# Case: decide whether and how to start > Write your own memo: money you can afford to lose, your plan, your limits and the day you would stop, or your reasons not to start at all. - Course: [Trading Basics: How It Works, How Not to Lose Everything](https://productovi.com/courses/trading.md) - Module: What if I am the weak link? - Lesson 32/32, ~35 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/trading/should-i-start ## The last question **Alex Tutor:** Back on your Pebble practice account, one question is left, and only you can answer it: should you trade real money, and if so, how? **Alex Tutor:** I won't answer it for you. Nobody honest can. "Not now" and "never" are good answers too. What matters is that the answer is written down, with numbers, before any money moves. > **Exercise:** If you finish this course and decide not to trade real money, the course has failed. **Nora:** Mine's easy. I'm moving 5,000 from my savings into a real account. With 10x leverage that's 50,000 working for me. I stop when I've doubled it. **Marc:** I've decided on 500, but only after 30 more practice trades by the plan. If it falls to 350, I stop and go back to practice for three months. ![Nora carries her savings cushion toward a big phone, Marc calmly writes a short memo on a stone, and Alex looks from one to the other beside a board with two notes.](https://productovi.com/courses/trading/diagrams/m8-l4-scene.png) **Alex Tutor:** Both memos, whatever they decide, need the same five parts. Let's match them on Marc's. > **Exercise:** Marc, the experienced trader in this course, wrote a short memo before trading real money. Match each part of a personal trading memo with the line from his memo that fills it. **Alex Tutor:** Two memos. Let's take them apart, starting with the money. Money you can afford to lose is money whose total loss wouldn't change your rent, your bills, your savings or your sleep. > **Exercise:** Which of these are NOT money you can afford to lose? Pick all that apply. ## Nora's memo **Nora:** But the 5,000 is my safety cushion. That's what makes it big enough to matter. **Alex Tutor:** That's exactly why it can't be trading money. And look at the leverage on the account, not on the price: at 10x, a 5% move against you takes 50% of the 5,000. A 10% move takes all of it. **Alex Tutor:** Try a smaller move: 3% against Nora at 10x. Measure it on her account, not on the price. > **Exercise:** Nora puts 5,000 into an account and uses 10x leverage, so her position is worth 50,000. The price moves 3% against her. What percent of her 5,000 does she lose, before costs? **Marc:** And "I stop when I've doubled it" is a finish line for winning. There's no line for losing. Which one is more likely to come first? **Nora:** Fine. I hear it. Do Marc's next. ## Marc's memo **Alex Tutor:** Marc's money and stop line are clear. But a small account has a catch: costs. Start with his risk per trade at 1% of 500. > **Exercise:** Marc's account is 500 and he risks 1% per trade. How many dollars is that per trade? **Alex Tutor:** Now suppose each round trip costs 2.00 in fees and spread. Compare that with the 5.00 he risks. > **Exercise:** Costs of 2.00 per round trip against a risk of 5.00 per trade: what percent of the risk do the costs take? **Marc:** So should I risk more per trade to make the fees smaller? **Alex Tutor:** Not more risk. Fewer trades, where the expected move is large against the costs. Or accept that this stage pays for learning the routine, not for income. Or stay on practice longer. All honest options. ## The day you would stop **Alex Tutor:** The most important line in any memo: the day you'd stop, written now while you're calm. A number, such as the account falling to a set amount. A behavior, such as two rule breaks in a month. And a review date. **Sofia:** Why write it before starting? **Alex Tutor:** Because after a loss, every line gets renegotiated. A stop line written in advance is a promise from the calm you to the upset you. **Marc:** Mine has three lines: the account at 350, two rule breaks in one month, and a review after 30 trades. I printed it and gave a copy to my sister. **Nora:** And if I decide to wait instead? **Alex Tutor:** Then the memo says what you'll practice and when you'll ask the question again. Waiting with a date is a decision. Drifting isn't. **Alex Tutor:** Now sort the stop lines. Which ones are written in advance and can be checked? > **Exercise:** Which lines belong in the "day I would stop" part of a memo? Pick all that apply. **Alex Tutor:** Last question before the memos: what does this whole course come down to? > **Exercise:** Nora asks for the one habit this whole course comes down to. Which answer fits it best? > **Exercise:** Nora's memo: "5,000 from my savings, 10x leverage, I stop when I've doubled it." In 2–3 sentences, tell her what is wrong with it, without telling her whether to trade. **Alex Tutor:** Now your own memo. It's yours: there's no right decision, only a clear one. You can write it about yourself, or about an imagined person with round numbers. > **Exercise:** Write your own trading memo. > **Educational, not advice** > > This course explains how trading works; it never tells you whether to trade, what to buy or what to sell. Most people who trade lose money, and you can lose all of it. Leverage, crypto and paid signals can make losses faster and bigger. For taxes and rules, check with a licensed professional where you live. - Previous lesson: [Rules that protect you from yourself](https://productovi.com/courses/trading/rules-that-protect-you.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.