Margin Calculator

What required margin is

Margin is the amount your broker locks as collateral to open a trade — not a fee. It returns to your free balance when the position closes. Required margin = (trade size × unit price) ÷ leverage, so at 1:100 a 100,000-unit standard lot locks about 1,000 units of the base currency.

Leverage enlarges the position you can open with a small balance, but losses are still calculated on the full position. Treat leverage as financing, not as a profit multiplier: it scales gains and losses by exactly the same factor.

Using the calculator and reading the numbers

After required margin, the key figure is remaining free margin: it decides how much adverse movement you can absorb before a margin call or forced liquidation.

• Pick the pair or asset and enter the size exactly as you will trade it.
• Enter your account’s real leverage, not the maximum advertised.
• Compare required margin with your balance — the higher the ratio, the less room for error.
• If you plan several simultaneous trades, add all required margins first.
• Always keep meaningful free margin to absorb spread widening around news.

Margin calls and how to avoid them

A margin call happens when your margin level drops below the broker’s threshold, requiring a deposit or triggering automatic liquidation. Usually the cause is not the market alone but oversized positions that lock most of the balance and leave no room for a temporary pullback.

The practical rule: size from risk with the lot calculator, confirm here that locked margin stays a small share of your balance, then use the pip calculator for the value of each move. Before major data releases check the economic calendar, since sharp volatility widens spreads and eats free margin fast. Educational only, not investment advice.