Our Plan to Get Started - March 2026
1.Learn the basics -
We studied:
• Terms
• Market types
• Supply/demand, technical vs fundamental analysis, bulls/bears, economic indicators
Chart reading:
• Candlesticks, support/resistance, trendlines, EMA (9, 21, 100), MACD cross
• Basic news/events awareness (earnings, Fed meetings, economic calendar).
Risk management rules:
• Position, Risk/Reward, Limits and Stops.
• Risk only 1% of your account per trade.
On a $1,000 account Sell STOPS are even more critical!
* Decided to risk 10% per trade but Sell STOPS are mandatory and no stop moving allowed.
* Decided to trade Stocks/ETFs as they seemed easiest to start.
2. Develop Skills Without Risk:
• Paper Trade using TradingView. *
• Practice for at least 1–3 months.
• Track every trade in a journal.
• Goal: Achieve consistent small profits over 50–100 simulated trades.
Develop a Simple Trading Plan:
Define: Strategy, entry/exit rules, max daily/weekly risk, position size formula.
Example beginner strategy: Trend-following with moving average crossover on daily charts.
Phase 3: Prepare to use Real Money
• Choose a Brokerage Account
Criteria: Low commissions, good mobile app, educational tools, reliable execution
• Schwab (ThinkorSwim) - powerful, excellent for long-term and low cost
• Webull - simpler, best value but more limited tools
* We chose to start with Webull and funded our account with $500.
* We decided to use Webull's PaperTrade simulator
• Papertrade for several weeks to be familiar with the platform
The most important thing to learn is how to complete a trade and not lose money by accident
Phase 4: Execute trades with REAL money.
• Make a Pre-Trade Checklist
• Confirm your trading plan is written down.
• Risk no more than 1% of total account per trade.
• Choose a highly liquid asset (e.g., SPY, AAPL, QQQ).
• Wait for a clear setup according to your rules.
Place Your First TradeLog in during regular market hours (9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET for US stocks).
Use a limit order for better control.
Immediately set a stop-loss.
Record everything in your journal.
Do not watch the trade obsessively — set alerts and walk away.
Post-Trade Routine:
• Review the trade regardless of profit/loss.
• Focus on process, not P&L for the first 20–30 real trades.
• Continue paper trading alongside real money.
Recommended Timeline for Most Beginners:
• Weeks 1–4: Education + paper trading
• Weeks 5–8: Refine strategy + broker setup
• Week 9+: First small real-money trade
Rules we set for ourselves:
• Only trade with money we can afford to lose.
• Always use stop-losses.
• Trade tiny until wins are common.
• Understand sometimes you lose.
• Trade mechanically, without emotion.
Start slow, stay disciplined, and treat the first 6–12 months as tuition.
Goal is not to make money, but to learn HOW to trade.
We studied:
• Terms
• Market types
• Supply/demand, technical vs fundamental analysis, bulls/bears, economic indicators
Chart reading:
• Candlesticks, support/resistance, trendlines, EMA (9, 21, 100), MACD cross
• Basic news/events awareness (earnings, Fed meetings, economic calendar).
• Position, Risk/Reward, Limits and Stops.
• Risk only 1% of your account per trade.
On a $1,000 account Sell STOPS are even more critical!
* Decided to risk 10% per trade but Sell STOPS are mandatory and no stop moving allowed.
* Decided to trade Stocks/ETFs as they seemed easiest to start.
2. Develop Skills Without Risk:
• Paper Trade using TradingView. *
• Practice for at least 1–3 months.
• Track every trade in a journal.
• Goal: Achieve consistent small profits over 50–100 simulated trades.
Develop a Simple Trading Plan:
Define: Strategy, entry/exit rules, max daily/weekly risk, position size formula.
Example beginner strategy: Trend-following with moving average crossover on daily charts.
Phase 3: Prepare to use Real Money
• Choose a Brokerage Account
Criteria: Low commissions, good mobile app, educational tools, reliable execution
• Schwab (ThinkorSwim) - powerful, excellent for long-term and low cost
• Webull - simpler, best value but more limited tools
* We chose to start with Webull and funded our account with $500.
* We decided to use Webull's PaperTrade simulator
• Papertrade for several weeks to be familiar with the platform
The most important thing to learn is how to complete a trade and not lose money by accident
Phase 4: Execute trades with REAL money.
• Make a Pre-Trade Checklist
• Confirm your trading plan is written down.
• Risk no more than 1% of total account per trade.
• Choose a highly liquid asset (e.g., SPY, AAPL, QQQ).
• Wait for a clear setup according to your rules.
Place Your First TradeLog in during regular market hours (9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET for US stocks).
Use a limit order for better control.
Immediately set a stop-loss.
Record everything in your journal.
Do not watch the trade obsessively — set alerts and walk away.
Post-Trade Routine:
• Review the trade regardless of profit/loss.
• Focus on process, not P&L for the first 20–30 real trades.
• Continue paper trading alongside real money.
Recommended Timeline for Most Beginners:
• Weeks 1–4: Education + paper trading
• Weeks 5–8: Refine strategy + broker setup
• Week 9+: First small real-money trade
Rules we set for ourselves:
• Only trade with money we can afford to lose.
• Always use stop-losses.
• Trade tiny until wins are common.
• Understand sometimes you lose.
• Trade mechanically, without emotion.
Start slow, stay disciplined, and treat the first 6–12 months as tuition.
Goal is not to make money, but to learn HOW to trade.
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