Stock Trade Settlement Date Calculator

How T+1 settlement works

Settlement is the day a trade is finished: the buyer's cash and the seller's shares change hands. The day your order is filled is the trade date, often written T. SEC Rule 15c6-1(a), at 17 CFR 240.15c6-1(a), bars a broker from a contract that settles later than "the first business day after the date of the contract", unless both sides agree otherwise when they trade. That is T+1. It applies to trades made on or after May 28, 2024. Before then, since 2017, the standard for most trades was two business days, T+2.

Rule 15c6-1(a) does not say which days count as business days. This page counts a day for settlement only when the stock markets and the banks are both open. It skips weekends, the days on the NYSE's holiday table and the weekdays the Federal Reserve Banks close while the markets trade. A trade made the day before Thanksgiving 2026 waits 2 calendar days, and one made the Friday before Columbus Day waits 4. Of the 750 trading days from January 2, 2026 to December 26, 2028, 588 settle the next calendar day and 27 wait 4.

Settlement date formulas

settlement date = the first day after the trade date when the stock markets and the banks are both open
for a new offering priced after 4:30 p.m. ET: the second such day (Rule 15c6-1(c))
for a cash trade: the trade date, or the next such day when the banks are closed (FINRA Rule 11320(a) and (e))
Regulation T payment date = the third day after the trade date when the stock markets are open (1 business day + 2)
ex-dividend date = the record date when it is a business day, else the business day before it (FINRA Rule 11140(b)(1))

Worked examples

A Good Friday trade week. Good Friday closes the markets, though the Federal Reserve Banks stay open. A trade on Thursday, March 25, 2027 settles on Monday, March 29, 4 calendar days later. Its Regulation T date is Wednesday, March 31, 2027.

A short trading day. On the day after Thanksgiving the markets close at 1:00 p.m. ET, but the day still counts in full. A trade on Friday, November 26, 2027 settles on Monday, November 29, 2027.

A new offering. Rule 15c6-1(c) allows settlement on the second business day for a firm-commitment offering "priced after 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET)". An offering priced on Tuesday, November 24, 2026 settles on Friday, November 27. A regular trade made that Tuesday settles one business day sooner, on Wednesday, November 25.

Assumptions and limits

• A settlement day is a weekday when the NYSE markets are open and the Federal Reserve Banks are open. Days come from the NYSE's holiday table for 2026 to 2028 and the Federal Reserve's K.8 list.
• A Regulation T business day is any day the NYSE markets are open, Columbus Day and Veterans Day included.
• The trade date is the day the order was filled. An order placed on a weekend or a market holiday fills on a later day, and that later day is the trade date.
• Short days still count. The markets close at 1:00 p.m. ET on the day after Thanksgiving each year, and on Thursday, December 24, 2026 and Monday, July 3, 2028.
• Regulation T's date is the latest day a broker may wait for payment in a cash account. A broker may ask for payment sooner, and a margin account follows other rules.
• The page does not know of closures the NYSE has not scheduled. It also leaves out trades the two sides agree to settle on another date, and SEC orders that exempt a trade.
• Trade dates run from January 2, 2026 to December 26, 2028. The last one is the latest whose Regulation T date, Friday, December 29, 2028, is still on the NYSE's table.

These figures are estimates for learning and planning, not financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Terms of use.

What to do with your dates

Pay for a purchase before it settles. FINRA's guide says an ACH payment should start on the trade date "to ensure that the payment has posted by the settlement date." For a trade on Wednesday, November 25, 2026, that means starting the transfer that Wednesday. To see what the shares cost on average across buys, use the stock average cost calculator.

Do not sell a cash-account purchase before you pay for it. Under 12 CFR 220.8(c)(1), "the privilege of delaying payment beyond the trade date shall be withdrawn for 90 calendar days following the date of sale". A sale on November 25, 2026 would freeze that privilege through February 23, 2027. The date difference calculator counts the 90 days from any date.

Buy before the ex-dividend date if you want the dividend. With a record date of Friday, December 11, 2026, the ex-dividend date is that Friday, so buy by Thursday, December 10. The lower tax rate on it depends on how long you hold the shares. The qualified dividend holding period calculator works that out.

Sell by the last trading day of the year to book a gain or loss in that year. In 2027 that is Friday, December 31, a day the Reserve Banks stay open. A sale that day settles on Monday, January 3, 2028 but counts in 2027. Before you buy the shares back, check the wash sale calculator.

Questions about settlement