Today I would like to talk to you about opening a financial spread betting account. This is an activity that you are likely to do on early in you financial spread betting journey.
There is some really great news for us here. There has been a massive rise in the number of financial spread betting companies coming into the market over recent years and they are fighting with each other so that YOU select them.
You are in the driving seat – You are in control.
The great thing about this is the facilities they offer keeps improving, the customer service is getting better, the range of different types of bets keep growing and probably most importantly the cost of trading is coming down.
More financial spread betting companies means more choice and sometimes that causes a headache for some people. This blog post doesn’t recommend any account specifically; it acts as a checklist to stop you from feeling so overwhelmed.
One thing to remember before we begin is that you can change your mind in the future if you wish…you are not stuck with them forever. You can change to another financial spread betting company so don’t worry too much.
After that (very) long introduction shall we begin?
Dummy / Practice Accounts
Whenever you read a book or view a website for beginners they tell you to do some paper trading first. Now you can set this up on a spreadsheet and that would be fine.
With paper trading you do miss out on the emotions that come with real trading and the potential of losing real money. You should do you best to replicate the conditions that you will be using when trading live to really get the most out of it.
This means using a Financial Spread Betting platform and many companies offer a dummy account for you to try. Why not try the account out and practice at the same time?
With these practice accounts you can sometimes choose your starting capital. Don’t go crazy… pick the amount that you will be starting with, it will make it more realistic.
Customer Service
This is crucial to me. If I have a problem I would like to be resolved as quickly and painlessly as possible. I want a choice of emailing or telephoning the company.
But how can you assess the customer service before you open an account?
Even though the new account literature is on the internet for all financial spread betting companies these days…why not call them and ask them to post it to you? This is your chance to put them through their paces. If they aren’t good at dealing with potential new customers then how good will they be if you are an existing customer and have an urgent problem?
Think about checking out trading forums on the internet. Word of warning here… people like (love?) to moan. I would advise not to read old posts. Instead, start a new topic asking people to recommend a financial spread betting broker, you will be surprised how many will share this with you.
Review sites can also be good but watch out here also. Often the person reviewing the site will receive a referral fee if you sign up after clicking on their link. Make sure they have used the service themselves. Why not ask them questions?
Best value
Why are you financial spread betting?
To make money?
Thought so.
In that case you want keeps the costs of a trade as low as possible. Now with spread betting you don’t pay commissions, financial spread betting firms make their money through the size of the spread. It is at this point that you may want to think about opening at least 2 different accounts (more on this to follow).
There is some really great news for us here. There has been a massive rise in the number of financial spread betting companies coming into the market over recent years and they are fighting with each other so that YOU select them.
You are in the driving seat – You are in control.
The great thing about this is the facilities they offer keeps improving, the customer service is getting better, the range of different types of bets keep growing and probably most importantly the cost of trading is coming down.
More financial spread betting companies means more choice and sometimes that causes a headache for some people. This blog post doesn’t recommend any account specifically; it acts as a checklist to stop you from feeling so overwhelmed.
One thing to remember before we begin is that you can change your mind in the future if you wish…you are not stuck with them forever. You can change to another financial spread betting company so don’t worry too much.
After that (very) long introduction shall we begin?
Dummy / Practice Accounts
Whenever you read a book or view a website for beginners they tell you to do some paper trading first. Now you can set this up on a spreadsheet and that would be fine.
With paper trading you do miss out on the emotions that come with real trading and the potential of losing real money. You should do you best to replicate the conditions that you will be using when trading live to really get the most out of it.
This means using a Financial Spread Betting platform and many companies offer a dummy account for you to try. Why not try the account out and practice at the same time?
With these practice accounts you can sometimes choose your starting capital. Don’t go crazy… pick the amount that you will be starting with, it will make it more realistic.
Customer Service
This is crucial to me. If I have a problem I would like to be resolved as quickly and painlessly as possible. I want a choice of emailing or telephoning the company.
But how can you assess the customer service before you open an account?
Even though the new account literature is on the internet for all financial spread betting companies these days…why not call them and ask them to post it to you? This is your chance to put them through their paces. If they aren’t good at dealing with potential new customers then how good will they be if you are an existing customer and have an urgent problem?
Think about checking out trading forums on the internet. Word of warning here… people like (love?) to moan. I would advise not to read old posts. Instead, start a new topic asking people to recommend a financial spread betting broker, you will be surprised how many will share this with you.
Review sites can also be good but watch out here also. Often the person reviewing the site will receive a referral fee if you sign up after clicking on their link. Make sure they have used the service themselves. Why not ask them questions?
Best value
Why are you financial spread betting?
To make money?
Thought so.
In that case you want keeps the costs of a trade as low as possible. Now with spread betting you don’t pay commissions, financial spread betting firms make their money through the size of the spread. It is at this point that you may want to think about opening at least 2 different accounts (more on this to follow).
