For anyone starting out with a small account (the majority of traders here on Profit.ly) it is important to protect what little money you have in your account by making responsible decisions when trading. With many brokers like SureTrader offering "advantages" like 6:1 leverage, it can be very tempting to use it. Hell, I've used leverage to triple my account in just a few trades. I've also lost BIG using leverage on just one trade and was forced back into dreadful full-time employment to refund my account. What you will find in the next few paragraphs is my own personal account growth strategy that I will use to grow my trading account in the quickest way without the stomach-turning feelings of over-leveraging / taking too big of a position.

Milestones as Indicators

Starting from $2,000 in my PDTrule-less SureTrader account, I will use the following guide to lower how much of my account I am risking, while at the same time increasing my dollar amount used per play. This will not be followed to a tee because certain plays will require bigger or smaller than average positions. But keeping this guide in mind as I grow will allow me to grow rather quickly overall. 

Account Size	% Used per play	$ Amount Used per play
$2000	75%	$1500
$3000	66%	$2000
$4000	50%	$2000
$5000	50%	$2500
$6000	45%	$2700
$7000	40%	$2800
$8000	40%	$3200
$9000	40%	$3600
$10,000	39%	$3900
$11,000	38%	$4200
$12,000	37%	$4400
$13,000	36%	$4700
$14,000	35%	$4900
$15,000	35%	$5200

You get the idea! I use these every $1000 milestones to indicate when to increase my position size per play so that when my 10-20% profit target is hit on any given play, I'll gradually increase my dollar gain when I take profits.

So don't use leverage! And if you disagree with or find fault with my account growing strategy, create your own to suit your own personal risk tolerance. I think mine's is pretty safe.

Until next time,

Ryan Dodson (a.k.a. Sooth_Sayer)