Do you just want to trade foreign exchange, or do you want to trade more portfolios, such as ETFs, indexes, commodities and stocks? Do you just want to trade occasionally, or will you invest for a long time? Because you are retired, you want a portfolio with a stable annual income of 4%? You recently won a large bonus, so you want to try investing after work? You just sold your startup, so you want to find something exciting to do? Or just recently divorced, want to make good use of alimony? If you don't know your starting point, it is difficult to know what kind of transaction or investment is most suitable for you. Then I suggest you think of other ways that are more suitable for investment.

More investigation

After you know what you want, you should start reviewing the list of foreign exchange brokers. You should review the following five important factors:

● Is it standardized?

You must put your money with a supervised broker. The security of funds is the most important feature of securities firms. You certainly don't want to give your hard-earned money to a broker who verbally claims to be legal, do you? I think it is very necessary to accept the supervision of at least two strict international regulatory agencies. It depends on where the broker is. In the United States, famous foreign exchange brokers must be members of the National Futures Association (NFA) and registered as futures commission agents and retail foreign exchange dealers with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Other strict international regulators include the Financial Market Conduct Authority (FCA), the Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA), the Australian Securities Investment Commission (ASIC) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervision Authority (FINMA).

● Transaction costs

Every time you exchange and trade funds on the trading platform, whether you like it or not, you have to pay the transaction fee. These fees are usually spreads or commissions, which is also one of the profit sources of most brokers. You don't always think that brokers are charities that allow you to trade for free, do you? However, the business models of different brokers are different, so the transaction costs are different. So you can check the transaction cost of each broker and find the one you think is most acceptable. Of course, if you are not a day trader or a scalper, the transaction cost is not so important to you.

● Minimum account size

If you are a novice in the foreign exchange market, you'd better find a broker who can accept deposits from smaller accounts. There are three kinds of accounts for foreign exchange brokers: micro, small and standard accounts. Micro accounts are the smallest, followed by mini accounts. Both of them can accept a small amount of funds, which is more beneficial to novice traders and traders who are unwilling to take too many risks. This kind of account may also have less income, but this does not prevent it from being favored by traders with less trading time and experience. Both mini-accounts and micro-accounts can realize small investment, without worrying about excessive losses.

● Trading platform

It is important to choose the latest and most practical platform, so that you can view charts, analyze, compare currencies, use different indicators and execute transactions. Finding the best foreign exchange trading platform is not an easy task. In the United States, some foreign exchange trading platforms and brokers no longer accept American traders, but there will also be many platforms specifically for American investors.

● Customer service

Reliable and timely customer service is very important, which can avoid customers' troubles and make customers feel at ease in trading. Most brokers provide 24-hour online and telephone customer service. You certainly don't want the customer service of brokers to keep promoting large investments or their own products. You can do some tests, such as calling the clients of securities firms, pretending that you are new to foreign exchange, and then asking all kinds of questions about trading and company products. Some brokerage customers have very kind customer service when opening accounts, but the after-sales work is very bad. If they sound perfunctory, then change brokers decisively!

3. Open a mock account and try more.

Once you know what you want, and you've put a lot of thought into identifying several future brokers, it's time to take it seriously! Choose at least two brokers who best meet their own standards to open simulated accounts. Then set up different market environments for trading. Record the different characteristics of each trading platform. Be sure to ask customer service if you have any questions. Most simulated trading platforms are similar to their actual trading platforms, but they are not exactly the same. It may be that the execution speed is a little different, or the reliability of the sliding point and the platform is different. Many times, real accounts are more reliable than simulated accounts.