By: Michael Hiller

The foreign exchange market is becoming a buzz word all around the world. In these troubling financial times, people are looking for a solid market that has not been affected by the crisis and the Forex market is it. There are close to 4 trillion dollars traded daily in the Forex market, something that obviously makes it attractive to many financial institutions as well as individual traders.

Just like everything else in life, the Forex market has a negative side to it as well. It is a very risky market if you do not know what you are doing. One of the aspects of getting started in this volatile world of Forex is choosing the right kind of account to meet your trading needs. There are many account types, and each one has its advantages and disadvantages. Before you trade one dollar, it is important to make an educated decision about many different things such as how much money you can afford to risk, how you want to trade and with who, and many other necessary questions, one of the most important being what kind of account to use.

Here is a short overview of the available account types in the existing Forex market, as well as each kind's advantages and disadvantages.

Mini Trading Account

This type of Forex account is intended for newer traders or individuals who are not interested in investing large amounts of money. Mini accounts allow you to trade Forex with a minimal personal investment of anywhere between $250-$500. Most brokerages offer a 400:1 leverage on mini accounts, which enables the trader to make transactions of up to $10,000, while only making a minimal risk to the trader's personal money. This is an important point to understand in Forex. You can make a lot more money than you invested, but you cannot lose more than you have.

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In the case of mini accounts, there really is only one disadvantage. It is true that you risk less, but just like everything in life “no pain, no gain”. The potential for profit is much lower than in standard trading accounts. Mini accounts that trade $10,000 lots can only produce $1 per pip of movement, as opposed to $10 in a standard account.

Standard Trading Account
 
This type of Forex trading account is the most common. That is not why it is called the standard account. The name is derived from the fact that with this type of account, traders can make transactions of the standard lot, which in Forex is $100,000. Like you probably know by now, the ability to trade lots of $100,000 does not mean you need to invest that entire amount. Standard accounts generally come with leverage of 100:1. This means that you only need to invest a capital of $1,000 to trade using a standard acount.

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Managed Trading Account

Managed trading accounts are exactly like they sound. Trading accounts in which the trader contributes the capital, but the management aspect is performed by a Forex professional and not by the trader. When opening a managed account, the trader specifies the goals for the account, and the account manager attempts to reach those goals. There are two primary types of managed accounts:

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The Forex market is a very popular and up and coming market. Many factors contribute to that popularity, with the primary one being its potential for profit. However, it is always important to remind yourself that that very same potential presents a grave danger, that if not managed properly can devastate even the most experienced trader. The first step in managing your Forex trading is choosing the suitable type of account based on your existing capital and risk ability.