Most brokerages will offer you a margin loan if you have say $100k of stocks held through them. Not pocket change, but easily available to magnitudes 4-5 on this scale.
Mainstream brokerages will do this starting at $2,000. You just apply for margin and take out the cash. Of course if the value of your stocks drops below $2,000, they will start selling stocks out from underneath you and triggering capital gains.
The real use of margin is that it enables the holder of the stocks to use them with the broker to take on cash obligations in the form of other stock options, or to take on obligations which require holding certain shares which create cash, such as a short call option.
The interest rates often make those unattractive. You also expose yourself to the risk of a margin call with its many implications. It isn’t something the average person should be doing casually.
IBKR will loan you vs your stocks at a cheaper rate than pretty much any place will for a heloc on your house. Not like a lot cheaper, but maybe 0.5%-1% cheaper if you have <<$1M, and a little better at higher amounts.
Most other brokers, even Schwab and Fidelity, will not.
Agree it's probably not a good idea for most people. (I might argue the same for a heloc, depending on what for, what emergency savings, what level of job security, etc)
> The interest rates often make those unattractive. You also expose yourself to the risk of a margin call with its many implications
FWIW my brokerage gives me a margin loan at 4.9% up to 30% of the portfolio. The interest is literally lower than the mortgages I see advertised these days.
