Position Size Calculator

What is position sizing?

Every trade should start with the question: how much am I willing to lose if I am wrong? Position sizing turns that amount into a trade size.

If your stop-loss is far from your entry, the position must be smaller. If it is close, the position can be bigger. Either way, the money you lose at the stop stays the same. This keeps your risk under control on every trade, whatever the market.

How to use the calculator

1. Choose the market type: stocks/crypto (prices) or forex (pips).
2. Enter your account balance.
3. Enter your risk per trade in % (1% is a common rule).
4. For stocks or crypto: enter your entry price and stop-loss price.
5. For forex: enter your stop-loss in pips and the pip value of one standard lot (about 10 for most USD-quoted pairs).
6. Read the money at risk and the position size in units or lots.

Worked examples

Stocks or crypto: balance 10,000, risk 1% = 100. You buy at 100 with a stop at 95, so you risk 5 per unit. Position size = 100 ÷ 5 = 20 units, worth 2,000 (20% of your balance). If the stop is hit, you lose exactly 100.

Forex: balance 10,000, risk 1% = 100, stop-loss 20 pips, pip value 10 per standard lot. Lot size = 100 ÷ (20 × 10) = 0.5 lots. With a smaller account of 2,000 and a 25-pip stop, 1% is 20, so the size is 0.08 lots.

Position size in binary options

Binary options have no stop-loss: the trade amount is the risk. So your position size is simply your risk % of the balance. With 1,000 and 2%, trade 20. The binary risk calculator and the money management plan show this with your payout.

Common mistakes

• Choosing the lot size first and the stop-loss later.
• Moving the stop-loss further away during the trade, which raises the risk.
• Using the same lot size for every trade even when the stop distance changes.
• Forgetting that the pip value depends on the pair and your account currency.
• Using high leverage because the calculator shows a position bigger than the balance. Leverage raises the risk of a gap past your stop.

Stop-loss first, size second

The right order is: decide where your idea is wrong, place the stop-loss there, and only then calculate the size. Many beginners do the opposite. They pick a size they like and then squeeze the stop-loss close so the loss "looks small". A stop that is too close gets hit by normal price noise, so they lose more often.

With position sizing you never have to squeeze the stop. If the market needs a wider stop, the calculator simply gives you a smaller position, and the money at risk stays the same. If the resulting position is too small to be worth it, skip the trade. Skipping a trade is also a risk decision.

The 1% rule in practice

Risking 1% per trade means ten losing trades in a row cost about 10% of the account, which can be recovered. Risking 5% means the same streak costs about 40%, which needs a 67% gain just to get back. Keep the risk small and let consistency do the work.

Frequently asked questions

Learn more on the blog

Risk Management · 21 September 2026 · 6 min read

The 1% Risk Rule: How Much Should You Risk Per Trade?

How much to put on one trade? The 1% rule explained with ₹5,000, ₹20,000 and $100 accounts, plus what a losing streak does at 1%, 2%, 5% and 10%.

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