What Happens if Your Brokerage Account Balance Goes Down to $0?

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The quick answer? It depends on your account. 

The purpose of opening a brokerage account and investing in one is to grow wealth over time. And to do that, you need to put money into your brokerage account.

Now, you might end up with a brokerage account balance of $500, $5,000, or $50,000 at some point in time. You might also reach a point where your brokerage account balance is whittled down to $0.

You may be wondering what happens in that latter scenario. The answer? It depends on your brokerage account and its rules.

Not all accounts are created equal

Different brokerage accounts have different rules. While some brokerages charge a fee for not maintaining a minimum account balance, others do not. So whether you incur a fee for a $0 account balance will depend on where you’re holding your investments.

You may be wondering how it might come to be that you’re left with no money in your brokerage account. First of all, it is possible to make some unfortunate choices as far as investments go and lose all of your money. But what’s probably more likely to happen is that you’re forced to liquidate your investments and empty out your brokerage account due to needing money and not having enough cash in a savings account to tap.

How bad is it to have a $0 brokerage account balance?

If you don’t have any money in your brokerage account, you generally can’t buy more stocks, ETFs, or whatever assets you typically invest in. And if you maintain a $0 balance for an extended period of time, that could end up impeding your long-term financial goals.

If your brokerage account balance is sitting at $0 but you have a little extra money in the bank to move over, you may want to do so and get back to investing. And the good news is that some brokerages will give you early access to funds even if they haven’t hit your account yet.

With Robinhood, for example, you may get up to $1,000 instantly after you initiate a transfer from your checking account to your brokerage account. So, let’s say you have $0 in your Robinhood account and decide to transfer $2,000. It might take several business days for all of that money to clear, but you may be eligible to start buying stocks with up to $1,000 right away.

Don’t settle for $0

It takes money to make money, and that applies to your brokerage account. So if your balance has gone down to $0, do what you can to pump more money into your account as soon as you can.

You should also familiarize yourself with the rules of your brokerage account and see whether you’ll be penalized for failing to maintain a minimum balance. Many brokerages won’t charge you in that scenario, so if yours will, it may be a good idea to move your money into a different brokerage (or, in the case of a $0 balance, simply start funding a new brokerage account as you’re able to).

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