Position sizing means choosing the lot size for a trade so that, if your stop-loss is hit, the dollar loss equals a predefined percentage of your account (typically 1–2%). It's the single most important risk-management decision — far more impactful than entry timing.

Risk Amount = Account × Risk %; Risk Per Pip = Risk Amount ÷ Stop Loss Pips; Lot Size = Risk Per Pip ÷ Pip Value per Lot. The calculator runs all three steps using live exchange rates so the lot size accounts for the current pip value of any pair against your account currency.

1% is the gold-standard for retail traders — it survives long losing streaks. 0.5% is conservative, suited for beginners. 2% is acceptable for high-conviction setups but caps your tolerance for drawdown. Above 2%, account survival becomes statistically unlikely over 100+ trades.

Stop-loss distance comes first. Set it where the trade thesis is invalidated (beyond support/resistance, ATR multiple, etc.), then size the position to fit your risk budget. Tightening stops to inflate position size produces stop-outs from normal market noise and is one of the most common retail mistakes.

They're almost the same calculation. This calculator focuses on outputting a numeric lot size given inputs; the Lot Size Calculator includes more detailed asset-class breakdown and risk scenario tables. Use whichever interface matches your workflow — both produce the same answer for a given input.

Pip value depends on the quote currency. EUR/USD pip = $10/lot for a USD account but ~€9.20/lot for an EUR account at current rates. The calculator handles the conversion automatically so the result lands in your account currency, not the pair's quote currency.