The majority of people that get interested in forex trading do so because they are unhappy with their job or with the current amount of money they are making, or both. Also many forex investors do not have the time to trade full-time. Instead, they focus their efforts on part-time trading in the evenings or during breaks in their workdays. That’s the beauty of the 24-hour forex trading cycle – traders can earn profits in as little as one or two hours each day.

Trading, even on a part-time basis, still requires a lot of time, effort and dedication. It may mean waking up two hours earlier than normal to hit the markets before work, checking your positions on your lunch break, and then another two hours in the evening to wrap up the day’s trades. Though the phrase second income would suggest the amount of effort needed to be put into trading is less than that of a professional trader, sadly that’s not the case. True, you cannot match a professional’s 12 hour day, but finding the right balance will be fundamental to determining the amount of your significant second income.

Traders who are attempting to make a full-time living from day trading have the pressure of mounting bills and daily household expenses to cover. That pressure can rob a trader of the patience that is needed to wait for optimal setups or to stick with a trending position. Part-time traders are able to maintain their day jobs, so they aren’t depended on trading income to pay their bills. This allows them to be more relaxed in their trading. The fact that forex markets are open around the clock allows a trader to adapt to pretty much any work schedule. 

Unexpected news, political turmoil, and monetary policy decisions can shock the markets and set off quick market reactions. Part-time traders can minimize risk by using automated market orders. This helps to limit their exposure to risk and enable them to enter and exit trades without access to a trading platform. Some common examples include stop-loss and take-profit orders, which both automatically close trades. Many forex platforms also enable traders to set orders based on specific criteria, i.e. an order that opens a position if the price moves to a certain point.

It is certainly possible to make a significant second income from part-time trading, there’s no doubt about that. How much you want to make and what you consider to be significant will essentially depend on the time, effort and determination you put in to managing your trading account. It’s advisable to have a long-term goal, a figure that you want to reach. Keeping that in mind will help you to trade within your finances and help determine how much of your time you commit to monitoring the markets.