Position Sizing Cheat Sheet by Account Size

A static lookup table for the dollar amount you're risking per trade across common account sizes and risk percentages, plus a suggested daily loss limit table built off the same numbers. No inputs, no calculation — print it and pin it next to your monitor.

Table 1: Dollar Risk Per Trade, by Account Size and Risk %

Dollar risk = account size × risk percentage. This is the maximum amount you're willing to lose on a single trade, before you've picked an entry, stop, or share count.

Account Size	0.5% Risk	1% Risk	2% Risk	3% Risk
$1,000	$5	$10	$20	$30
$2,500	$12.50	$25	$50	$75
$5,000	$25	$50	$100	$150
$10,000	$50	$100	$200	$300
$25,000	$125	$250	$500	$750
$50,000	$250	$500	$1,000	$1,500
$100,000	$500	$1,000	$2,000	$3,000
$250,000	$1,250	$2,500	$5,000	$7,500

Table 2: Suggested Daily Loss Limit, Based on 1% Per-Trade Risk

A common rule of thumb caps a day's total loss at 2–4 times your per-trade risk, so one bad trade can't turn into a bad day. Figures below use the 1% column from Table 1 as the base.

Account Size	2× (Tight)	3× (Moderate)	4× (Loose)
$1,000	$20	$30	$40
$2,500	$50	$75	$100
$5,000	$100	$150	$200
$10,000	$200	$300	$400
$25,000	$500	$750	$1,000
$50,000	$1,000	$1,500	$2,000
$100,000	$2,000	$3,000	$4,000
$250,000	$5,000	$7,500	$10,000

How to use this cheat sheet

Table 1 tells you how many dollars to risk on a single trade before you've done any other math. Table 2 turns that same per-trade number into a stop-trading-for-the-day threshold, at three common multiples.
If your account size or risk percentage falls between two rows or columns, interpolate roughly or round down to the more conservative figure rather than rounding up.
This table stops at dollar risk. It doesn't tell you how many shares or contracts to buy, that depends on your stop distance, which changes trade to trade. Use the position-size generator linked below once you know your entry and stop.
The 2×/3×/4× multiples in Table 2 are a common industry rule of thumb, not a formula derived from your specific results. A strategy with wide natural variance in daily P&L may need a looser multiple; a strategy with tight, frequent trades may do better with a tighter one.

Not financial advice: This reference table is for general education about position-sizing math only. It does not account for stop distance, trading costs, or any specific strategy's actual variance, and is not a guarantee of any trading outcome. See our Terms of Service for full disclosures.

Position Sizing Cheat Sheet by Account Size

Table 1: Dollar Risk Per Trade, by Account Size and Risk %

Table 2: Suggested Daily Loss Limit, Based on 1% Per-Trade Risk

How to use this cheat sheet

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