Trading a small account: what position sizing rule has worked for you?

A small account has less room for error. A loss that a larger account absorbs can end a small one. The answer to sizing depends on the account size, the risk you accept per trade and the instrument. How to use leverage responsibly covers the limits that matter most when the account is small, and it is the place to start before you set a rule.

Leverage makes a small account look like it can hold a large position, and that is the trap. The size of a position should follow from the amount you are willing to lose, not from the margin the broker will allow. Leverage and margin explained explains how margin and position size work, which is the starting point for any sizing rule. Members who size from the risk they accept usually find that the account lasts longer than one sized from the margin.

We would like to hear what worked for you:

• What percentage of the account do you risk on one trade, and how did you choose it?
• Did you change your sizing as the account grew or shrank?
• Which sizing mistake cost you the most early on?
• What would you tell someone starting with a small account?

Please share your own approach and reasoning, not calls for others to copy. Posts that promise a direction or sell signals will be removed.