Investment accounts in Sequence work a little differently than checking or savings.
Once you understand the anatomy, everything else clicks into place.
How investment accounts connect
Most investment accounts connect through Plaid, just like other accounts.
That said, some institutions don’t have a clean Plaid integration.
When that happens, there are two alternative ways to connect - we’ll walk through both.
But first, an important concept.
The anatomy of an investment account
When money is “in” an investment account, it’s actually in one of two states:
Staged in a checking account, waiting to be invested
Already invested, where the balance reflects market value
Behind the scenes, institutions handle this in one of two ways:
Individual staging accounts
Each customer gets their own checking accountShared pooled accounts
All customers’ money flows into a single account, and the institution keeps an internal ledger to track how much belongs to each person.
Why this matters for Sequence
Whenever Sequence sends money to an investment account:
Funds are not auto-invested
They are sent to the staging checking account
That staging account may or may not be visible to you.
This determines how Sequence can connect.
The two alternative connection paths
If Plaid isn’t available, here are your options.
Solution 1: Manually add the staging account
Solution 1: Manually add the staging account
Use this only if your institution provides you with an individual checking account.
In this case:
You own a real checking account at that institution
It has its own routing and account numbers
You can manually add it to Sequence as a destination account.
This allows Sequence to push funds directly to it.
Solution 2: Let the institution pull funds from Sequence
Solution 2: Let the institution pull funds from Sequence
If your brokerage does not provide individual checking accounts:
There’s nowhere for Sequence to push funds
So instead, the institution will need to pull funds from you
Here’s how to set that up:
Create a pod in Sequence
Name it something like “Roth IRA Staging”
Use that pod’s routing and account numbers
Then:
Head to your brokerage
Add the pod as an external funding source
Pull funds manually or on a schedule
Choosing the right path
A quick rule of thumb:
Individual checking account? → Push funds from Sequence
Pooled investment system? → Pull funds into the institution
Both work - the right one depends on the institution.
Want institution-specific steps?
To understand if your institution requires one of these extra-step setups, head search for your institution below