Allocated capital

Portion of wealth dedicated to trading — separate from savings and living expenses.

On this page

Who this is for — Anyone who wants to trade sustainably and clearly separate money at operational risk from money meant for everyday life.

In plain terms — Allocated capital is the trader's professional budget: a defined quota, protected and consistent with your risk profile.

Bronze prerequisite — Before this lesson: trading-journal, discipline, capital, percentage-risk. See bronze-path.


Separating capital from personal needs

Allocated capital must not include essential expenses, emergency funds, or short-term debt.

This separation reduces psychological pressure and prevents decisions driven by financial urgency.

In the plan, define the initial quota, criteria for increasing it, and a threshold for temporary reduction.

Without this frame, even a good strategy becomes fragile in losing phases.

From allocated capital derive max-daily-risk and risk per trade via position-sizing.

When capital changes, size and limits must change proportionally.

This keeps the results curve more stable and protects the account from deep drawdowns.

Example — Total wealth €100,000; allocated trading capital €20,000. Risk per trade 0.5% of allocated capital (€100). This way a single mistake does not destabilise the entire portfolio.

Card

  • What it is: capital quota dedicated exclusively to trading.
  • When to use it: in initial planning and periodic reviews.
  • Typical mistake: increasing allocated capital after a winning streak without criteria.

Silver path — Module: Trading plan. Part of silver-path.