What is the minimum equity requirement I need to enter a futures order?

To upgrade to a margin account clients must be at least 21 years of age, hold more than 2,000 USD in equity (or its equivalent) in the account and meet the liquid net worth and yearly income requirement.

Please Note…

DEPOSIT MORE FUNDS

The error message "Your order is not accepted. Minimum of 2,000 USD (or equivalent in other currencies) required in order to purchase on margin, sell short, trade currency or future" means the account balance in your margin account has fallen under USD 2,000.  Margin accounts must maintain a minimum of USD 2,000 (or equivalent in other currencies) of Securities Equity with Loan Value or Commodities Net Liquidation Value to purchase on margin, sell short, trade currencies or futures…

To trade on margin with Interactive Brokers (IBKR), you need to meet several requirements and follow a specific process:

1. Account Type and Minimum Equity:
   • Your account must be set up as a "Margin" type account…

When you open a margin account you have the ability to borrow from IBKR. You can not set a limit or a set only a specific amount of margin to use in a margin account. If the account has sufficient Available Funds then a new order would be accepted. There is a calculated margin requirement for positions in a margin type account displayed as an Initial margin and Maintenance margin requirement. In addition to contracts traded in the account any borrowed cash from Forex trading or from trading outside the account’s Base Currency can have a calculated margin requirement. There are tools available so you can monitor your account’s margin requirements and cash balances in real time or as a daily snapshot…