Margin calculator
Work out how much margin a forex or gold position needs from its size, the price and your leverage.
How to use it
- Choose the instrument and your account currency.
- Enter the position size in lots. The price fills in from this site's reference rates; you can type your own.
- Pick the leverage your account uses for that instrument.
How it works
Required margin = lots × contract size × price ÷ leverage, converted into your account currency. The calculator uses 100,000 units per lot on currency pairs and 100 ounces per lot on gold, the common conventions. Your broker's contract sizes may differ.
Worked example
One standard lot of EUR/USD at 1.1000 is a position worth 110,000 US dollars. At 30:1 leverage the required margin is 110,000 ÷ 30, about 3,666.67 dollars, a margin requirement of 3.33%. At 20:1 it would be 5,500 dollars.
| Leverage | Margin requirement | Margin on a 110,000 position |
|---|---|---|
| 30:1 | 3.33% | 3,666.67 |
| 20:1 | 5% | 5,500.00 |
| 10:1 | 10% | 11,000.00 |
Margin is not a cost; it is part of your own money set aside while the position is open. Lower margin does not mean lower risk. The money you can lose depends on position size and stop distance, which the lot size calculator handles. Our guide to leverage and margin explains margin calls and stop outs, and from demo to live trading covers what to check before trading real money.
Frequently asked questions
What is required margin?
It is the part of your account balance that the broker sets aside to keep a leveraged position open. It is returned to your free margin when the position closes.
Does higher leverage make a trade riskier?
For the same position size, higher leverage only reduces the margin locked. The risk comes from position size; higher leverage makes it easier to open positions that are too large.
Why is my broker showing a different margin figure?
Brokers can use different contract sizes, prices, leverage tiers by instrument and account currency conversions. Always use the figure in your trading platform.