books and for this purpose, it is. My account, my rules. Try it and see if it won’t work.
2. View it as an investment
Viewing it as an investment will simply mean that you will appreciate every growth that you see in your account because investments are unpredictable akere (I just could’t say this without my adding my favorite word). If you view your account as an investment, you would never complain about not doubling your account every second day. You will also understand it as this one investment where you are actively involved in its day to day growth. You’ll always be happy even when you manage to make only 5% per month. Consistency will matter the most to you. You will also understand that you won’t be making exactly the same percentage month after month and you”ll be OK with that. There are some traders who are very unhappy even when they are actually doing very well. They just can’t recognize their own greatness. A happy trader is a well performing trader. Try this as well and see if it won’t work.
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I always try to provide practical solutions/tips and I hope this one helps as well. If you find it helpful please share it with your peers. Thank you for stopping by.
If there’s one frequently asked question but the most difficult one to answer is “What is Forex trading all about”. I always find it difficult to respond to this question simply because there is no one straight line answer to this question. It also takes a lot of my time just to try and explain it and I usually do not have enough time to do that because one question leads to another. I have also realized that most Forex blogs are filled with jargon and they are not as easy to understand for those who have no clue of what Forex is. As usual, I decided to explain this in the most simplest way which is through providing answers to the frequently asked questions because sending someone who is asking me to Google it is not necessarily assisting. I hope this will help.
What Is Forex?
Foreign Exchange popularly known as Forex/Fx is a global currency market with a current daily traded volume of $5.3 Trillions. In it, traders like me invest in the strengthening of one currency Vs the weakening of another. We Buy and Sell various currencies and other types of financial instruments that are available for trading. There is no recession in Forex market as investors can make money even from the weakening of the currency unlike in stock markets where the investor buys a share and only makes money when the share price appreciates. See the difference between these two markets HERE.
Who Can Participate in Forex?
Big financial institutions who are trading billions and also individuals who are trading a few hundreds/ thousands of dollars can participate. Just to give further explanation, most people participate in Forex but they just don’t know that what they are doing is actually Forex. A typical example would be someone who is not necessarily a Forex trader who is travelling to Australia from South Africa. When this person gets to Australia, he/she will be required to exchange the South African Rand to Aud (which is the Australian Currency) in order for that person to be able to spend their money in Australia. This person has just participated in Forex. But this is not about travelling but about Forex trading. So in short, in Forex we buy and sell money and there’s always two different countries involved. An example will be buying EURUSD which is Euro Vs US Dollar. As long as there’s money exchange, they’ll always be Forex.
Where Is Forex Done?
The buying and selling takes place in a virtual online platform which is provided by a Forex Broker which should be a regulated Broker, for the safety of your funds.
What Are The Requirements?
Because all the activities are done online, one needs to have a computer and internet connection. A bank account and of course to transfer the money to trade. You do not need to have a special bank card in order to add funds to your account as you can always opt for bank wire to deposit funds to your account. You must also be of a legal age (18+).
How Much Capital Can I Start With?
With some brokers, you can start with as little as $30 and most will say $100 minimum. But of course you stand a better chance of creating an income when you start with a bigger capital. See this post HERE for some suggestions.
Can I Really Make A Million Through Forex Trading?
Definitely, you can make even more than that. You just won’t perform miracles like turning a $100 into a million in a week (another comforting lie that most people would rather hear). See this post HERE for realistic goals.
Is Forex Trading Legal In South Africa?
Yes, Forex Trading is legal in South Africa and many other countries.
How Does One Get Started with Forex Trading?
You’ll have to register and open an account with a Forex Broker. Forex Brokers are the one’s who provide the platforms where we do all these transactions and they do offer a dummy account (demo account) which comes with virtual money to practice with. Once you know how to trade, you can open a real account where you’ll deposit your real money and start trading.
Is there any course that one needs to take to learn how to trade?
There should be a learning process of course. It all depends on the individual needs. The net is flooded with lots of Forex trading information. If you go online and just type Forex, you’ll see thousands of sites that are providing Free information or even free lessons. Some sites will tell you that using 1.2.3 doesn’t work and some will tell you that 1.2.3 works better. The reality of it is that there is just so much noise and to filter the noise out and only learn what you need to learn, the best way would be to find yourself a good mentor who can take you through the Forex Trading journey. It can be difficult to know what you don’t know. It is a fact that if you want to take a “short cut” in learning any skill, finding a good mentor will provide you with just that because you get to avoid the mistakes that they may have made and some difficulties that they may have encountered on their own journey. So you basically get training which is bundled together with a little bit of their bad experiences of which you should avoid (provided you do listen to your mentor though).
Can I learn how the Forex market works in just two days?
NO!!!!, you definitely cannot and I am aware that what I just said is a comforting lie that everyone would rather hear. Just like any skill that you may wish to be good at, you will need way more than just a seminar, 2 days, a week or even 4 weeks of learning. But once it is done, this is one of the skills that you’ll never regret ever learning.
Can One Make An Income Through Forex Trading?
Definitely, it can be done. But also understand that your earning potential will be highly linked to your start up capital as well.
I hope I have managed to answer most of your questions about Forex Trading. If you think so, kindly share this post for more people to see. Should you need a mentor, you can check my private lessons & mentorship HERE. Thank you for stopping by. Cheers for now.
Why Is It A Must To Choose A Trading Strategy That Suits You?
Hi, if you just stumbled upon this blog, you are welcome. If you like what you see, please do subscribe for my weekly posts. To subscribe, look for the “Subscribe” button on the sidebar, put your email address and click “Subscribe” you should receive an email to confirm your subscription (email could be on spam folder). Click on the subscription link to confirm and you should start receiving my posts in your email whenever I publish a new post. To my subscribers, thank you so much for showing interest in my blog posts/Forex tips. You give me the reason to continue sharing.
Today I want to talk about something that might be your biggest downfall. We are mostly introduced to Forex Trading through social media where we are invited to some seminar. Forex seminars are all about introducing us to the idea and not really about the realities of trading. Most of us just dived in without understanding what is expected from us or what to expect except the money making part.
There’s one Forex market and thousands of ways to trade it. There is no one way to trade the markets but there’s definitely that one trading strategy that suits your lifestyle and personality. I am all about sharing my own experiences and practical solutions/tips that will help to improve your trading no matter how you choose to trade. But since I am the author here, I will refer a lot to how I personally trade and how it has made my life easier. Of course this has everything to do with me choosing a trading strategy that suits my lifestyle and personality.
Do you know the kind of person that you are?
You cannot separate yourself from being a trader. There’s only one you. Your personality plays a big role in how you’ll perform with your trading. I have been trading for so many years and I have tried lots of methods which in the end were not really accommodating my lifestyle and personality and that led to frustrations. When I finally found the one trading strategy that suits my personality, I never looked back. When I decided to offer my coaching services, I knew I had to cater for the individuals who are also like me. Read more about my private mentorship HERE.
Mind your lifestyle and personality
Let’s say you are a trader who also has a 9-5 job, a business or still studying. Clearly you cannot afford to stay up all night babysitting your trades. You really need to consider a trading strategy that will not require you to stay up all night, or a trading strategy that will not require you to stay glued to your trades the whole day. You definitely need a good night sleep for you to be able to concentrate in class, function/perform well in your job or business. It makes perfect sense right? These are the people that I cater for, the people who are like me. We want to trade but we also do not want to be consumed by it as we also have a life to live. Not everyone is like us though. All I am saying is, you need to look at your lifestyle and your personality. If how you trade right now is not accommodating those two, you are probably feeling miserable already, hence you need to re-think your plan.
This post is not about which trading strategy works and which one doesn’t. I don’t know how you trade and I am not here to tell you how you should trade. It is all about whether you can work with your chosen trading strategy or not. Does is suit your lifestyle or not? Does is accommodate your personality or not? If it doesn’t, the time to change is now. No matter how great that trading strategy can be, if it doesn’t accommodate you and your needs, then you shouldn’t use it.
A great example of this would be someone who wants to trade all day at random times, that person cannot juggle a job, school, business, parenthood plus trading, remember there’s only one you. That person cannot survive trading with me because as mentioned above, my method works better for someone who wants to have a life apart from trading. Finding out should not be a challenge. Just ask yourself these two questions. Does it suit your lifestyle and does it accommodate your personality? If it does, you’ve won the first battle and the next step would be to practice it over and over again without breaking until you cannot get it wrong.
To me, it makes no sense to switch from one strategy to another while overlooking your lifestyle and personality. How are you going to master something that makes you so miserable? Before I decided to consider my lifestyle, I was always so grumpy my son even said I control the mood in the house. If you are keen in knowing how I stopped all the chaos and drama that was going on in my life at that time, you may like to read this post HERE. These are the tips that you can use to make your own trading less challenging. Thank you for stopping by. I hope this helps. If you think it does, it means more people need to see it. Please kindly share with your peers.
Almost every trader that I’ve spoken to knows that greed can really mess up with one’s account, but none of them seems to be getting over their greed. I thought of putting up this blog post because I understand how challenging this can be. I have suffered from the same and I can now share a few tips on how you can overcome it. With most traders, greed starts as envy and progresses to greed that you can’t control. Don’t worry though, I overcame it and you can definitely overcome it. My mentees and I gave it a name, we call it “Tom’s tendencies”
What exactly is greed?
According to its definition, greed is a selfish want for something beyond one’s need. Greed is when you are unable to control the urge to keep on trading even when you’ve actually exceeded your daily target. You just keep wanting more and more until you give away all your daily profits at the end of the day plus half of your capital or even all of it.
How does greed start?
When you don’t treat your trading account as your personal affair but share it with everyone who gives you a hint that they also trade. I know this because that is how my own greed started during my early days of trading. I used to follow every page as long as I saw the word “Forex”. To me, the word had an ability to create all sorts of unrealistic expectations. You cannot blame me though because almost all the groups I joined portrayed it as the easiest way to make millions spending just few minutes on your smart phone. This girl right here wanted to make it big fast and quick just so she can also fit in with other children. Little did she know that she was about to face a long and rocky journey ahead of her.
You know when you follow every Forex group that you come across, you meet some traders who are pure gamblers but because it is easier to follow a bad trend than to do the right thing, you are likely to mess up your own trading plan and follow none of it. When you see other traders posting their screen shots showing their profits and lot sizes making you feel very envious and end up following their footsteps, neglecting your own trading plan in the process.
The best thing that I’ve ever done for my trading journey was to remove myself from all those groups. It helped me to focus on my own account (which was very small at that time) and my trading plan. Yep, all the noise was filtered and I could focus (which is what I needed anyway).I really had no business increasing my Lot size like I used to. It was all because I was envying other traders and my envy was soon turned into greed. All that got me was nothing but pain and losses. Margin call was the order of the day and it was a normal thing to me. Stop the envy, focus , focus and focus even more without adding unnecessary pressure to yourself. Forget about your friends, they are not contributing any cent to your trading account akere (sorry I got tempted to use my favorite word,please allow me to)
Accept Your Account As it Is
By accepting your account as it is, I mean that you need to understand that if you only invested $500 in your trading account you may not be able to make the same returns as someone who invested $5000. You also need to accept that there may be some restrictions in terms of the financial instruments that you can trade. You may wish to trade Brnt Crude oil , DAX or other stock indices but only to find out that they are too expensive for your account and you can’t afford to trade them, accept that.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with not trading all the financial instruments that you see on your market watch. Actually, you can even do just fine trading one currency pair. Relax and accept your account size it is and treat it accordingly. One of the realities of trading is that your earning potential is highly dependent to your start up capital (I know someone might just stop reading right here because the comforting lies sound sweeter than the reality/truth). The reality can be very unpleasant. Work out your own trading plan, do not just do that nje (my favorite word again) follow it without compromise.
Is It Difficult To Overcome Greed?
Anything, I mean anything is possible when your mind is made up. Make up your own mind and you can easily overcome greed. I did and you can do it too. Thank you for stopping by, kindly share the post with your peers.
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