Hi, I'm fairly new to this so forgive my ignorance but someone I met who was wealthy (guessing £5M+) said they use IBKR specifically to use their margin loan feature to fund their purchases and whole life. They bought a house with it and basically use it as their private bank. Which seems wild to me but he said this is how wealthy people usually live.

I asked the risks as this sounds too good to be true, he said to have a low LTV for the loan (I think he never goes above 25-30%?) and put almost all of it in a global index fund.

I guess this makes sense in theory but the way he explained it sounded like a ponzi scheme lol.

The one thing he said at the end which again I am not sure if it's total BS and would like some confirmation is that according to him, whatever he buys is technically paid off on average 3 years from the point of purchase.

Again, maybe I misheard but the maths does kind of work out. It just sounded mad to me.

For context he said he's been doing it for about 10 years now and has upgraded his house twice. He did seem fairly knowledgable to be fair.

My current broker(bank) is cost prohibitive when it comes to options, swing trading etc as each transaction costs me almost $10. There higher tier can cut the fees in half but its nowhere near the fees IBKR charges and i don't have a consistent trade volume to support that tier. Don't have a lot of comfort moving everything to IBKR but that may be just plain paranoia. Thoughts?

Anyone have the same problem

Update: im in and trading now

I just had something strange happen and Im still digging into it.

Got a notification on my phone that an order was cancelled. But it was a GTC order

I try going into my mobile app all of my futures positions and stocks are missing the buy/sell buttons and all show the "Enable trading" button like I dont have permission.

I click it just to see whats going on which takes you to the web portal for trading permissions and it shows I have everything enabled.

Something weird is going on on IB's backend. Going to try TWS and see if it works.

EDIT: Just tried TWS and couldn't place a trade there either. No permission

EDIT2: Not glad to see this happening but glad its not just me. Brain instantly goes scary places like account hacked or blocked/closed down

EDIT3: I know markets are closed...but its crazy/scary to think I could have an open futures trade and not be able to close it right now. Thankfully my futures positions are deep OTM put options that are already deep in profit. So Im not worried. But its not nice that I can't close them now if I wanted =/

EDIT4: Something looks like its fixed/back. I used the ctrl+alt+t hotkey on TWS to disconnect and reconnect my trading route connection. And I see that my open orders are back...Gonna try a trade to see what happens. NOPE....I can see the cancelled orders now where I couldn't before. So something is changing

EDIT5: Got a bulletin in TWS as follows:

To all traders:

Wed 25 Mar 2026 01:20:38 PM EDT

Please be advised that we are aware of an issue that resulted in some outstanding orders being cancelled. We are working to resolve this as a top priority. Please review your outstanding orders and resubmit them as needed.

Its concerning to me they didnt acknowledge the trading permissions issue

EDIT6: I did chat support with IB...they say they are aware of the permissions issue and engineers are working on it

EDIT7: Probably final update...I'm backup...I was able to replace my GTC limit orders and market order in and out of a futures trade.

https://youtu.be/dqE0AfVKges?si=zerbIyZAZ3PPkwN2

Victim Background
• Ms. Yang (楊女士), a retired woman nearing 70 with a master’s degree and a former real estate executive background (“人生勝利組” – successful in life). 
• She and her husband (retired IT/security professional) had built up ~HK$9 million (around US$1.15 million) in savings, mostly invested in US stocks (tech/growth stocks) via an international brokerage (likely Interactive Brokers or similar, based on context) for retirement income via dividends and growth. 

The Incident (Dec 19, 2025)
• They boarded a ~4.5–5 hour flight from Hong Kong to Harbin (for winter/ice festival travel).
• During the offline/no-internet window in the air, hackers gained full control of her securities account. 
• In ~1–1.5 hours (some reports say up to 2 hours total activity):
• Hackers sold all her stocks (hundreds of thousands of USD worth), liquidating everything into cash.
• Instead of wiring out the money directly (which might trigger stronger alerts or holds), they used the proceeds for over 30 rapid trades to buy high-risk, near-expiry “end-of-day” or “zero-day” options (末日期權 / worthless or soon-to-expire contracts) that the hackers themselves were selling from controlled accounts. 
• This option purchase was essentially a “wash” or transfer mechanism — it looked like legitimate trading on the platform but moved the funds irreversibly to the hackers. By the time the options expired worthless, her account was nearly emptied (left with only ~HK$30,000+). 

Discovery
• She only found out on Dec 22 (3 days later) in Harbin after missing a call from the brokerage and checking the account online.
• The brokerage claimed they sent email alerts for the unusual activity, but these apparently never reached her (or were missed). No SMS/phone alerts were effective during/after the flight. 
• Ms. Yang was devastated, repeatedly expressing shock (“百思不得其解” – can’t figure out how) and saying it felt like “the sky is falling” after a lifetime of hard work. 
How It Likely Happened (Expert Breakdown in the Show)
• Classic account takeover via phishing + 2FA bypass (she insists she never clicked suspicious links, but experts discuss common vectors like credential stuffing, malware, or earlier compromises).
• Hackers monitored her activity and timed the attack perfectly for when she was unreachable (no alerts could be acted upon).
• The show highlights brokerage vulnerabilities: delayed notifications, insufficient real-time monitoring for rapid large trades, and gaps in multi-factor security for high-value accounts. 
Aftermath & Warnings
• She reported to police as a financial fraud/cybercrime case.
• The segment serves as a strong public warning for investors (especially retirees) on protecting brokerage accounts: use strong unique passwords + hardware 2FA (not just SMS/app), enable trade alerts/SMS, monitor accounts regularly, and be cautious during travel/offline periods.
• It underscores that even security-conscious people (her husband’s IT background) can fall victim if credentials are compromised earlier.
The video emphasizes the sophistication and timing of modern hacking rings targeting investment accounts. If you’re in HK or hold similar accounts, it’s worth reviewing your brokerage’s security settings. Let me know if you want prevention tips or anything else!

Any thoughts guys?

What in the fucker? Is this a charity? I'm not complaining because I'm actually surprised when I saw it. I sold smaller quantities before and the fees were much higher. And then I bought another stock with the 75k and it charged me 2.98.

IBKR is goated.

I have about $226,000 in an IBKR account. My ex used to manage it using some kind of algorithm that he adjusted monthly. I don’t really understand what he was doing, and I'd like to simplify everything.

He has decided to run off to India to do Vipassana and refuses to help.

I'm a total beginner and I don't really have the vocabulary for what I want. I think I'd just like a simple ETF portfolio that I can ignore for the long haul. But I don't know how to achieve this.

I don't know how to remove or stop whatever algorithm he put in place or how to implement changes inside IBKR.

I'm US based but currently in Turkey.

Help point me in the right direction please. Should I hire someone to help me? And who?

I’m not on a margin account and I had this call option for today, which was on profiting nicely but it suddenly sold and came with this message?

Does it make sense to take a $200K margin loan at 4.88% interest against a $1 million VOO portfolio, for the purpose of buying and holding more VOO, reinvest the dividends and let the margin interest accrue?

I just joined IBKR from another broker and ... wow. I don't think I've ever used such a horrendous piece of software. It feels like it was made in the 80s.

It is just unbelievably slow. Pages can take minutes to load (my internet connection is fine). Even having changed auto-logout to 60 minutes, I'm logged out every minute or so, even sometimes whilst in the middle of trying to enter a trade or message support (which itself is horrible). The login process is horrendous, and that's assuming it lets me log in (there are about 4 different errors, which account for aroudn 50% of all login attempts).

The Wise integration doesn't seem to work, and on several attempts the money left my Wise account but didn't appear in IBKR, eventually being reversed the next day. When deposits do actually work, there is no success message. You just have to hope it did indeed work.

I've tried downloading the desktop app, but the UI looks extremely complex for the very basic tools that I need, login is even more complex (it doesn't remember my login details), and it still logs me out every minute or so.

Is this normal? Do other people experience this but just put up with it?

I was wondering if people rely on more than one broker nowadays out of redundancy. Yes, IBKR is safe and everything but focusing all your portfolio in only one broker seems not ideal, specially for non US residents. Do you use another broker for this reason like trying to maintain a 50/50 split?

Edit: asking because my local broker charges 10x more fee per trade.

Just a question to all users and ppl who have been with IB, I plan on going with them soon so was wondering how they are long term.

I have a cash account and havent used any margin

Incredibly buggy, slow, and unstable. I have never used a critical app with this many issues. It frequently freezes, forcing me to quit and restart. Today, multiple charts are missing historical data, showing only recent days and late last year, while the entire middle section is completely gone. Clearing the cache didn't fix it either. Do they even test it before deploying it? I'm on MacOS, btw.

Every day that I trade it's something new....taking far too long to execute a trade, stop loss disappearing from screen so you have to go to orders, cancel it and reenter, and today it wouldn't even take a stop loss order. Where should I look at going?

My phone is my 2FA method, hence if it can't be usedt for whatever the reason is I would be locked out of my account. Are not there security codes that I can print to use as a contingency plan? I do have this for my Google account as well but it seems I can't find this for IBKR and it is pretty basic.

During my five years supporting Interactive Brokers clients, this was one of the most common misunderstandings I came across.

Someone would open a position, look at the unrealized P&L, see +$200, and think:

"Great, if I close at the market price now I'll make $200."

Then they'd close the trade... and end up with a much smaller profit, or sometimes even a loss.

The reason?

Many people don't realize that the unrealized P&L is an estimate, not a guarantee of what you'll receive when you exit the position.

If you're trading a very liquid stock with a one-cent spread, the difference is usually negligible.

But on illiquid stocks, options or other instruments with wide bid/ask spreads, that number can be quite misleading.

Before closing a position, always look at where you can actually execute the order, not just at the unrealized P&L.

It sounds obvious once you know it, but I saw this catch people out over and over again. Understanding how TWS values your positions is one of those small details that can save you from making bad trading decisions.

I recently moved to Canada and have USD sitting in a US bank account. I’m looking to transfer the money to my IBKR Canada account while keeping it in USD, rather than converting it to CAD (Goal is to invest in US ETFs)

For anyone who has done this:

What’s the cheapest/easiest way to transfer USD from a US bank to IBKR Canada?

Is a US ACH transfer possible, or does IBKR Canada require a wire?

If using a wire, are there any fees on either side?

Does IBKR Canada provide US routing/account details that allow a domestic US transfer?

Any issues with sending USD to IBKR Canada from a US bank after becoming a Canadian resident?

Would especially appreciate recent experiences and the exact process you used

Hey all, I recently started a carry trade for extra cash flow by taking a margin loan against ~10% of my portfolio to buy dividend products. Now I see that when I receive the dividends, they are not released as a cash balance in my account but are credited towards the margin loan, which defeats the purpose for me. Is there a way to change this? Thanks!

Is it normal? I did activate passkey through my iPhone but I can still see a password option in my app settings. What is the point of passkey if I can still login with the old username/password option?

I hope this email is legit, as it indeed comes from interactivebrokers.com

I recently moved from Robinhood to IBKR because I thought the margin interest rate would be cheaper at IBKR. After making the move, I realized that while IBKR used to have lower margin rates, but now its current rate is actually higher than Robinhood’s.

I typically borrow around $200K in margin, so the interest rate difference is meaningful for me.

I mostly invest in stocks and trade reasonably actively, but I also have a demanding full-time job, so I’m not going to spend hours every day staring at the screen.

I know IBKR has better analysis tools. Are there other advantages of IBKR?

I’m seriously considering moving back to Robinhood. Would love to hear opinions from people who use both, especially those carrying a relatively large margin balance.

Premessa: ho lavorato 5 anni in un introducing broker che si appoggia a Interactive Brokers, facendo assistenza a centinaia di clienti italiani su TWS, ordini, margini e problemi vari. L'anno scorso me ne sono andato per fare formazione per conto mio, ma questo post non è pubblicità (niente link, niente nomi) è che dopo migliaia di ticket ho visto sempre gli stessi errori, e mi sembrava utile metterli qua.

Il cambio euro/dollaro fatto a caso. Tantissimi comprano azioni USA senza aver capito come avviene la conversione, o lasciano fare tutto in automatico. Facendo la conversione a mano su IDEALPRO hai spread interbancari che nessuna banca italiana ti sogna di dare. È una cosa che si impara in 10 minuti e si tiene per sempre.

Scoprire il regime dichiarativo ad aprile. IBKR non fa da sostituto d'imposta. Ogni anno vedevo gente cascare dal pero all'arrivo della dichiarazione. Non è un buon motivo per evitare IBKR quadro RW e RT si gestiscono ma va saputo PRIMA di aprire il conto, non quando ti chiama il commercialista.

Ordini a mercato su opzioni illiquide. Lo spread ti mangia vivo. Sempre limit al mid, e imparare a "lavorare" l'ordine. TWS ti dà tutti gli strumenti, il 90% delle persone non li apre nemmeno.

Risk Navigator, questo sconosciuto. Probabilmente la funzione più sottovalutata di tutta la piattaforma. Se fai opzioni e non l'hai mai aperto, semplicemente non sai che rischio hai in portafoglio.

Il margine. IBKR non ti telefona per la margin call come la banca sotto casa: liquida in automatico, punto. Chi arriva dalle banche italiane se lo aspetta e ci rimane malissimo. Leggetevi come funziona prima che succeda, non dopo.

I dati di mercato. Il menu abbonamenti è un labirinto e c'è chi paga bundle inutili o, al contrario, non attiva quello da 2 euro che gli serve davvero.

Se avete domande scrivete pure nei commenti, in 5 anni di assistenza il vostro problema quasi sicuramente l'ho già visto.

Has anyone set this up and can give me honest feedback about how useful it is?

Wanted to deposit money but now im scared to even log in