Yes…what does it mean buying VT on margin? Is it a problem?
It means you are borrowing money to buy VT.
I see. I would not like that. It’s also weird, I don’t find this information anywhere in the webtrader.
Do you know how to revert it and invest without margin?
I traded two times for the moment, probably the second time I did something wrong. However, it is weird because I first funded my account and it looks as if it used my fund to make the trade
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If you borrowed money, you should see a cash position with a negative balance.
To “revert” it you simply have to move it to 0.
If you have positive CHF and negative USD for example, you have to convert CHF to USD.
Or you might need to sell some VT if you don’t have CHF to sell.
The cash position is definitely positive 
Anyway, thanks for your help! Maybe I can ask also the support!
Upon closing my BoA account, I intend to use IB to convert and transfer the USD into CHF to „repatriate“ some money.
Is using USD.CHF & sell order (at market, no need for limiting) the way to go?
Does it make a difference when I do it through the portal or the mobile app?
No need for a virtual FX position with this fx, where can I disable that? (I read on the forum that it can be disabled in the mobile app under configuration -> display, but i don‘t seem to have that option (using android ibkr app).
3 dots top right at the Portfolio screen > FX Portfolio.
That will hide it from view (but back in the system it will still be tracked).
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Hello there,
Hey to everyone, I am really new to this forum and after trying to read all the posts in this thread, I think I still have the following questions related to IB platform / ETFs:
-
Assumming you want to buy Vanguard All-world ETFs. In the IB platform you have to search it with the listing name for european exchanges (e.g. VWRL) right? then IB when you click trade will pop-up with various options for this exact name, e.g. LSEETF, AEB, MEXI etc… Which one shall choose (I am swiss resident, wondering why couldn’t I buy it directly from NYSE for instance??)
For this instant, shall I choose LSEETF for example? -
Given that I would prefer to do only “cash” tradings, not at all “margin” / loan type tradings how can I check and ensure that the currency exchange is transferred 100% before performing the trade (read some stories above it can take up to 2 days to complete the exchange, in the meantime you can trade but it will appear as “loan” in your account??)
-
Sorry, but I didn’t quite get this above >60kCHF rule. For instance the mustachian portfolio lists: Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (up to 60kCHF) and Vanguard FTSE All-world UCITS ETF (for above 60kCHF). What’s exactly the difference in simple terms and why does this affect us, why to bother?
Thanks a ton in advance for your replies!
- VWRL and VT are two separate and different funds - although similar and both issued by two (albeit different) Vanguard entities, VT being US-domiciled, VWRL in Ireland. I don‘t think VWRL is traded on NYSE, is it?
- You set up your IB account without margin trading facility. As for the settlement of Forex conversions, I don‘t know exactly and wouldn’t worry about it, to be honest
- Putting it simplified: As I understand it, you should only worry about for purposes of of estate (inheritance) tax, i.e. in case of your own death. Though you won‘t be around then, to worry about it personally. Side note: even above 60k USD, the threshold might (often) be meaningless and/or much higher, due to double taxation agreements.
@San_Francisco thank you so much!
Okay understood, and what about VWRL (Ireland domiciled) from LSE, MEXI, AEB?
I mean in this case it might seem obvious which to choose-but generally in other cases like that how do I know exactly which one to select?
Should be a difference if you get an ETF traded in NYSE vs the same ETF (assuming available) traded in LSE or somewhere else?
Hello there and thank you all for the really helpful details in this thread already.
This weekend I did bite the bullet and opened an IB account, which with the different tutorials here wasn’t really a problem.
I just transferred and converted my first CHF funds.
Now I also would like to transfer some USD from my USD account at PF, and here IB shows, next to the usual ’ wire’ , a new option (only with USD transfers):
Deposit methods:
- Connect Your Bank Account (recommended)
Use the Automated Clearing House Network to deposit funds
1 business day or less
Limits $100,000 per 7 days
I’m not fully understanding what this means and what implications it has.
Is it advisable?
I’ve read the other threads about sending money to IB but couldn’t really find a reference to this.
Thanks for any help!
ACH payments are afaik US specific. I’d go with the regular wire transfer.
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Yes, I don’t think it would work with a non-US bank (those are using correspondent accounts).
ACH is like an electronic check 
(that’s how bad US banking is)
Thank you, I was afraid it was something like that…
Well, an electronic check is already a big step forward for US banking, I guess…
It gives me JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A. in USA as destination for this.
They don’t have a European account for this like with CHF?
That’s right, not European. The USD get transferred to NYC / USofA.
Guys, while trying to execute my first transaction with IKBR, I am receiving various warning messages such as:
confirm mandatory cap price
cash quantity order confirmation
use or do not use IKBR Algo
being blind - not having access to real-time data
Is there something generally to worry about or to benefit from using it?
Fractional shares for instance - should be avoided?
Algo is a paid or a free service? access to “more real-time” data is also paid I guess… do you use it?
Generally how exactly shall be the order be placed, I always select limit and set a price equal or very slighlty lower that the actual price I am looking at… can you leave the “set a price” field empty for instance?
Thanks a lot!
I’m a bit annoyed by the many nagging and warning screens of IBKR. The real-time notice is just to warn you that you have iirc 15 mins delayed prices, so if the price dropped a lot in the last 15 mins you risk to pay too much for your stocks. I do sometimes click the get snapshot button just to make sure that there were no unexpected movements. The snapshot fees are iiuc deducted from the 10 USD fee if you have less than 100k in the account. The fee btw only starts 3 months after opening the account.
If you don’t want to set a price then you have a market order, where you pay the price which is valid right now.
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Typically free quotes are 15min stale. Tho at least with >100k I think you have lots of free snapshots (I never paid for it).
Otherwise market data for popular US vanguard ETFs is like 1 or 2 USD per month.
Just go to yahoo finance and get the latest price before setting the buy order, I don’t see where the big deal is?
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