Are you young and looking to trade the forex market?
It may be possible for younger traders to be successful with forex, but you have to be careful.
Many rules and regulations surrounding this type of trading are more strict than those of the traditional stock exchange.
Read on to find out how old you have to be to be a forex trader, plus the best times to start your journey.
How Old Do You Have to Be to Trade Forex?
The minimum age to trade forex is 18 in the United States & United Kingdom. This is because of the legal requirement issued by regulators. There is no other way to open a live account if you are a minor.
This is the legal age required because you must provide several forms of documentation including ID and proof of address.
Just like there are legal age restrictions on tobacco, alcohol and driving. There is a legal age restriction on opening a live forex broker account.
(Or any other investing account with that in mind).
Also, forex brokers must adhere to these legal terms otherwise they will receive huge fines or could face termination.
But don’t worry being under 18 doesn’t mean a person should stop learning about forex.
It is possible to trade forex, but you won’t be able to profit from it…
How To Trade Forex Under 18?
The following methods below allow people to trade forex if they are under 18. These methods require no contracts, no AML checks, no date of birth checks, and of course – no money.
There is one account that every forex broker will provide and that is a demo account.
Demo Account Trading
You may be wondering how to trade forex without a contract, AML checks, and age verification requirements.
The answer is that those under 18 can trade forex using a demo account.
Demo accounts are just that – accounts that are meant for practice purposes.
Traders can use demo accounts to learn how to trade and gain experience in the process.
Demo accounts are completely free, and they are usually offered by all forex brokers.
A demo account allows traders to practice trading without risking any real money.
By using a demo account, traders can try out different strategies and even learn about the different trading styles.
All you need to do is register at a forex broker and open a demo account.
The broker will allow you to trade as much as you want.
You can practice with as much virtual currency as necessary. Most forex brokers offer free demo accounts to new traders.
However, some brokers offer a time limit on a demo account – this could be 1 month, 1 week, or 1 year.
So an alternative to this is by using TradingView’s Paper Trading tool. It’s completely free and it can plugin in with any forex broker on their platform.
This keeps historical data and all your trades in one place.
Learn Before You Are 18 and Build Experience
It’s great that you have found something you are willing to pursue.
With that in mind, if you are younger than 18 then this should be an exciting time.
Because you’ll be learning a skill that is incredible and can be financially rewarding.
However many years you have left until you are 18 (don’t wish it away!), you can study up with trading strategies whilst testing everything on a demo trading account.
By learning how to trade forex and using demo accounts, you can get a vast amount of experience trading the markets, without the financial risk.
Demo and live accounts are the same in terms of price feeds and economic data, so it is possible to get a true grasp of the $6 trillion a day market.
This experience will build up over time, creating memories and muscle memories to take action on specific candlestick patterns or trade setups.
Which sounds better?
Just turned 18 and found forex – it would probably take another few months to a year to get the ball rolling.
OR
have gained 1+ years trading demo accounts and gaining valuable market experience so you are ready to go when your turn 18?
Here Are Some Benefits of Being Under 18, yet Interested in Forex Trading
You can save your money and build your starting trading capital.
Everyone needs to start somewhere, and if you have a job you can set aside some of the income to put into a trading pot for when you turn 18.
This gives a head start and also helps with your mindset knowing that this money is purely for trading. Therefore, there will not be the emotional attachment to it like most beginners have.
You can get in the correct mindset.
Learning to deal with losses and wins isn’t easy. It’s a rollercoaster.
You will be able to get used to the wins and losses on a demo account, which should transition easily to your live account.
You will have a tried and tested daily routine.
With your months or years of experience on a demo account, you will have built a routine that you can do to dominate your trading day.
You will have statistical data to back your trading
If you track everything as you should, when you get a live trading account you will know your current strike rate on finding a profitable trade. This will boost your confidence significantly when starting out.
You’d also learn which times aren’t good for you as well as learn how you trade best, whether it’s scalping or swing trading.
But whatever you do…
Don’t Ask Your Parents To Open An Account So You Can Trade It
You can’t legally act on behalf of the account owner, this would then be considered fraud. Getting your parents into legal trouble.
On top of that, due to money laundering laws – all the sources of capital must come from your parents.
They must also indicate where that money has come from – such as savings, income, other investments etc.
It’s not worth the risk at all.
Just practice trading on a demo account – get the experience of being a forex trader – and get ready to trade after you turn 18.
To Wrap It All up
So there you have it, the truth about how old you have to be to trade Forex.
If you want to learn how to start trading, check out our beginner’s course. This will give you everything you need to get started in forex trading.
Want to continue your journey to learn more about trading? Check out our articles below: