Forex, or foreign exchange, is where currencies are exchanged internationally, and it is one of the most popular financial markets in the world. Forex is a common investment, but like all investments, you can lose money on your investment. But, can you lose more than you invest in Forex?
Unless you buy Forex through a margin account or leverage, you cannot lose more than you invest. If you buy on margin or with leverage and your investment has a significant decline in its value, you will have to pay back the money you borrowed, which means you lose more than you invested.
In this article, I will explain what Forex is and how you can invest in it. I’ll also explain when you cannot lose more than you invest in Forex and when you can. Finally, there are some resources you can use to learn more about investing in Forex.
IMPORTANT SIDENOTE: I surveyed 1500+ traders to understand how social trading impacted their trading outcomes. The results shocked my belief system! Read my latest article: ‘Exploring Social Trading: Community, Profit, and Collaboration’ for my in-depth findings through the data collected from this survey!
Table of Contents
Understanding Forex Investment Value
Forex trading, or foreign exchange, is the international market for trading and converting all types of national currencies.
There is a different exchange rate for each set of currencies. For example, the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Euro will differ from the US dollar and Japanese Yen rate, which will be different from the Euro and Yen rate.
The exchange rate of any two currencies can change based on political and economic events and the exchange volume. Forex trading happens for a variety of reasons, but few main ones are tourism, international trade, and investing.
These reasons cause so much currency exchange throughout the world that Forex is extremely liquid. If you are going to trade Forex for any reason, it will be easy to do so because of the high liquidity.
To start Forex investing, you will need to open a brokerage account and trade through there. As a beginner, you need to educate yourself on Forex trading, markets, and strategies to set yourself up for success.
Otherwise, you can face losses on your investment, as Forex constantly changes in value, and you need to make smart investments if you want to avoid significant losses.
Sometimes the maximum amount of money that you can lose in Forex is the amount that you invested. However, sometimes you can lose a significantly more amount than what you invested, and in the next two sections I will explain the difference between the two scenarios.
When You Can’t Lose More Than You Invest Trading Forex?
If you are investing in Forex with cash, meaning you are not borrowing money to invest, your maximum loss is the amount that you invest.
For example, say you invest one hundred dollars in Forex. The lowest value that your investment can decrease to is zero since the value of any currency cannot be negative. So, worst case, you lose all one hundred dollars that you invested.
Even though you can lose your entire investment, it does not mean that you necessarily will. That is just the maximum that you can lose. You may only lose part of what you invested.
On the other hand, sometimes, you will have to pay fees on your investments through your brokerage account.
If you are paying fees, these can add to the amount of money you lose on your investment. But, you are still not losing more money than you invested. In other words, you will not have to pay any extra money than what you already invested before the Forex lost value.
When You Can Lose More Than You Invest Trading Forex?
When you use leverage or use a margin account to buy Forex, it’s considered to be risky. The reason for this is that you are using money that is not yours to purchase the Forex. So, if you are not able to profit from your investment, you will lose money.
The first situation is when you buy on leverage. With leverage, you borrow a significant portion of your investment, usually ten to hundreds of times more than you are investing yourself.
For example, say you have one thousand dollars to invest in Forex, and your brokerage offers you 50:1 leverage. They will let you borrow up to fifty times what you are investing, so in this case, you can borrow fifty thousand dollars.
If your investment loses value, you will still have to pay back the amount you borrowed on leverage plus any fees the brokerage charges. So, you are not only losing the amount that you invested, but you are also losing all the money that you need to pay back on the money you borrowed.
The other time you can lose money is with a margin account. Similar to buying on leverage, margin accounts let you borrow money from your brokerage for Forex investing. You will put some of your own money into the Forex investment, and the rest will be loaned to you.
You must keep a minimum amount in your margin account at all times, which is used as collateral for your investment. But, if your account balance is not enough to cover a Forex loss, you will need to pay the money back to your brokerage and any interest on the loan. So, your loss ends up being more than what you invested.
Learn More About Forex
While you can lose money when trading on margin or leverage, the high risk can also lead to a high reward. You need to decide what is best for you and your style of trading.
The more you learn and know about Forex, the better chance you will make money on your investment.
This video from FOREX.com on YouTube explains what Forex is:
Be sure to take some notes with this one; The Trading Channel has a whole YouTube course that will teach you the basics of Forex:
Here are a few more resources from Amazon.com to get you started trading Forex and set yourself up for success:
- The Forex Bible: How to Become a Trading Master for Monthly Income – This book will teach you how to make a beginner investment plan, give you examples of Forex trades, and how to understand Forex analysis. You can use Forex to make a monthly income, and this book will help you get started.
- Forex Trading for Beginners: A Step-By-Step Beginner to Expert Guide to the Art of Forex Trading – You will learn what Forex trading is, how the Forex market changes, and what makes it change, Forex trading techniques, and how to avoid the mistakes that Forex traders commonly make.
- Forex Trading: Beginners’ Guide to the Best Swing and Day Trading Strategies – You will learn what strategies you can use to trade Forex, how to analyze the market, what rewards you can gain from investing in Forex, and what tools you can use to become a successful trader, even as a beginner.
Author’s Recommendations: Top Trading and Investment Resources To Consider
Before concluding this article, I wanted to share few trading and investment resources that I have vetted, with the help of 50+ consistently profitable traders, for you. I am confident that you will greatly benefit in your trading journey by considering one or more of these resources.
- Roadmap to Becoming a Consistently Profitable Trader: I surveyed 5000+ traders (and interviewed 50+ profitable traders) to create the best possible step by step trading guide for you. Read my article: ‘7 Proven Steps To Profitable Trading’ to learn about my findings from surveying 5000+ traders, and to learn how these learnings can be leveraged to your advantage.
- Best Broker For Trading Success: I reviewed 15+ brokers and discussed my findings with 50+ consistently profitable traders. Post all that assessment, the best all round broker that our collective minds picked was M1 Finance. If you are looking to open a brokerage account, choose M1 Finance. You just cannot go wrong with it! Click Here To Sign Up for M1 Finance Today!
- Best Trading Courses You Can Take For Free (or at extremely low cost): I reviewed 30+ trading courses to recommend you the best resource, and found Trading Strategies in Emerging Markets Specialization on Coursera to beat every other course on the market. Plus, if you complete this course within 7 days, it will cost you nothing and will be absolutely free! Click Here To Sign Up Today! (If you don’t find this course valuable, you can cancel anytime within the 7 days trial period and pay nothing.)
- Best Passive Investment Platform For Exponential (Potentially) Returns: By enabling passive investments into a Bitcoin ETF, Acorns gives you the best opportunity to make exponential returns on your passive investments. Plus, Acorns is currently offering a $15 bonus for simply singing up to their platform – so that is one opportunity you don’t want to miss! (assuming you are interested in this platform). Click Here To Get $15 Bonus By Signing Up For Acorns Today! (It will take you less than 5 mins to sign up, and it is totally worth it.)
Conclusion
If you just use cash to invest in Forex, your maximum loss is what you invested. But if you are borrowing money to invest, such as through a margin account or using leverage offered by your brokerage, you can face higher losses.
If your Forex holding loses value, not only do you lose the money that you invested, you have to pay back the money that you borrowed, even if it amounts to hundreds or thousands of dollars. However, you can minimize your losses by educating yourself on Forex trading and making smart investment choices.
BEFORE YOU GO: Don’t forget to check out my latest article – ‘Exploring Social Trading: Community, Profit, and Collaboration’. I surveyed 1500+ traders to identify the impact social trading can have on your trading performance, and shared all my findings in this article. No matter where you are in your trading journey today, I am confident that you will find this article helpful!
Affiliate Disclosure: We participate in several affiliate programs and may be compensated if you make a purchase using our referral link, at no additional cost to you. You can, however, trust the integrity of our recommendation. Affiliate programs exist even for products that we are not recommending. We only choose to recommend you the products that we actually believe in.
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