What is the Topstep Trader Combine – Earn a Funded Trading Account Up to $150,000:
The Topstep Trader Combine is an opportunity for individuals to earn a funded forex or futures account. It’s essentially a tryout to prove your abilities to capture profits and manage risk. If you can hit the profit targets without breaking any rules – you get funded.
This all takes place inside a demo account so that there’s no risk of losing any real money in the markets. It’s only to prove that you can consistently grow a multi-thousand dollar forex or futures account while appropriately managing downside risk at the same time.
A funded trader program like Topstep provides professional-level trading opportunities to individuals who otherwise wouldn’t have a realistic chance due to capital limitations. The truth is that most people simply don’t have $50,000+ to fund their own accounts.
So for those without large sums of money to put toward trading, a program like Topstep is their only chance to earn a substantial account. There’s no doubt that a six-figure account can take trading from a mere hobby or dream to a professional endeavor.
Overall, the Topstep Combine is a safe environment for traders to showcase their talents with limited risk and high potential.
Topstep Trader Rules – See What it Takes to Earn a Topstep Funded Account:
In order to enter the Combine, you start by choosing an account size. For Topstep Futures, for example, you have 3 options: $50,000, $100,000, or $150,000. Each account size has different prices, profit targets, loss limits, and maximum position sizes.
The $50,000 account costs $165 per month, has a $3,000 profit target per step, a daily loss limit of $1,000, and a maximum position size of 5 contracts. Additional details, including information on the $100,000 and $150,000 accounts can be found in the image below:
The size of the account you get funded with after passing the Combine is determined by the account size you chose for the Combine. So if you sign up for the $150,000 Topstep Futures Combine, you get funded with a $150,000 futures account when you pass.
It’s also important to understand that passing the Topstep Combine is a 2-step process. Once you hit the profit target the first time, your account resets back to the initial account size and you have to hit that profit target again (with a couple additional rules).
The main rule implemented for step 2 is a weekly loss limit. So not only is there a daily loss limit, but a weekly loss limit as well. As you can probably tell by now, the focus of a program like Topstep is on training traders to manage risk with a high degree of discipline.
Is Topstep Trader a Scam – Common Complaints About the Topstep Trader Combine:
There are some individuals who complain about the Topstep Combine and try to make it out to be a scam. But these complaints and scam allegations are typically due to frustrations over not being able to pass. After all, the Combine isn’t meant to be easy.
Topstep is in the business of recruiting profitable traders, funding them, and then sharing in the profits. And the best way to screen for good traders is through an objective test – one where only those with an edge and ability to manage risk make it through.
In the end, the Combine weeds out those who can’t appropriately manage risk. You have to admit that it would be crazy for Topstep to fund individuals with $50,000+ accounts without proving they can follow rules and manage risk. This is perfectly reasonable.
Would you hand over $50,000 of your own money to an inconsistent and impulsive trader? Probably not. Performing an evaluation with specific rules and parameters in place to intelligently decide who to fund is a completely normal thing to do.
So I don’t think Topstep should be construed as a scam at all. Does the Topstep Combine cost a bit of money to go through? Yes. And does everybody pass? No. But it’s designed to attract individuals who are serious about trading and will appropriately manage risk.
The potential reward of capturing consistent profits in a fully funded account far exceeds the roughly $300 per month Combine cost.
Bottom Line – Is the Topstep Trader Combine and Potential Funded Account Worth Pursuing?
The Topstep Trader Combine isn’t meant for individuals to dive in blind and try to gamble their way to a funded account. It’s theoretically possible to do so, but your luck will eventually run out. The rules don’t magically go away once you earning funding.
The Combine is only the first step. Once you have your funded account, you can start profiting to earn real money. But breaking the rules will only get your funded account taken away. Proper risk management isn’t just for the Combine – it’s for all the time.
Develop the Trading Skills to Pass the Topstep Futures Combine With Top-Rated Training → Trade With Profile
As a complete beginner, Topstep is far from the worst place you can start – it’s an established program offering a safe and supportive environment. But without the proper training first, you’ll probably end up spending more on the Combine than you might like.
In order to prepare for the Combine, individuals should build legitimate trading skills first. Anyone who enters the Combine should be confident in their ability to pass within just a few months. It shouldn’t be about luck or gambling, but skills and experience.
When you go into the Combine prepared – with legitimate edge, risk management capabilities, and other skills, you know exactly what to expect out of the experience. You’ll pass, earn your funded account, and be able to trade at a professional-level.
Please share your experiences with the Topstep Combine or any other funded trader program in the comments section below.
Check Out My Free Trading Success Framework Course
Written by Matt Thomas (@MattThomasTP)
Related Pages:
- What is a Trading Simulator – Before You Risk Real Money
- How to Day Trade For a Living Starting With $5,000 or Less
- What is Topstep Futures – Earn a Funded Futures Account
- Trade With Profile – The Profile Trading Development Pathway
- What is a Funded Trader Program – Earn a $150,000 Account
Is this program only for experienced traders?
What does the $150,000 value mean for the last option?
Wow, topstep must be a risky business to be in. Although I am interested because you can make big gains and then become funded. The good thing about this is that you are trying a demo to see if you will make it and also not losing any money from the trading for practice.
This article was very detailed and gave me a lot of insight on topstep and what to do. This is definitely for people who know what to do when trading and also pass the combine.
The combine must be the test and the demo you get before you get access to the deal you chose out of the three options for the program.
Hi Caleb – great questions.
Topstep isn’t just for experienced traders. You can certainly be a new/beginner trader and learn a lot from going through the Topstep Combine at relatively low cost. But don’t expect to pass the Combine quickly without any legitimate trading skills/experience.
The way the Topstep Combine works is that those looking to get funded have 3 options – the $50K Combine, $100K Combine, or $150K Combine. They all have similar rules in terms of daily loss limits, max contract sizes, and other rules – but they vary relative to the account size you’re trying to get funded with. For example, the profit targets for each step of the Combine are 6%. So for the $50K combine – that’s $3K and for the $150K Combine – that’s $9K. So if you start a $150K account and grow it 6%/$9,000 twice (it’s a 2-step test) – then you earn a $150K account to trade with. That money isn’t yours to keep, but you get to use it to trade with – and keep 80% of the profits.
Topstep itself, in my opinion, doesn’t offer enough in-depth training (at least at the moment) to put traders in the absolute best position to pass their Combine in a short amount of time – so I highly recommend Trade With Profile for building real skill/edge.
While Topstep Trader Combine sounds like it could be beneficial, a person should understand the risks of day trading. It takes time, effort and education to become good at day trading. You must analyze the risks on a moment by moment for the greatest return on investment(roi). The better trained and more knowledge you have the better you will do. I would not recommend anyone do day trading unless they had a good understanding of everything involved.
Hi Jerry – I completely agree that people should understand the risks of day trading before getting involved. And I also agree that people should focus on legitimate training and mentorship if they do decide to pursue it. Far too many people come into the markets without a full understanding of what’s truly involved in order to achieve long-term success – their sole focus is on the money/results – and it rarely ever ends well. That’s why much of the information, articles, and resources on this site concentrate on proper expectation-setting, trading mindset/psychology, and legitimate training & mentorship. Without these core components, new traders don’t really have a chance at succeeding.
When it comes to the Topstep Trader program specifically – I think it’s far “safer” than the typical path new traders take. I’ve heard too many horror stories of individuals risking thousands of their own dollars trading blindly and impulsively in markets (based on guru alerts or whatever else). I personally lost over $20K over the course of several years – both in subscription fees to alert services, newsletters, and chat rooms (that didn’t really help me very much), as well as the losses I took in the markets by having no real clue what I was doing. I was completely dependent on so-called gurus instead of becoming self-sufficient. But what I like about the Topstep Combine is that it provides live market experience without the typical costs of failure. And if you can learn to appropriately manage risk and grow the account, you can potentially get funded with a substantial five or six-figure account – which can help produce meaningful trading profits.
Getting funded certainly isn’t easy to accomplish, and there is a small cost involved with the Topstep Combine (roughly $250 per month – but depends on account size), but to me – this tryout fee is peanuts compared to what many beginners to do themselves. For example, decimating multi-thousand dollar trading accounts that they’ve funded on their own – without learning any lessons in regard to risk management, mindset management, etc. In my opinion, they’d be much better off putting that money toward legitimate education, training, and mentorship – and then working toward getting funded.
Earning a trade account. That is a good way to use someone else’s money to make money. Sadly, its true a lot of investment savvy individuals could buy and sell certain instruments but are without the funds. I know if I had $50,000 or more this year I could have sold the bitcoin that is going back down during this time of the year. Buying back in once it hits its lowest amount helps you leverage value. I see this program is going to teach about daily trading in futures and forex. That is really awesome. If you know what you are doing you should turn that first $1,000 worth of monthly subscriptions into pure profits. You just have to not cut corners while you do it.
Hi Alex – I appreciate your comments!
I think funded trader programs like Topstep are great opportunities for people to take advantage of if they’re interested in pursuing trading at a serious level (but don’t necessarily have the funds to do so or the desire to risk their own capital). Not only do they offer the chance to earn large five, six, and sometimes even seven-figure trading accounts, but they typically offer some great resources for trader development – especially in the areas of risk management and discipline (which new traders often struggle with). I know there’s a cost involved with the tryout process (or the Combine as Topstep calls it), as well as an 80/20 profit split once funded, but to me these costs/profit splits are well worth it.
I’m currently working on getting funded with a $150,000 Topstep Futures account which I’m hoping to achieve within the next few months. And as you stated, I think I’ll be able to earn back the $1,000 or so in Combine fees within a relatively short period of time once funded – as long as I stick to my process. I’m not trying to cut corners or game the system in any way – which some people do just to pass the Combine. Instead, I want my approach to be sustainable for the long-term. It’s not just about passing the Combine and getting funded, but steadily growing that funded account and earning a nice income with firm capital. The Combine is just the beginning.
I am not a really big trader but I have friends who are trading and friends who are looking into trading. I am sure that they will appreciate this post so I will be sure to share it with them. Out of all of them, which one do you think is the Best? I will just recommend that one to them.
Hi Daniel – if you’re asking which funded trader program is the best, I haven’t come anywhere close to checking out of all of them, but Topstep is my favorite because of the technology and support it provides. It’s also well-established and one of the market leaders in the funded trader space. I actually think it was one of the first proprietary trading firms of its kind – offering an objective tryout for a totally remote funding opportunity (no interviews or in-person office visits necessary in order to get “hired” and “work for” a classic prop firm).
For complete beginners without an edge, I would highly recommend a legitimate training/mentorship program first – like Thomas Kralow’s University Grade Trading Education. But for individuals who already have the skills and edge in the futures or forex markets, I would highly recommend Topstep as an opportunity to get funded with a large five to six-figure account and take their trading operations to the next level.