Glossary
Brokerage account
An investment account at a registered firm that sends your buy and sell orders to the market to be carried out and holds the cash and securities you own.
Updated September 15, 2026
A brokerage account is an investment account at a firm registered to send your orders to the market to be carried out and to hold the cash and securities you buy. Buying and selling on an exchange happens through a broker.
For example, someone might transfer $1,000 in, buy shares of a fund that tracks the S&P 500, and see those shares on the statement.
Money you invest through the account can lose value, including all of it. If the firm fails and is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, as of 2026 your cash and securities may be protected up to $500,000, including a $250,000 limit for cash. That protection covers the firm failing, not investments losing value. Opening an account requires proof of identity and the identifying information brokers must collect.
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How this definition was made
- Written by an AI model (Claude) following Teloria's editorial standard.
- Every factual claim was checked by a separate AI fact-check against official US government and regulator sources.
Official sources consulted
- investor.gov · /introduction-investing/investing-basics/investment-accounts/brokerage-accounts
- investor.gov · /introduction-investing/getting-started/working-investment-professional/brokers
- investor.gov · /introduction-investing/investing-basics/investment-products
- investor.gov · /introduction-investing/investing-basics/glossary/securities-investor-protection-corporation-sipc
- investor.gov · /introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletins/investor-bulletin-sipc-protection-part-1-sipc-basics
- investor.gov · /introduction-investing/investing-basics/glossary/broker-dealers-why-they-ask-personal-information