Your financial journey starts here | Robinhood Learn (2024)

FAQs

Why can't I use my buying power on Robinhood? ›

Your buying power is limited by what money is available for investing, such as with Instant Deposits or Robinhood Gold. To learn more about why money might be unavailable, check out Why can't I use my Instant Deposits and Why can't I use all of my buying power.

Stocks and options take 1 trading day to settle. In a margin account, you can instantly trade with funds from unsettled stock and option sales. If you have unsettled trades and withdraw cash from your margin account with margin investing enabled, it can lead to margin interest charges.

Making money on Robinhood is possible, but it's important to remember that investing is risky. You could lose some or all of your investment. It's important to only invest money that you can afford to lose.

You have to determine whether margin investing is consistent with your investment strategy. You should consider your own investment experience, goals, and sensitivity to risk. By enabling margin investing for your investing account, Robinhood isn't recommending the use of margin investing.

There are a few reasons why you may be missing the buy or sell button on a stock's Detail page: It's a foreign stock, which we don't support. For details on eligible stocks, check out Investments you can make on Robinhood. It's an over-the-counter (OTC) stock or a warrant that Robinhood doesn't support.

Withdraw Funds: Tap on “Transfer to Your Bank” (app) or “Transfer” and then “To Your Bank” (web). Enter Amount: Input the amount you want to withdraw. Make sure it does not exceed your available buying power. Confirm Transfer: Review the details and confirm the transfer.

For spending accounts, you may have funds held for pending debit card transactions through the Robinhood Cash Card. When you use your Cash Card, an authorization is placed to hold funds until the transaction settles or the authorization expires.

With a cash account, you can day trade without the $25k minimum, but you're limited by the settlement period of funds, typically two business days after a trade. Margin accounts offer more flexibility but come with the PDT rule and increased risks due to leverage.

Before you can process any withdrawals through Robinhood, your funds need to “settle”, which means that at least 2 trading days need to pass before your sale funds will turn into withdrawable funds.

Cons Explained

Limited research: Research tools and information at Robinhood don't measure up to competitor standards, making it difficult for traders to get the most out of the platform. There are no stock or ETF screeners available at all, and other research tools are rudimentary at best.

Is it safe to put a lot of money in Robinhood? ›

Your securities and cash are protected by SIPC

Robinhood Financial LLC and Robinhood Securities, LLC are both members of SIPC, which protects securities for customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash) for each investing account, including IRAs.

Robinhood is known primarily as an online discount brokerage that offers a commission-free investing and trading platform. In 2023, the company generated the majority of its revenue from its net interest revenues segment due to the favorable interest rate environment.

Robinhood Securities, LLC (RHS) may also impose additional requirements and certain customers may not be eligible to use margin based on RHS internal guidelines. If you're borrowing on margin and fall under $2,000 portfolio value (minus any crypto positions), you're at risk of a margin call and potential liquidation.

Robinhood Gold is a subscription service that costs $5 per month after a 30-day free trial. Robinhood Gold is similar to the free Robinhood account but includes in-depth tools. Both levels allow members to invest in stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrencies.

Uninvested cash is a potentially valuable part of your investment portfolio. Typical alternatives for your uninvested cash include leaving it in your brokerage account (not earning interest) or sweeping (automatically transferring) it to a bank deposit account as part of our sweep program.

The cash value from a referral stock needs to remain in your investing or retirement account for at least 30 calendar days. If you sell your free stock before the 30 days, you won't be able to access those funds in your withdrawable cash. After the 30-day window, there are no restrictions on the proceeds.

Before you can invest on margin, you have to apply and will only have access if you meet eligibility requirements. You'll only start investing on margin after the cash in your investing account has been fully invested. This means that if you have cash in your account, you won't invest on margin until it's fully spent.

A negative buying power might indicate a margin call. A portfolio margin-permissioned account also allows the trader to review the buying power impact of a trade in the confirmation dialog box. Portfolio margining involves a great deal more risk than cash accounts and is not suitable for all investors.

Here is how to cash out of Robinhood:

Open the Robinhood app on your phone. +1(747)205 0398: Tap on "Account" at the bottom-right corner of the Robinhood homepage. Click "Transfer" then "Transfer to Your Bank." Enter the amount and the account number.