Margin Debt Understand Margin Trading Risks Benefits
1729 reads · Last updated: January 16, 2026
Margin debt is the debt a brokerage customer takes on by trading on margin.When purchasing securities through a broker, investors have the option of using a cash account and covering the entire cost of the investment themselves, or using a margin account—meaning they borrow part of the initial capital from their broker. The portion that investors borrow is known as margin debt, while the portion they fund themselves is the margin, or equity. Using margin debt has both risks and potential benefits.
