The best thing you can do is to learn all you can about e mini futures. Then keep trading them for no money (simulation) until you can make consistent money. There is a big catch you must treat this simulation as its real or the whole endeavor is a waste of time. If you are making decent money then you are finally ready to trade. You can't afford to even trade one contract to get your feet wet. Don't get me wrong you can afford it by margin requirements but its just not worth it yet. Lets say you want to trade the sp mini at $50 a full point for one contract. In my opinion you need a stop at least 3 points and I prefer something like 5 points. It can and does move 3 points in a matter of minutes all the time. So you could easily lose $250 plus commissions and the bid ask spread in a matter of minutes. Thats nearly 1% of all your capital its to much unless you have really proven to yourself that you can do it. This kind of proof is not derived from weeks . Its more like a minimum of six months to a year.
be very careful with futures due to there low margin requirements and high leverage.. futures are like stocks on steroids if you dont know how to deal with risk management. watch on a simulator for a a few months then always plan you entires and exits before you execute you first trade.. after a few months sim then try one lots for a few month... try to stay with a max risk for day of 1% of you account balance so you dont blow your account out and start revenge trading which would most likely be the end of your trading career for the immediate time. good luck
<i>"what is a good amount to start with for futures?"</i> A good amount to begin with while learning to trade is $0. That is, absolutely zero real dollars worked = risked while you learn the game. No one "earns while they learn". Instead, it is always "learn while you burn" in reality. Excellent advice given above. You are at the very beginning stages of learning a complex, tough profession. Go to school with virtual money in demo mode. The $22k (or more) you save in the process will be your own!