Investing
Brokerage How-Tos
Table of Contents
Getting started: how to invest and understand your purchases
Before you learn how to invest, it helps to know that buying a slice of a company on your phone is a straightforward process, even if the platforms differ slightly. To see how investing in stocks work on Cash App, open the app, tap the Money tab on the home screen, then select the Stocks Tile to search for a company by name or ticker. When you are ready to decide what stocks to invest in on Cash App, the platform gives you access to stocks and ETFs, though you will need to do your own research to choose specific holdings. If you prefer using a digital wallet, you can buy stocks with PayPal through its own investing feature, keeping your trading activity connected to your existing balance. For those looking at more speculative, lower-priced shares, the process to buy and sell penny stocks on e-trade is not covered here. Regardless of where you trade, remember that any sale is a taxable event, even if the proceeds sit in your brokerage account, and your phone’s built-in stock app is simply a price tracker that cannot execute orders.
Cashing out: selling your shares and withdrawing money
When you are ready to turn your holdings back into cash, the process begins on the stock’s detail page. If you need to sell my stocks on Robinhood, tap Trade then Sell. Choose the amount and swipe up to submit. Just remember that equities follow a T+1 settlement, so proceeds typically become withdrawable cash on the second trading day. You might have a different flow if you want to cash out Cash App stocks. This requires tapping the Money tab and opening the Stocks Tile. Then select a company you own and confirm the order with your PIN or biometrics. If your order is close to the total position, selling 98% or more will liquidate the entire holding unless you specify a lower amount. For a traditional brokerage experience, the steps to sell stocks on Fidelity will follow the same T+1 settlement rule. This means payment for the securities must be in your account one business day after the trade date. Similarly, you can sell stocks on e-trade or sell stocks on charles Schwab through their respective trading interfaces. A common question after i sell my stocks on Robinhood is how long the funds remain locked. The settlement clock starts on trade date, and the cash is available for withdrawal on the second day.
Moving on: transfers and removing unused apps
When you are ready to move your entire portfolio, you can transfer stocks from Robinhood to Webull by starting the process at the receiving brokerage, not inside the Robinhood app. The outside brokerage submits an ACATS request. Only whole, settled shares of stocks and ETFs will move over. Any fractional shares left behind in a full account transfer are sold and swept over as cash later. If you are simply switching to a different firm, the broader process to transfer stocks from Robinhood follows the same rule. The new brokerage initiates everything, and your partial shares cannot travel in kind.
On the other hand, if you are decluttering your home screen, you can get rid of Stocks app on iPhone just like any other Apple app. Delete the app from your Home Screen or App Library, and the price tracker disappears from your device. Doing so also removes any stock and weather data from other spots on the phone. This leaves you with a cleaner layout while your actual holdings remain safely in your brokerage account.
