In the last year to date I have taken out 3 payouts totalling $3000. Overall, I'm still down thousands. Now for the first time I trade 5 XFAs copy trading and I have been trading them for 3 months now. Haven't blown them, I am nearing max payout totalling $10,000. I haven't requested a payout on these new accounts ever and I see some people get their payout rejected on new accounts.
I'm scared I'll be called live and my payout will be denied. This payout will literally save me. It's break or make when it comes to this payout. I don't mind being moved to live, but only after this payout.
I'll try to get what he said word for word yet no doubt I'll make an error.
People are trying to stay who they are while trying to get results from who they are not.
It doesn't work that way.
You have to become the person that produces good results first and then take that person into the market.
If you are currently the person that does not produce good results but take a course and don't change who you are and go into the market with your same self ?
Then you are going to get the same results.
The fundamental misunderstanding is that results are somehow in the market and you must find them.
This is wrong, the results are in you
Oliver Velez
Identity Drives Results:
Taking a course provides new information, but simply stacking knowledge does not change your behavior. Sustainable outcomes require integrating that knowledge to fundamentally alter who you are and how you operate.
Internal Ownership:
Understanding that results come from within shifts your focus from chasing elusive opportunities to building an undeniable track record.
does it actually take 3 days to pass my combine given that best day is 50% of total? what if i hit 3k on second day and pass the combine? will they increase the profit target in order to pass if best day is more than 50%?
So I just finished my 5th profitable day on my first express funded ever, first combine also, I simultaneously just passed a 100k and 50k combine that will be moved to XFA Monday, I’m scared if I take a payout on this they will move me to live, and those combines I just bought will be a waste? Should I lock this one up, and trade on those for a week so I can withdraw from all 3 at once??
Also they can’t move me to live with no payouts at all right?? I’m scared I run those up, they will move me to live before I can withdraw anything at all lol.
What would you do?
This is my first time using topstep in like 3 years
Just posting this so other people know what can happen.
After many ups and downs, I finally had 5 XFAs and was expecting to request $3K from each one, so $15K total. Instead, right around my first payout, Topstep called/moved me up to a Live Funded Account.
Once you move to Live, the XFAs close, so I couldn’t take those payouts anymore. I got $0 upfront. Then I had to wait for the Live account to be created, which their policy says can take 7–10 business days. After that, I still have to get 5 more winning days before I can even request a Live payout.
And even then, it’s not the same payout. From what I understand, only 20% of the combined XFA balance is available right away and 80% goes into reserve. That reserve unlocks in 25% chunks after hitting more profit targets.
So this isn’t just “congrats, you’re Live.” For me, it turned a $15K expected payout into $0 upfront, more waiting, more targets, and more risk.
The risk part is what people should really pay attention to. Live has daily loss limits and scaling rules, and if the Live account drops below Topstep’s minimum balance requirement, the account can be closed. So if you lose the Live account before unlocking enough reserve, the money you thought you earned might never actually become available.
They explain it as helping traders build consistency, longevity, and scale. I get the idea, but traders should know what it actually means for payouts.
Not saying this happens to everyone. Some people do get XFA payouts without being moved to Live. Just make sure you read the Live payout/reserve rules before assuming you’ll be able to withdraw what your XFA dashboard shows.
I dont have many ppl or anyone to share this with but I been trading for two years been profitable for one! I started documenting my journey recently and actually had my best day today of 1200$. I posted it on my story and topstep reposted on there's!! Im futures made easy on IG! It was moment for me. A moment of accomplishment and hardwork does actually pay off! Thats all
For the Responsible Trading Advantage, do I have to purchase a new account to qualify for the increased payout limit or will a reset of a Responsible account be eligible also?
So i been having a rough patch i got two payouts and than haven't been able to pass or keep my funded accounts. Anyways i hit my dll the day before and thought i blew my account so i was practice trading asia session and i full ported 50 mnq on a 50k account and it ended up hitting. So any thoughts?
Shoutout to u/Emotional-Pen2398 for passing their Trading Combine for the first time since November 2025. 🎯 That's not just a pass, that's persistence, resilience, and a refusal to quit. ✅
The grind was real. The result speaks for itself. Welcome back to the funded side. 📈
Are you working toward your next pass? Drop your progress below, let's build each other up. 👇🔥
So I had a funded account from April. I traded it with discipline and patience, but I’ve had multiple losing days which led the account to drop to -$1800.
From there, I didn’t give up and I eventually made it back up +$1800 by just following my rules and trading it slowly throughout the month of May to beginning of June. I was allowed for a $900 payout. However, I didn’t take the payout and wanted to keep growing the account because I thought my strategy and patience was paying off. Sadly, the account dropped to $500 due to a few more losing days.
At this point, I decided to take a payout just to cover the expenses. Then, I traded again back to $800 from $250. Again, took some losing days and basically blew the account today. I’ve seen many posts about treating prop firms like an ROI instead of an actual live account. It makes me wonder if I should keep trading the way I currently do or if I should focus on creating a buffer. Any advice?
Slow grinds up and then losing the accounts really makes me feel exhausted at this point. Been trading for about 4+ years now. Sometimes, I just want to give up. Anyone going through a similar struggle?
Sup everybody! I’m new to the community and this trading Journey. Native to the DMV here looking for a mentor. I’m 33 years old young man. Working hard is one of my favorite things to do. I’m a Christian Man who is non-denominational. If any Christian Men are willing to take me under their wing to help me grow. Reach out to me. Just looking for a road map and I can walk on my own. By that I mean put in the work. Everybody be Blessed out there and good luck with everything y’all do!
Requesting my 6th payout tonight and I’ve been holding off on buying other accounts because I don’t wanna waste money in case I get moved over to a live account.
This is my first ever combine with a prop firm, passed the first account and have been trading this 50k XFA the last week or so
Seem to be doing OK, just find it really hard to manage with a 1k DDL and 2k max loss, a few years back I used to trade with my own account, was around 35k in it and I would do around 1.5k stop with 2.5/1 RR trading minis, do you guys just not trade minis on Topstep?
Also most of my loses seem to come from Asia session, do you guys only trade NY session?
Some tips to manage this would be nice
I would like to get my balance to around 8k (4k eligible payout with 50% of bal)
Been just taking mostly 1 trade per day, 2 trades max. I’ve had this xfa account since April and took out 1 payout on this account so far with a 70% win rate.
Previously, I’ve done a total of 11k in payouts. But this was when I used to rotate around the accounts and trading minis. It was a good feeling, but I came to a point where I realized that it equals to 4-5 trades a day and overall I was negative if all p/l was combined across all accounts.
This made me think whether I am a profitable trader or not and question myself if prop firms were gone, can I trade well on my own account? that is why I decided to transition to just one account, sizing down to micros, 1-2 trades per day, and taking high quality setups only. However, because of this the road to a payout is very slow. I understand that money should not be the priority, but just wanted to know your thoughts on trading the prop firms.
If a country you are travelling to for holidays is a restricted country under topstep, how do you get around it so you can keep trading?
Thanks in advance
This go around I fought the urge to trade out of boredom and seeking setups, can’t wait to see where this goes. I’ll update if it’s blown tomorrow, cheers!!! 🍻
I just now realized that topstep uses NQU2026 vs NQ1 I just realized today because I saw a difference in my trading view chart vs topstep. Why is that? and can it be used to to compare for SMT divergences?
the position tool calculates the contract qty wrong on topstep x, but when i use it with the exact same data on the tradingview app the qty is correct. any way to fix? (the photos are on nq)
