I am going to be honest right at the beginning of this article
. I want to try and put you off financial spread betting. That is correct, I want you to forget about it. I bet you haven't heard that before.
Why am I wasting my time writing trying to persuade you not to take up financial spread betting? Well all I read is how good it is. I want you to get a really balanced picture, not just 'investments can go down as well as up' line you read at the end of other articles. If you still want to do it at the end of this then great.
OK so let's start with the bad points...the first is that you are likely to be rubbish at it when you begin. You are very unlikely to be profitable in your first year. Can you handle that? Will you be able to take losing and take responsibility for it and not blame the market? Other traders will make money when you lose so it isn't the market that is to blame.
Congratulations, the first year of financial spread betting is over and you are still in the game. You should be proud of yourself as few traders make it. Before you start celebrating note that it doesn't get much easier from here. Only a small percentage of traders make the real money (and the brokers of course).
Do you have a personal life? If you want to keep it then you should stay away from financial spread betting. The markets are open 24 hours a day and the successful traders are their watching. They do it for the love of it. Do you have the passion to put the hours in?
I am glad you have made it this far. It shows you are committed. That will be tested by your next task. You now need to work your way through all the financial spread betting companies that want you as a customer. It sounds easier than it is.