How can I have a margin requirement when I still have some of my own cash?

The ability to use a loan on your margin account is determined by your account's equity with loan value and initial margin requirements. If your equity with loan value does not exceed the initial margin, your order may not be accepted. This situation can occur due to various factors related to your account's current holdings and the specific securities you are attempting to trade…

The Account window of the TWS lets you monitor every aspect of your account activity. Use the Available for Trading section to monitor your account values. Traders should review any line that is highlighted to ensure margin compliance. A securities account is considered to be in margin violation when the Maintenance Margin Requirement is above the Equity with Loan value…

We will calculate and display a margin requirement on the entire portfolio of positions held in an account even if the account holder has paid for the positions in full and is not borrowing any funds to support them. This is necessary in order to compute the…

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…