The 3-5-7 Trading Rule: Simple Math That Keeps Your Wallet Alive

Tired of blowing up accounts? Here’s what pros use: never risk more than 3% per trade, cap total exposure at 5%, and make sure winning trades return at least 7% more than losers.

Sound basic? It is. But most traders ignore it anyway.

The 3%: One bad trade can’t wreck you. If you have $100K, max risk per trade = $3K. Forces you to think twice before entering. No FOMO trades worth 10% of your stack.

The 5%: Don’t dump everything into one market. Across all open positions, total exposure shouldn’t exceed 5% of your capital. On a $50K account? That’s $2,500 max in any single trade or asset class. Diversify or die.

The 7%: Your winners need to crush your losers. Target at least 7% gains on winning trades—this way profits naturally exceed losses over time. You’ll naturally filter out garbage setups and only take high-probability trades.

Real example: $100K account = max $7K exposed at any moment. Stick to this, and you’re playing the long game instead of gambling.

The boring part? Discipline and patience. The profitable part? Also discipline and patience.