Short answer: Fidelity error (013014) — “The buy order you are about to place exceeds your settled cash balance” — means you’re trying to buy more than the cash that has actually settled in your account. It shows up almost exclusively in cash accounts (not margin accounts) and warns you that if you go ahead with the trade using unsettled funds, and then sell before that cash settles, it counts as a Good Faith Violation (GFV). Stocks and ETFs typically settle in one business day (T+1) — not two. Wait for your cash to settle, or place a smaller order that fits your settled cash balance.
What Does Error (013014) Actually Mean?
Here’s the full warning as it appears on Fidelity.com:
(013014) The buy order you are about to place exceeds your settled cash balance. Selling these shares before paying in full for the trade could result in a Good Faith Violation.
In plain terms: your account shows a total cash balance, but not all of it may be usable yet. Some of that cash is still unsettled — money from a recent stock/ETF sale or a recent deposit that hasn’t finished processing. Fidelity is warning you that the order you’re about to place is bigger than the cash that has actually cleared.
Example: Say your account shows a $1,200 total balance, but you sold a stock yesterday for $1,000 and that sale hasn’t settled yet. Your settled cash is only $200. If you try to buy $1,200 worth of stock, you’ll see error 013014 — you’re $1,000 short of settled funds, even though your account “balance” looks big enough.
Why Does Cash Take a Day to Settle?
When you buy or sell a stock, ETF, or most mutual funds, the trade doesn’t finalize instantly — it settles one business day later (T+1). This is an industry-wide rule (SEC Rule 15c6-1), not something specific to Fidelity, and it changed from the older two-day (T+2) standard to T+1 in May 2024. Options generally settle the next business day as well.
Until that settlement date arrives, the cash from a sale is real but not yet usable for a new purchase in a cash account without risking a violation.
Cash Accounts vs. Margin Accounts: Why This Matters
This specific error and the Good Faith Violation rule apply to cash accounts. In a cash account, you’re required to fully pay for a security with settled funds — there’s no borrowing involved, so the rules exist to prevent you from effectively trading with money you don’t have yet.
Margin accounts work differently. With margin enabled and available margin buying power, you can generally use unsettled funds to make a new purchase without triggering the same cash-account violation, because you’re borrowing against your account’s margin buying power rather than spending cash that hasn’t cleared. This is a real and useful distinction, but it’s separate from — and often confused with — the $25,000 Pattern Day Trader (PDT) threshold, which is a different FINRA rule about how many day trades you can make in a margin account, not about cash settlement. Having $25,000 in your account doesn’t itself exempt you from settlement rules — having margin enabled and using margin buying power is what changes how unsettled funds are treated.
What Happens If You Trade with Unsettled Funds Anyway?
In a cash account, Fidelity will generally still let you place the trade — the 013014 message is a warning, not always a hard block. But if you buy a security with unsettled funds and then sell it before the original funds settle, that’s a Good Faith Violation (GFV).
The consequences build up:
- 3 Good Faith Violations in a rolling 12-month period (or a single freeriding violation, or 3 cash liquidation violations) restrict your account to settled-cash-only trading for 90 calendar days.
- During that restriction, you must have the full settled cash for a purchase before you place the order — no exceptions.
Two related violations worth knowing about, since they’re easy to confuse with a GFV:
- Freeriding — buying a security and paying for it using the proceeds of selling that same security, without ever having settled cash in the account.
- Cash liquidation violation — buying a security, then paying for it using proceeds from selling a different security that you purchased after the original buy.
How to Avoid Error (013014) and Good Faith Violations
- Check your settled cash before you trade. Go to Balances on Fidelity.com or the app — it separately shows your total cash and your settled cash available to trade. Only place buy orders within that settled amount.
- Wait one business day after a sale before using those proceeds for a new purchase, if you want to avoid any risk of a violation.
- Consider enabling margin on your account (if you’re comfortable with it) so unsettled-funds purchases don’t create the same cash-account violation — margin trading carries its own risks and isn’t right for everyone, so weigh that trade-off first.
- Track your GFV count. Fidelity shows your current good faith violation count in trade confirmations and warnings, like “You have 0 good faith violations” — keep an eye on that number if you trade frequently with recently sold proceeds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Fidelity block the trade, or just warn me?
The (013014) message is a warning. Fidelity generally still lets the order go through in a cash account, but doing so risks a Good Faith Violation if you sell before the funds settle. It functions as a “trade at your own risk” notice, not always a hard stop.
How long does it take for cash to settle at Fidelity?
Stocks, ETFs, and most mutual funds settle one business day after the trade date (T+1). Options typically settle the next business day as well. Weekends and market holidays extend the count in calendar days.
Does the $25,000 threshold apply to this error?
Not directly. $25,000 is the minimum balance required to day trade actively in a margin account under FINRA’s Pattern Day Trader rule — a completely separate rule from settlement and Good Faith Violations. You don’t need $25,000 to avoid error (013014); you need either settled cash to cover the order or margin buying power available.
What happens after 3 Good Faith Violations?
Your account is restricted to settled-cash-only purchases for 90 calendar days. During that period, you must have the full amount already settled before placing any buy order.
Does this apply to my IRA?
Yes — IRAs are cash accounts by default (margin isn’t available in most retirement accounts), so the same settled-cash and Good Faith Violation rules apply there.
Sources: Fidelity, Trading FAQs: Trading Restrictions; Fidelity, Avoiding Cash Account Trading Violations. Updated September 2026.
Related guides
- Fidelity Settled Cash vs Cash Available to Trade: When It Settles
- Fidelity Instant Deposit: What You Need to Know
- How to avoid Good Faith Violations in your account at Fidelity.com
- T+1 Settlement in 2026: How Faster Clearing Affects Your Trades
- Fidelity Error 340036: Can’t Trade OTC Stocks — Fix It (2026)
Related reading: how to place a trailing stop loss order on Fidelity.