Fixed Lot or Percent Risk? How Much to Risk per Trade - Try For Free
Your risk per trade is the money you lose if a trade hits its stop loss, and keeping it the same on every trade matters more than any entry signal.
There are two common ways to size trades in MT5: a fixed lot, or a fixed percentage of your balance. Only one of them keeps your risk per trade constant.
Fixed Lot vs Percent Risk
With a fixed lot, you trade the same volume every time - say 0.10 lots.
- Trade A: 20-pip stop on EURUSD = $20 risk.
- Trade B: 60-pip stop on EURUSD = $60 risk.
Same lot, three times the risk. If trade B loses, it costs three wins of trade A to recover.
With percent risk, you choose the loss first - say 1% of a $5,000 balance = $50 - and the lot size follows the stop:
- Trade A: 20-pip stop = 0.25 lots.
- Trade B: 60-pip stop = 0.08 lots.
Both lose $50 if wrong. Your results now depend on your decisions, not on how far the stop happened to be.
Risk Percentage per Trade: 0.5%, 1% or 2%?
There is no single right number, but most professional guidance sits between 0.25% and 2%:
| Risk per trade | Losing streak of 10 | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5% | about -4.9% | prop firm challenges, new strategies |
| 1% | about -9.6% | most discretionary traders |
| 2% | about -18.3% | A+ setups only, experienced traders |
Ten losses in a row happen to every strategy eventually. At 1% you can survive that and keep trading normally.
Setting Your Risk per Trade in MT5
MT5's own order window only asks for a volume - it has no risk setting. In the All In One Trade Management Panel MT5 the Risk Mode row has three options:
- Percent - risk a percentage of your balance. The lot size is calculated from your stop.
- Fixed Lot - a set volume, when you want it (for example to test a strategy at minimum size).
- Preset - pick from named risk levels such as A+ 2%, A 1.5%, B 1%, C 0.5%, D 0.25%. Grade the setup, pick the preset, and the size follows. You can edit, add or remove presets.
There is also an optional cap on total risk across open trades, so five 1% trades can't quietly add up to more than you allow.
Lot Step Rounding
Brokers only accept volumes in fixed steps - usually 0.01 lots. If the maths says 0.437 lots, the order has to go in as 0.44 or 0.43. The tool rounds to your broker's lot step and keeps the size within its minimum and maximum, so the order is never rejected for an invalid volume. The risk shown on the chart is the risk of the rounded size, so you always see the real number.
FAQ
How much should I risk per trade?
Most traders use 0.5-1% of their balance. Use the lower end on prop firm accounts or a new strategy.
Why is my lot size rounded?
Your broker only accepts volumes in steps (often 0.01). The calculated size is rounded to the nearest allowed step.
What is the minimum lot size?
Usually 0.01 lots, but it depends on the broker and symbol. Check it in MT5: right-click the symbol in Market Watch > Specification > Minimal volume.
Read next
- Yesterday's guide: lot size calculator
- Tomorrow: 7 Risk Management Mistakes That Blow Forex Accounts
