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If you just opened a brokerage account, you may be wondering what the section in your account titled “brokerage cash” means. Brokerage cash, account value, buying power, it’s easy to be confused by the different components of your account.
Let’s look deeper at brokerage cash and find out what exactly you can do with this money in your account.
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What is brokerage cash?
Brokerage cash refers to the total amount of uninvested money in your brokerage account. Sometimes called “uninvested cash” or “cash to invest,” brokerage cash can include instant deposits, unsettled funds and dividend payments, among other things.
In short, brokerage cash is the difference between your portfolio value and your investments’ value.
Do brokerage accounts earn money?
Some brokerage firms allow you to earn money on your brokerage cash through cash sweep programs. Through these programs, a broker sweeps your uninvested cash from your brokerage account into an affiliated, interest-bearing savings or money market account with one or more partner banks. Interest rates vary across brokers, but as of February 2024, the best broker cash sweep rates pay around 5% annual percentage yield (APY). Compare that to the average savings account rate of 0.46%.(1)
4 ways to use your brokerage cash
There are several ways to make use of your brokerage cash, like investing it or using it to pay bills. Here are a few options:
Invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other long-term assets. Buy and hold securities like stocks and ETFs, which offer the greatest potential for growth over the long term.
Buy short-term bonds or CDs. Short-term fixed-income investments such as bonds and certificates of deposit (CD) are typically safer securities than stocks and ETFs, but they’re also less liquid.
Leave it alone to earn interest. Let your money earn interest through your broker’s cash sweep program.
Pay bills. Some brokerage firms let you pay bills by transferring money directly from your brokerage account.
Brokerage cash vs. buying power
Whereas brokerage cash refers to the uninvested cash in your account, buying power is the amount of money you can use to purchase stocks, ETFs or other securities available through your broker.
Buying power is calculated by subtracting things like pending orders, options collateral and restricted cash from your brokerage cash. The amount of your uninvested cash and buying power won’t necessarily always match.
For example, say you have $50 in your brokerage cash balance, and you place a limit order to buy one share of XYZ stock at $10. XYZ stock currently trades at $15 per share, so the limit order is pending. A limit order is an order to buy or sell a stock at a specified price. At this point, your brokerage cash will still be $50, but your buying power will be $40. The $10 difference is the reserved money for the pending order. You have $40 available to buy more securities.
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Bottom line
Brokerage cash is uninvested money in your brokerage account that may come from bank transfers, dividend payments or the sale of securities. While you can use brokerage cash to invest, the best brokerage accounts pay interest on this cash through cash sweep programs or cash management accounts.
Frequently asked questions
Can I withdraw brokerage cash?
Yes, you can withdraw settled brokerage cash at any time.
What is brokerage cash services?
Brokerage cash services or programs refer to ways your brokerage firm can use your brokerage cash to your advantage. For example, some firms pay interest on your brokerage cash by sweeping it into an affiliated savings or money market account.
Javier Simon is a freelance finance writer at Finder and a certified educator in personal finance (CEPF).
He’s featured on NerdWallet, Bankrate, Yahoo Finance and Fox Business, where he’s shared his expertise on personal finance topics, such as investing, retirement planning, taxes, budgeting and savings.
He has also covered breaking news, such as student loan forgiveness initiatives, the housing market and inflation’s impact on consumers’ wallets.
His passion is turning complex financial concepts into actionable content that can help people improve their financial lives.
Javier holds a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism from SUNY Plattsburgh. See full bio
Matt Miczulski is an investments editor at Finder. With over 450 bylines, Matt dissects and reviews brokers and investing platforms to expose perks and pain points, explores investment products and concepts and covers market news, making investing more accessible and helping readers to make informed financial decisions.
Before joining Finder in 2021, Matt covered everything from finance news and banking to debt and travel for FinanceBuzz. His expertise and analysis on investing and other financial topics has been featured on CBS, MSN, Best Company and Consolidated Credit, among others. Matt holds a BA in history from William Paterson University. See full bio
Matt's expertise
Matt has written 192 Finder guides across topics including:
See our picks of the best brokerage accounts, including Fidelity, SoFi, Charles Schwab, Public, Robinhood and E*TRADE .
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