Free tool

Margin calculator

How much of your balance a position ties up at your leverage, and what is left over for everything else you were planning to hold.

Instrument

Position

lots
:1
Required margin
—
Enter size, flat leverage and current price.
How it works

What the margin calculator does

notional = units x contract multiplier x pricemargin = notional / leverage

Futures are the exception and do not work this way. They carry a flat margin per contract set by the exchange and your broker, so the calculator asks for that figure directly instead of dividing by a ratio.

Example

A worked example

  1. 01One standard lot of EURUSD at 1.0850.
  2. 02100,000 units x 1.0850 = $108,500 of notional exposure.
  3. 03At 30:1 leverage, $108,500 / 30 = $3,616.67 of margin.
Questions

Worth knowing

Is margin a cost?
No. It is your own money held aside while the position is open and returned when you close it. What it costs you is flexibility, because margin held on one trade cannot be used for another.
Why does my broker ask for a different number?
Leverage caps vary by regulator, by instrument and sometimes by account tier, and some brokers raise margin on exotic pairs or over a weekend. Use this to plan, then check the figure your platform shows before you commit.
What about futures?
Futures margin is set per contract by the exchange rather than derived from leverage, so enter the initial margin your broker publishes and the calculator scales it by your contract count.
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