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How much should you risk per trade?
Pick the loss you can take many times in a row without it hurting your account or your head.
The 1% rule
Many traders risk about 0.5% to 2% of their account on a single trade. On a $25,000 account, 1% is $250. That number is what you type into the calculator as your target risk. It is a guideline, not advice: your own number depends on your strategy, experience and goals.
Why small and fixed works
Losing streaks are normal. Even a strategy that wins half the time will often lose 6 or more in a row over a few hundred trades.
| Losses in a row | At 1% each | At 5% each |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | −3.0% | −14.3% |
| 5 | −4.9% | −22.6% |
| 10 | −9.6% | −40.1% |
After 10 losses at 5% you are down about 40% and need a 67% gain just to get back. At 1% you are down under 10%.
Why a range helps
Futures and shares come in whole units, so you rarely hit an exact dollar target. SizeGuard lets you set a target with a min and a max (for example $225, $250, $275) and finds the size that lands inside it, or tells you when nothing fits so you can skip the trade or switch to micros.
Prop firm accounts
In a funded account, size from the drawdown you are allowed, not the balance. See position sizing for prop firms.
Get the SizeGuard app
Same math, in your pocket: SizeGuard remembers your risk, picks standard or micro for you, adds fees and daily loss limits, and logs every trade in a journal. Works offline, no account.
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