Is financial spread betting accessible to anyone? Can I make a career of spread betting? How long should I expect it to take before I can expect to consistently make money spread betting? Spread Betting For Me aims to answer some of the above questions.

The growing popularity of spread betting and CFD trading has made the stock exchange, currency markets and commodity markets accessible to a wider audience.

The markets are no longer the domain of the professional trader in brokerages and banks who need large volumes of capital to make money of their trades.

Spread betting = flexibility

I always thought that I had a knack for the markets and an understanding of how they work. The question was - how do I make money off this knowledge? Can I make money off the stock exchange without a huge outlay?

I expected that to start trading the markets I would have to put forward close on £5000. And in some case this was a correct assesment. Some brokerages do require heavy lay outs.

Spread betting - an answer

But these large outlays are in fact not essential if you consider spread betting as your entrance into the world of stocks.

The outlay you need is directly linked to the risk of the trade you are about to take and many spread betting providers will allow you to start trading from a small outlay - £50 is all that is needed in some cases.

Spread betting as an income

Those that are able to master the markets are able to make a full and dedicated income off spread betting.

However - and this is a big HOWEVER - getting to this stage will take time.

I have attended many spread betting seminars and spoken to many spread betting professionals - it is generally agreed that most people should accept that it will take a good two years of trials and tribulations before you start making consistent profits.

However - that said - I believe if you can master the disciplines of spread betting you can cut that time significantly.