Should I paper trade before using real money?
Yes. Paper trading lets you test your plan, build execution habits and find your repeated mistakes without losing money. A common goal is 20 or more paper trades that follow a written plan before risking real money.
Paper trading is practice with simulated money on real market data. It won't recreate the emotions of real losses, but it removes the most expensive part of learning: paying for beginner mistakes.
Make it realistic. Use the same account size you plan to trade, respect your 1% risk rule, and account for spreads and slippage.
Track every trade: setup, entry, stop, target, result in R, and whether you followed the plan. After 20 trades, look for patterns — entering early, moving stops, oversizing, or trading the wrong time of day.
Move to real money only when you follow your plan consistently, and start smaller than your paper size. Paper results do not guarantee live results.
Biggainers Paper Sim replays real sessions candle by candle so you can practice any time, and it's free.
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