For most of its life, Foreign exchange trading (forex) was deemed a very niche and elite vocation, reserved for the likes of elite bankers, politicians, captains of industry, and your typical Wall Street stockbroker. However, in the last 10+ years that’s all changed thanks to a slew of things, but due mainly to the wonders of the internet, and millennials have taken note. The accessibility of forex trading has become rather obvious to millennials for a number of reasons. For one, there’s no need for any large cash investments, and there’s the fact that as a species we’re conducting almost all of our business within the online space. This has brought about a massive proliferation in fintech, which in turn has led to millennials taking a prominent interest in forex trading. In the past forex trading was prohibitively expensive but in recent times has had its entry-level barrier lowered due to the amount of money that’s required to open an online trading account and the small amounts that can be used to make investments. With all this in mind, let us now explore various reasons why millennials are turning to forex.
1. Affordability
While you don’t need much of a skill set to get involved in forex trading, it won’t hurt to first open a demo account just for the sake of acclimatizing yourself to the environment before deciding to take over the forex market. Traditional stock market trading requires you to have a huge amount of starting capital in your trading account. Forex trading on the other hand allows for a much easier means of financial entrance, which in turn appeals to the younger generation. In addition, transaction fees are also less, with some online brokers going so far as to charge none. Additionally, an example of an online broker who offers free transaction fees for traders could be XM Forex trading broker, which makes it easier for traders to access the markets they need, without worrying about hefty transaction fees eating away at their profits
2. Flexibility
The current speed of the internet has turned us all into impatient users. It’s almost impossible to believe that back in the mid to late 1990s we were all perfectly okay with laborious installation procedures, troubleshooting our connections, and using 33.6 K modems. Thanks to online speeds, forex trading can last for a duration that is completely dependent on the trader, and this means that millennials interested in forex trading can fine-tune their trades to speeds and durations that they prefer. Adding to the flexibility factor is the fact that today’s smartphones possess the technology and the speed to provide millennials with all the tools necessary to keep track of the market in real time and to make any immediate decisions if required.
3. Digital ubiquity
Millennials have essentially been reared on technology. In other words, they’re digital natives and are perfectly comfortable scrolling down their Facebook feed, their Instagram feed or Twitter feed. Being raised in a climate of digital ubiquity means that millennials are adept at utilising the functions of the internet, and mainly from their smartphones. Possessing these kinds of inherent skills have made millennials a lot more prone to the world of forex trading as many online brokers who provide these services offer apps very similar in functionality to ones found in social media.
4. Less limitations, more control
Millennials are gravitating more and more towards unconventional working environments; a process that’s only been sped up by the global health crises of the last year and a half. Being one’s own boss resonates strong with millennials and forex trading is a vocation that lends itself towards that notion. Due to the global over-arching structure of the markets, there is little in the way of limitation. Millennials can set their own hours and establish schedules that work around their lives. As the internet generation continues to migrate into world of currency prices, one thing’s for sure, this world is only going to get more exciting.