Robinhood Gold is a $5 per month premium subscription from Robinhood that offers perks you won’t see anywhere else.
In a world in which brokerages are finding ways to charge you less, is Robinhood trying to be the Costco of brokerages?
In this post, we break down each perk of Robinhood Gold, from most appealing to least, to help you decide whether it’s worth it for you.
📔 Quick Summary: Robinhood Gold is worth it if you intend to take advantage of the 3% IRA match. It’s the only noteworthy perk but one where the benefit (if you contribute near the limit) easily outpaces the annual fee. The other benefits are nice but they’re not anything special.
Table of Contents
3% IRA Match
This is, by far, the best perk of Robinhood Gold.
The Roth IRA contribution limit for 2024 is $7,000 ($8,000 for those ages 50 and older). If you contribute the maximum, your Roth IRA actually gets $7,210 added in a year.
That’s an extra $210, offsetting the $5 per month fee.
⭐ For a limited time, until April 30th, 2024, Robinhood is offering a 3% match on new qualifying contributions and transfers to a Robinhood IRA when you have Robinhood Gold. You have to keep Robinhood Gold for at least a year and keep your funds in the account for five years.
5.00% APY on Cash
Meh. The money in my brokerage account should be invested and not sitting in idle cash. I might have a little cash, from distributions or dividends, but I’m not looking to leave a large lump sum there.
That said, brokers typically have money market accounts that pay a high yield. At Vanguard, it’s the VMFXX and it has a competitive yield (5.26% as of this writing with a 0.11% expense ratio).
At first glance, it’s an appealing headline but it’s a standard benefit.
Instant Deposits (Up to $50,000)
When you deposit funds into Robinhood, it can take a few days for them to get there.
If you’re transfer status is in good standing, you can get a perk known as “Instant Deposits” which is normally limited to $1,000. For Robinhood Gold, you can get up to $50,000.
Other brokers offer this too, which I couldn’t figure out how much my limit was at Vanguard. I know I’ve transferred in close to $10,000 and had instant access to it.
Lower Margin Rates
With Robinhood Gold, your $1,000 or margin borrowing is free and then they charge you 8%. Without gold, the margin rate is 12%.
I don’t trade on margin so margin rates don’t matter to me.
Nasdaq Level 2 Data & Morningstar Insights
Personally, I think Nasdaq Level 2 data is really fun to look at because it gives you greater insight into how the market looks. Knowing the current price of a stock is great but when you see the order book, it provides a bit more clarity into where the market is around a stock.
That said, I first saw it over on thinkorswim, before it was acquired by Charles Schwab, and it was included in the base service.
As for Morningstar benefit, it’s access to the stock research reports which covers around 1,700 stocks. It doesn’t appear to be full access to Morningstar Investor, which costs $249 a year.
If you intend to put your IRA there, especially a Roth IRA, then Robinhood Gold’s 3% match is reason enough to get this perk. If you contribute the maximum, the match far exceeds the subscription fee… and the match doesn’t count towards your contribution limit.
If you were able to take advantage of the transfer bonus, it’s even more appealing because you can transfer in a large sum, get the 3% match, and then cancel Gold after one year. Once you keep your cash in there for five years, you’re free to do whatever you want without losing the match.
Beyond the match, the other perks are nice but nothing noteworthy.
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About Jim Wang
Jim Wang is a forty-something father of four who is a frequent contributor to Forbes and Vanguard’s Blog. He has also been fortunate to have appeared in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Entrepreneur, and Marketplace Money.
Jim has a B.S. in Computer Science and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University, an M.S. in Information Technology – Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University. His approach to personal finance is that of an engineer, breaking down complex subjects into bite-sized easily understood concepts that you can use in your daily life.
One of his favorite tools (here’s my treasure chest of tools,, everything I use) is Personal Capital, which enables him to manage his finances in just 15-minutes each month. They also offer financial planning, such as a Retirement Planning Tool that can tell you if you’re on track to retire when you want. It’s free.
He is also diversifying his investment portfolio by adding a little bit of real estate. But not rental homes, because he doesn’t want a second job, it’s diversified small investments in a few commercial properties and farms in Illinois, Louisiana, and California through AcreTrader.
Recently, he’s invested in a few pieces of art on Masterworks too.
Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank or financial institution. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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