When to go "Live"

A question for those experienced traders out there - who are making consistent gains - over the years.... :
When do you know you're ready to go live?
I'm demo'ing my account, a combo of EA and manual...and doing OK so far...

https://www.myfxbook.com/portfolio/fxtintin2/138896

Any thoughts?

You go live when you are consistent in your demo account. Other people even recommend getting to live account ASAP, as the psychology in trading live money is different than demo money. They suggest opening micro account and to start trading in small size after getting basics of FX market. As for me I have decided to go live when I will feel that my gains are good enough to keep me further out of red, at the moment I'm kinda improving and going towards my target. When I will be in green for a month without major breaks in my equity curve I will move to live trading.

As I have mentioned before it is my personal opinion as I have noticed listening to other people on trading forums can do great harm. The best offer which I can give is to listen whether you feel confident in your actions, if you are confident and follow your plan then just pull the trigger to go live.

I think emkei is right, you should go live soon but with a very small account with nano-lots. Trading live is different to trading on a demo account. Maybe you get greedy and take to high risks or you get anxious and close orders which would have made good profits. On such a small live-account you can learn to control your emotions and trade strictly your strategy.

I have been testing on demo accounts since October 2010. In April 2011 I opened a so called learners-account with a deposit of only 25 dollars at GoMarkets. On this account you can trade nano-lots, so you can start trading with a very small balance. In the beginnig I made some mistakes due to greed or fear and wrong risk settings, so I had drawdowns up to 50%. So I called it high-risk-account and I take it for testing new strategies.

In June I started another learnes-account at GoMarkets, which I call low-risk-account. Here I only use strategies, which have been successful tested on low-risk-account and with reduced risk. Here drawdowns are lower and next week I will fund more money to this account.

BTW, your account FXTintin2 looks nice, except the huge drawdown of equity on July 27th. Maybe you should reduce risk a little bit. I think, you could go live with this strategy, but for the first months on a small account an with reduced risk settings. If it goes well for three months, you could fund some more money to the account.

Definitely agree...go live quickly with low capital. Expect to blow your first account (maybe even 2nd and 3rd accounts too) before you get a grip on the psychology of trading. Suggest you read (study) Trading In The Zone by Mark Douglas as part of your education. Just Google and you'll find info. Suggest also that you get a good working understanding of money management, i.e. 2% rule, stop-loss orders, risk of ruin, etc. A great system is worthless without good money management and the right mindset.

Thanks ALL for the great advice above, and agree fully that a demo account is much different to going LIVE.
So...I'll start very small...micro or nano live account as suggested, and take it from there after a Live trial for 6 months or so... ;-) I must say I enjoy both the mental and psychological challanges faces in FX Trading and hope to one day do this full time - within the next 5 years that is if all goes really well. By the Way, I just bought 'Trading in the Zone' today....thanks for the advice 'sharpforex' :-) Looks like agreat read....

Your welcome, JoeSoap

Anyone serious about trading would be disciplined with there demo account .....

They would not go live unless they have achieved at least one years worth of positive trading..............

I M H O...

Hello I'm new to this and would like to know how much should Invest in my forex account. I lost money 4 months. 3,000 to be exact. I have 10,000 i would like to invest.. .could someone help me or maybe even trade my account for me. What is the best route? I don't want to do it myself. My emotions will be invovled!! Help Please

I agree with emkei - there's no equivalent to trading with real money - no matter how small the account is, that would get you to know the psychological factor.

forexguy2012, I don't think it wise to say publicly how much money you have for trading - you'll just get offers from traders looking to trade OPM, no matter how inexperienced they are. Instead, you should look for traders based on their track record - you can start here https://www.myfxbook.com/systems

Good luck to you both!

In my opinion you are ready for going to live account when you have a lot of knowledges, i think that before this you have to - minimum trade on demo for 3-4 month, participate in forex competition on live account without spending your money and only after this try to open live and trade with the smallest lot size you have. Be strong like an iron and you will win))
P.s and see 'Rocky' movie it will help too)))

Thanks alot for the inspiration Sarah...:-)
Thanks for the thoughts James and Ja..... I will go live with a small account soon..and try out to settle the 'nerves' and emotions of live trading...
Cheers,
Joe