Yeah of course it's not the same. But I've traded e-minis for a long time, and never had the funds to actually try more than 2 contracts on my own. Micros are typically for longer term holds/testing new setups, while I daytrade e-mini on a separate account. My experience lets me comfortably trade my strategy with 1, but what about 5? or 10? I am not sure I can do that and not feel stressed, let alone on my own account. So I feel that I am not prepared for that. But I need to be, if I want to get to the next level. And these funded programs allow me to do so and also make money while I practice these things. I don't expect everyone to get it, since it seems most traders are content to make very small profits and treat this like a basic job. But I do intend to scale up quite a lot the next year or two and this is one very cheap way to do it (without borrowing close friends' money). As for fees, OneUp has no monthly fee. FTMO (for forex and CFDs) has no monthly fee. UProfit also has a one time fee and no other monthly fee. I will hopefully find a few more as I look into them, but there are definitely a few options.
Then you are not ready for it, because the funded programs have rules you most likely do not follow when trading your live account, because the funded programs' rulesets are a joke and not realistic. NOBODY should be trading 10 contracts on a 50K account unless they are from the future and have Gray's Sports Almanac. NOBODY. Not these days. Maybe years ago when the ES ranged 5 points per day, but not NOW.
The $50k account allows up to 6 contracts, but I agree with you, even 6 is too many. Most people doing these programs are gambling and that's why they fail and blow up the accounts. They probably realize that quickly when they use 6. Also, with the daily loss limit of $1200, you should never be using 6 unless your entry is perfect. NQ moves 10 points very easily on imperfect entries and that would go past -$1200 if you were reckless and used 6. I think $50k using 3-4 is ideal, and 4 may still be a lot at least when you haven't made a few thousand yet to provide a buffer. For someone like me who is using it to train themselves in the discipline and also get more accustomed to scaling responsibly, I think they are the best thing out right now. But as I mentioned I trade only 1 and once in a while, 2, and no more. I can trade up to 4 if I wanted to, and 6 requires a higher balance than I keep, but I refrain since I aim to master 2 and 3 first.
Welp, all I can say is, good luck. In closing, my point here has been that you can easily emulate what the prop firms offer by simulating their rules on your own trading software in sim mode. No need to pay for it.
Yep you and anyone can do that, but surely you know the psychology behind this is rarely that simple. If it works for you, it works. For others, other options may work better.
This is exactly the thing that blows my mind. Nearly every serious trading software lets you do this. Why the fuck would you pay someone to do the same thing. I forget the name of the software now, but the same software that the TopStep guys use is available for DEMO purposes for $30/month(?) where you can set up exactly the same rules. It's incredible to pay these guys a cent. In fact, with discount brokers you can get EXACTLY the same leverage as TopStep. PAPER TRADE UNTIL YOU'RE PROFITABLE START WITH A SMALL ACCOUNT ADD TO THE ACCOUNT AS YOU GET PROFITABLE (I.E. ADD TO WINNERS ONLY!!!!) Anyone who can save up $10K CAN MAKE A LIVING IN THE FUTURES MARKET FOREVER TRADING ONLY MNQ OR MES OR EVEN M2K.
Yes, you are wrong. The only reason I can think of for why it may seem confusing is because the YM/MYM is the only one of the majors that is not decimaled? 1 point= 1 tick in the Dow futures.