How a beginner can start trading forex? Should you study the basics on your own or work with a professional coach? Studying the Forex market with a trading coach seems to be more reasonable. A mentor will show a way in trading, so a beginner will save much time.
The article covers the following subjects:
How can you find the Top Forex trading coach?
A trading tutor will point out the common errors in trading, share his/her experience, help you make your first steps in trading.
On the other hand, most of the so-called free forex trading mentor aims at making money or luring beginners to the “kitchen”. Read on and you will find out everything about the aims and methods of dishonest forex teachers. You will also learn where to find a professional forex coach and how to choose the best one.
My honest thoughts about modern “teachers” of trading
"He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches." These words written by George Bernard Shaw are still relevant. There is plenty of information on the Internet to learn Forex yourself.
There are also many Forex mentors/coaches willing to teach beginner forex traders for free. However, it can end up with negative results for a student.
Not all of the teachers offering their services have the required qualifications and can share their experience.
Not all of the teachers offering their services have the required skills and can share their experience. Their “Forex training” comes down to describing common theories that you can well read on the Internet on your own. Or they just describing the Forex trading tools that do not work. At best, a student wastes time, at worst – money.
How to choose the right Forex mentor? I will try to answer in this review.
Forex training for a beginner: pros and cons of modern trading coaching
Do you, like every beginner trader, come up with the question of what to start with? Learn Forex on online free trading courses?
Learn trading yourself starting with a demo account? Pay to a professional Forex trading mentor? Do not decide in haste. First, answer the following questions:
- If you were a successful trader and made good money on trading, would you spend your time on something that won’t yield you any income? (For example, would you teach someone for free or for a nominal cost, spending much time on it?)
- If you had a profitable trading system, would you share it with someone for free?
Of course, there are enthusiasts willing to show off their achievements for the sake of raising self-esteem. But they are rather an exception. The majority simply want to monetize their knowledge.
I am now writing about those “teachers” who have recently flooded the Internet with their offers to teach newbies professional trading. These trading coaches usually lure people with a yield of 100% per annum and higher.
I am in no way diminishing the merits of such great theorists and practitioners of financial markets as Warren Buffett or Bill Williams. But as practice shows, at best, most courses turn out to be a waste of time for beginners, at worst, they lose money.
What Forex trading mentors can be like
The division into these groups is conditional, but it will help me give a general idea of what kinds of trading coaches are in the financial markets.
- "Pseudo teachers". This may include those who, in fact, hide other goals behind their willingness to teach.
- Trading mentors who aim at teaching their students something and share their experience with the next generation (the question of the cost of such training is not fundamental).
I will describe both groups in more detail below in each section. But, first, I will share my own experience.
An example from my own experience of learning trading with forex mentorship
Negative experience. My acquaintance with Forex and trading took place in the second year of the Banking Academy. When I saw an offer to take a basic trading training course for trading for free, I of course took up that idea.
There were two arguments for. It partly related to my future profession, and most importantly, it was free! I was also bribed by the fact that the course organizer was an actively promoted broker at that time.
I had no complaints about the training itself. I first got acquainted with the concepts of quotes, the basics of technical and fundamental analysis, etc. The course was interesting for a person who had no idea about this, (I will add that at that time I had limited access to the Internet). But at the end of the course, I was quite surprised.
At the end of the training course in that trading academy, all students were asked to pass an exam, which was about 30 questions on the course passed. It was not difficult to pass it, but the results of the exam were announced individually to everyone in a personal conversation. Only later did I understand why.
Each student was asked to complete the second stage of training by opening a real deposit of $100. Moreover, the "mentor" himself promised to supervise trading for real money, guaranteeing almost a 100% return.
I responded to the mentor with a counteroffer. If he guaranteed almost a 100% chance of profit, I was ready to try myself in trading but on credit. I asked for a loan and promised to return him his $100 with interest when I made my first profit. He didn’t accept my offer for some reason… That is all you need to know about free Forex training courses.
Positive experience. My desire to study trading in the financial markets and develop my trading skills was still strong. I wanted to be if not a professional trader, then at least, a forex analyst (trading is great psychological stress) was still strong.
On one of the forums, I met some interesting guys who turned out to be active traders working with one of the pretty good brokers. Common chatting developed into Skype communication (now, it is even more convenient to communicate via Zoom). Later, we completely switched to the format described above.
At first, I practiced currency trading a little under their guidance on a demo account. This is not difficult if you open the screen or use the TeamViewer program. Then I registered using the affiliate link of one of them and, again under the guidance, but already on a real account, I tried to enter my first trades.
This guidance, assistance in the first steps (I’ll note it was free!) helped me understand the basics of trading at least at the initial level. Nobody taught me everything from scratch, explaining every nuance. It was not training in the literal sense of the word. It was mentoring.
They guided me, gave me recommendations, showed real examples of entering trades. I could study the theory of trading myself, but only with the help of my mentors, I could get the practical experience of trading.
I cannot say that all trading courses, seminars, and paid subscriptions are scams. However, the lack of control and regulation results in irresponsibility. Of course, fraudsters also try to profit from the gullibility of beginner traders. You should wisely choose those who you will learn from.
How to choose top forex mentors? Key points to focus on
I classified the first group of forex trading mentors as "pseudo teachers". They may try to share their experience and knowledge with their students, but the real goals are different.
The most common goals pursued by the phony trading teachers:
- They want to sell their financial product. They urge you to invest in their investment portfolio, buy their Expert Advisor, trading indicator, subscribe to their trading signals. Here, the plan is simple.
Much is anonymous on the Internet and a trader can’t claim to any authority. The investment portfolio can be a fake, the EA sold could be a slightly changed modification of a free robot.
- They want to promote their website/channel to attract advertisers or promote affiliate links. The goal of the “teacher” is to increase traffic or make profits from an affiliate program. As a rule, such people do not know the Forex theory well and have never make a stable income in Forex.
The articles posted on the website are the product of the team of authors (copywriters) who rewrite information from other resources. Practice shows that the profitability of such a business is relatively low. The owner of the resource can’t afford professional articles by experienced traders, therefore the professional value of such resources can be questioned.
- They want to attract subscribers. The goal is similar, they want to make money by promoting their video channel. The task of the “teacher” is to be able to explain in an interesting, understandable, logical, and humorous manner.
Diction wins over well. And it doesn't matter that the “teacher” is telling complete nonsense, or banality, like forex charts in trading. Professionals, as a rule, do not spend time on such channels, and most beginners stop at watching videos and do not go further. What do you think is the quality of information on such channels?
Simply put, such teachers aim at urging an inexperienced beginner trader to invest in a kitchen, subscribe to paid signals, buy a trading tool, and so on.
Can you call it fraud? It is a difficult question. On the one hand, these people do teach some basics of trading currency pairs. On the other hand, they use the trust of their students to their advantage.
So, a beginner trader interested in Forex should look for a trading tutor who is will benefit from the success of the student. By the way, I recommend you read you an interesting overview that can help you analyze the information on the Internet. How traders are brainwashed or a battle of trolls.
But still, despite my subjective skepticism about “Forex trading mentors” described above, things are not that bad. There are successful professional traders willing to share their experiences. They are humans and they need to help, to have attention and recognition.
They also sometimes want to take a break from trading by switching to something else. But, unlike pseudo-teachers, they have earned authority with their trading results, and it is quite logical that they are unlikely to share them just for nothing.
How to find the right Forex mentor? A few good tips
This section will deal with real professional Forex trading mentors or coaches. The mentors, I referred to the second group in the first section (those who are interested in teaching) also want to get the most out of their help. Their goals:
- Financial goals. I mean paid training. It refers to some well-known trading academies. However, you should understand that a professional trader will teach only if it is more profitable for him/her than trading.
Such courses will hardly be cheap, although it is possible that the trader simply likes to alternate trading with training.
- Psychological motivation. Some people tend to be popular, you might even call it vanity. They love to be talked about and admired for their success.
To get recognition and popularity, they are even ready to teach for a nominal fee. However, you can forget about the individual approach to the student in this case.
- Enthusiasm. There is a category of people who want to benefit others and they are ready to transfer their knowledge only for the sake of the process itself. To be honest, I do not know people among professionals who are ready to teach someone and spend their time just for the sake of humanity.
- Extra income. It partially corresponds to what I have already written before. It refers to affiliate programs. Professional traders are interested in developing an affiliate network and profits made by their referrals.
Therefore, they are willing to spend part of their time in newbies to help beginner traders gain experience.
There is a category of people for whom trading is contraindicated due to psychological and emotional instability. They may have excellent trading experience and knowledge, but they do not have a positive trading history. The reason for their failure is excitement, imbalance. But they can be excellent teachers because the negative experience is also experience.
You can learn their knowledge and take into account psychological mistakes. This way, you will be able to learn from such mentors the best and use this knowledge in building your forex trading system.
I will dwell on training from partners (via affiliate programs) in more detail. I believe that it is one of the simplest, most effective, ratings provided by the broker.
1. A forex partner is interested in the success of his/her referral because:
- A Forex partner will recommend to the student the broker who he/she has been working for a long time with. The partner is interested both in maintaining his/her reputation and in long-term cooperation with the referral who is now a student.
- A partner receives a profit from each referral attracted. Therefore, the partners are interested in the success of their referral students. After all, if the newly attracted traders trade with a profit, then they will hardly leave Forex.
- Partners are interested in the success of their referrals, their reputation, and popularity in the trader community can attract new referral traders.
There is one nuance. A forex trading mentor will hardly waste time explaining the theory, so the students will have to study a lot on their own. The task of the mentor is to share the working trading systems. They also help students avoid common mistakes beginner traders make, to point out any features of the broker/indicator/forex chart/ trading platform.
And the right trading mentor will be willing to help you if he/she sees your desire to learn forex trading. At least, if the trader is not engaged in teaching, he/she can always suggest who you can contact.
Brokers now see significant advantages in working with such professional traders. Professional traders see brokers as a platform for their PR. It is quite logical that they will not risk their reputation by cooperating with knowingly fraudulent companies.
Brokers, in turn, are interested in attracting professional partners. Professionals, instead of “making money at any cost”, would aim at teaching trading to newbies, transfer their knowledge, or at least point out the direction.
Therefore, I can say that it is the most optimal way, in terms of money and return, to look for a Forex mentor through professional trader forums. Or you can search on trading forums/blogs organized by brokerage companies.
How a beginner can find a good trading coach or mentor:
- Define clear targets, make up a plan. Before looking for a mentor, you need to understand what you want to achieve, the final result. If you know your goal, you will understand what you want from the mentor.
- Do you want to complete a full course of study or just gain practical trading experience? Or, maybe, you want to understand certain types of trading strategies and choose the best forex system for you.
- Study the basics of trading yourself. There many free books on trading on the Internet. You can get a general idea of trading and financial markets, study the general concepts of Forex and trading tools. A forex mentor will help you apply this knowledge to practice, prevent you from most common trading errors, share unique experiences.
Communicate as much as possible on professional trading forums, read brokers' blogs (why broker blogs, I explained above. The reputation is important to brokers, so the criteria for selecting authors are very high here!). This will help you understand the level of the Forex mentor’s skills in a particular aspect.
I want to again stress that you should not look for a forex mentor based on search queries on the Internet. Ignore individual investment blogs with intrusive ads for specific brokers and referral links. All those forex coaches are likely to fall in the first group of the pseudo-teachers, who I described in the first section.
Look for forex trading mentors among people who do not seek to promote their coaching services. Search on the professional trader or investor forums, in the traders’ rankings on brokers’ websites and trader blogs posted by brokers.
Be self-motivated. When the teacher sees your desire, the desire to learn, and practice, he/she will share his experience with you with greater efficiency.
Do not be afraid to contact professional traders directly. For example, chat or email the best traders of the broker's rankings and ask who they can recommend as a trading mentor and on what terms. They may provide you with some useful information or, if you're lucky, they will take you as a student themselves.
Conclusion. Try to rely only on yourself. Set goals, make up a plan, practice your knowledge and trading skills on a demo account. Listen only to yourself and trust only yourself. Do not spend your money in haste.
If you decide that you need trading courses /seminars/ forex tutors, ignore those who convincingly impose advertising without giving relevant knowledge or showing sufficient experience.
Pay attention to analytical resources, brokers, professional trading communities (MyFxBook, TradingView), where you can find proven professional traders.
Share with the readers of the LiteFinance blog how you studied trading forex:
- What did you start with? How much time did you need to study the general concepts?
- What sources did you use?
- Did you study on trading courses? What can you recommend beginner traders?
I thank you and wish you successful trading!
FAQs
The best sources to find a right forex tutor are trader forums and brokers’ rankings. You can find active traders, evaluate their professionalism (performance), see the type of strategies used, and communicate with them live. An effective tool is affiliate programs. The broker’s partner is interested in the trading performance of the referral since this is his/her extra income. Therefore, a partner is likely to be willing to help the referral, supervising the student’s trading progress, and sharing practical experience.
P.S. Did you like my article? Share it in social networks: it will be the best "thank you" :)
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