Learn how to create a successful trading plan and put it into action. With a smart plan, you’ll have guidance on which market to trade, when to take profits, when to cut your losses, and where other opportunities could exist.
A trading plan is a comprehensive decision-making tool for your trading activity. It helps you decide what, when and how much to trade. A trading plan should be your own, personal plan – you could use someone else’s plan as an outline but remember that someone else’s attitude towards risk and available capital could be vastly different to yours.
Your trading plan can include anything you would find useful, but it should always cover:
A trading plan is different to a trading strategy, which defines precisely how you should enter and exit trades.
Learn more about trading strategies with IG Academy.
You need a trading plan because it can help you make logical trading decisions and define the parameters of your ideal trade. A good trading plan will help you to avoid making emotional decisions in the heat of the moment. The benefits of a trading plan include:
There are seven easy steps to follow when creating a successful trading plan:
Figuring out your motivation for trading and the time you’re willing to commit is an important step in creating your trading plan. Ask yourself why you want to become a trader and then write down what you want to achieve from trading.
Work out how much time you can commit to your trading activities. Can you trade while you’re at work, or do you have to manage your trades early in the mornings or late at night?
If you want to make a lot of trades a day, you’ll need more time. If you’re going long on assets that will mature over a significant period of time – and plan to use stops, limits and alerts to manage your risk – you may not need many hours a day.
It's also important to spend enough time preparing yourself for trading, which includes education, practising your strategies and analysing the markets.
Any trading goal shouldn’t just be a simple statement, it should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART). For example, ‘I want to increase the value of my entire portfolio by 15% in the next 12 months’. This goal is SMART because the figures are specific, you can measure your success, it’s attainable, it’s about trading, and there’s a time-frame attached to it.
You should also decide what type of trader you are. Your trading style should be based on your personality, your attitude to risk, as well as the amount of time you’re willing to commit to trading. There are four main trading styles:
Before you start trading, work out how much risk you're prepared to take on – both for individual trades and your trading strategy as a whole. Deciding your risk limit is very important. Market prices are always changing and even the safest financial instruments carry some degree of risk. Some new traders prefer to take on a lower risk to test the waters, while some take on more risk in the hopes of making larger profits – this is completely up to you.
It is possible to lose more times than you win and still be consistently profitable. It's all down to risk vs reward. Traders like to use a risk-reward ratio of 1:3 or higher, which means the possible profit made on a trade will be at least double the potential loss. To work out the risk-reward ratio, compare the amount you’re risking to the potential gain. For example, if you’re risking $100 on a trade and the potential gain is $400, the risk-reward ratio is 1:4.
Remember, you can manage your risk with stops.
Look at how much money you can afford to dedicate to trading. You should never risk more than you can afford to lose. Trading involves plenty of risk, and you could end up losing all your trading capital (or more, if you are a professional trader).
Do the maths before you start and make sure you can afford the maximum potential loss on every trade. If you don't have enough trading capital to start right now, practise trading on a demo account until you do.
The details of your trading plan will be affected by the market you want to trade. This is because a forex trading plan, for example, will be different to a stock trading plan.
First, evaluate your expertise when it comes to asset classes and markets, and learn as much as you can about the one you want to trade. Then, consider when the market opens and closes, the volatility of the market, and how much you stand to lose or gain per point of movement in the price. If you’re not happy with these factors, you may want to choose a different market.
You can learn more about different asset classes and markets through IG Academy.
For a trading plan to work it needs to be backed up by a trading diary. You should use your trading diary to document your trades as this can help you find out what’s working and what isn’t.
You don’t only have to include the technical details, such as the entry and exit points of the trade, but also the rationale behind your trading decisions and emotions. If you deviate from your plan, write down why you did it and what the outcome was. The more detail in your diary, the better.
Listen to our podcast on how to set up an efficient trading plan with the veteran trader and coach Casey Stubbs. You can listen to the episode on Apple, Google, Spotify and YouTube.
You can use the questions and answers below to help formulate your trading plan. Remember, your trading plan is a personal roadmap – you should therefore consider your own, unique circumstances when creating one.
Example: 'I want to challenge myself and learn as much as I can about the financial markets to create a better future for myself.’
Set aside enough time to monitor your trades but consider what time of day will work best for you. Some traders prefer to keep an eye on their trades all day, while others set aside some time in the morning, during the day, and in the evening. It is always recommended that you manage your risk with stops, but this is especially true if you plan to keep positions open when you will not be monitoring them.
Example: ‘Ultimately, I want to increase the value of my portfolio by 15% in the next 12 months. To achieve this, I plan to take opportunities three or more times a month, but only when they fit my strategy. I also want to be consistent, to increase my risk every three months if I am exceeding my 15% target, and to continue to learn by reading financial news for at least two hours a week.’
To calculate your desired risk-reward ratio, compare the amount of money you want to risk on each trade to the potential gain. If your maximum potential loss is $200 and the maximum potential gain is $600, the risk-reward ratio is 1:3.
It is recommended that you risk only a small percentage of your total trading capital on each trade – generally, less than 2% is considered sensible, while more than 5% is considered high risk.
Example: ‘I will set aside $1000 a month, for the first six months.’
Example: ‘I want to trade forex markets and hard commodities as these are the markets I understand best.’
Example: ‘I will start a trading diary, make notes with every trade, review the notes every weekday morning and do a recap of the month. I will write down successes and failures, why I made certain decisions and how I felt about trading every day. I will use my notes to revise my strategy every three months.’
Ready to start using your trading plan? Open a live account with IG to start trading today, or open a demo account to practise in a risk-free environment.
This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.
Explore the range of markets you can trade – and learn how they work – with IG Academy's free ’introducing the financial markets’ course.
Becca Cattlin, Publication date : 2020-08-12T13:08:19+0100 Anzél Killian, Publication date : 2019-08-08T15:03:48+0100 Becca Cattlin, Publication date : 2019-03-14T11:16:00+0000 Anzél Killian, Publication date : 2019-01-23T08:54:00+0000 Kyle Rodda, Publication date : 2019-01-02T15:29:50+0000Find out what charges your trades could incur with our transparent fee structure.
Discover why so many clients choose us, and what makes us a world-leading provider of spread betting and CFDs.
Stay on top of upcoming market-moving events with our customisable economic calendar.
Follow us online:
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Professional clients trading spread bets and CFDs can lose more than they deposit.
Options and futures are complex instruments which come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. They’re not suitable for most investors. Before you invest, you should consider whether you understand how options and futures work, the risks of trading these instruments and whether you can afford to lose more than your original investment.
Trading stocks and shares ‘on margin’ within a US options and futures account – meaning that you only finance part of the cost of acquiring a position in a security – carries additional risks over buying securities on a fully funded basis and may result in losses exceeding your original investment. Trading on margin will also result in additional costs to you as the investor and any securities purchased using margin may be held as collateral by the lender, restricting both your rights as shareholder, and your ability to use the securities until the margin trade is closed. You should familiarise yourself with these risks before trading on margin.
The value of shares, ETFs and other ETPs bought through a share dealing account, a US options and futures account, a stocks and shares ISA or a SIPP can fall as well as rise, which could mean getting back less than you originally put in. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Some ETPs carry additional risks depending on how they’re structured, investors should ensure they familiarise themselves with the differences before investing.
Share dealing and IG Smart Portfolio accounts provided by IG Trading and Investments Ltd, CFD accounts and US options and futures accounts are provided by IG Markets Ltd, spread betting provided by IG Index Ltd.
IG is a trading name of IG Trading and Investments Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales under number 11628764), IG Markets Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales under number 04008957) and IG Index Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales under number 01190902). Registered address at Cannon Bridge House, 25 Dowgate Hill, London EC4R 2YA. IG Markets Ltd (Register number 195355), IG Trading and Investments Ltd (Register Number 944492) and IG Index Ltd (Register number 114059) are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The information on this site isn’t directed at residents of the United States, Belgium or any particular country outside the UK and isn’t intended for distribution to, or use by, any person in any country or jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation.
