M1 Finance Review

M1 Finance Ratings at a Glance

Why M1 Finance Brokerage Over Others?

What does M1 Finance offer over other brokers? Let’s take a look at some of the best features M1 offers over other online brokerages.  

• Easy pie investing. M1 Finance’s simple pie system makes investing for the future easier and less intimidating. Simply answer a few questions about your risk tolerance and the industries where you prefer to put your money, then choose from over 80 expert investor portfolios.
• Hands-off investing. Invest with M1's intelligent automation, a feature called Smart Transfers.
• Fractional shares available. If you don’t have a ton of money to begin investing with, you’ll love M1’s fractional share option. Fractional shares allow you to start purchasing major stocks and ETFs with as little as $1 in your account. 

The Financial Wellness Challenge by M1

In the spirit of the “new year, new me” resolution phenomenon, M1 wants to help clients reach their financial goals, and this starts with the Financial Wellness Challenge. Using M1’s proprietary research on the behaviors of consumers, the platform will release weekly tips and insights over the next 6 weeks directly to user inboxes.

Affiliates can even participate. All they need to do is document progress and share with customers. For additional support and enhanced results, M1 has a range of options, and this is just the beginning of a new year of fresh investment tools. 

Brokerage Quick Summary

M1 Finance offers low fees and low account minimums — though the broker’s selection is currently quite limited. Let’s take a look at how you might invest with M1 after you open an account.   

M1 doesn’t charge commissions, maintenance fees, platform fees or deposit and withdrawal fees.

M1 also offers margin trading but you’ll need at least $10,000 in assets in your account before you can take out a margin loan to trade. If you have at least $10,000 in your account, you can borrow up to 35% of your portfolio value in a margin loan. For example, if you have $100,000 of purchased stock in your account, you can borrow up to $35,000.

Margin loans accrue interest at a flat 3.5% for M1 Plus members. M1 Plus is a premium membership, costing $125 per year. However, you can get 3 months of M1 Plus for free. New users can try the service for 90 days after you sign up, and you will automatically be billed the $125 subscription fee when the trail period expires.

*Your free trial (a $31.25 value) begins the date you enroll in the M1 Plus subscription, and ends 90 days after (“Free Trial”). Upon expiry of the Free Trial, your account is automatically billed an annual subscription fee of $125 unless you cancel under your Membership details in the M1 platform.

M1 Basic members pay a 5% rate on margin loans. The $10,000 minimum is the same for both, which is better than most other competitors.

Brokers like Fidelity and Ally charge higher percentages for those who borrow less. You can use the money you borrow for more than just purchasing stock — you can also withdraw it from your account to pay for things like a wedding, a new car or a college education. 

M1 Finance is a unique brokerage. It doesn’t offer traders a standard desktop trading platform with lines, charts and candlesticks. Instead, it offers a hybrid bank and investing platform that focuses more on asset allocation and creating a personalized portfolio than price movements and daily fluctuations.

When you sign up with M1 Finance, you’ll answer a few questions about yourself, your financial situation and what you’re saving for. Your individual "pie" or "expert pie" will include a unique blend of individual stocks and ETFs — each represented by a “slice” of your investing pie. The final blend should match your goals and risk tolerance.

You can choose from 1 of 80 expert portfolio recommendations or build your own pie by hand-selecting stocks and funds you want to buy. M1 offers General Investing Expert Pies that cover a range of risk tolerances, and you can choose the one that best fits your needs. Retirement pies are built for a range of target retirement dates. M1 also created several pre-made Expert Pies that cover a variety of industries, or you can build one on your own.

Don’t forget — you can also create your own pie by selecting individual stocks and ETFs from over 6,000 choices. 

Not investment advice. Any specific numbers, returns, or securities are for illustrative purposes only. Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss.

Overall, M1 Finance is a simple and easy-to-understand option. Though its charting opportunities may be disappointing for experienced investors, new traders will love M1’s focus on expert guidance and simplicity. 

M1 Finance offers a number of tools that you can use to learn more about investing, saving for retirement and the different securities available. Let’s take a look at a few of the tools you can use to learn more with M1.

• Expert portfolios. When you invest with M1, you don’t need to choose your own asset mix or pick individual stocks. Instead, you can pick from 1 of 80 expert portfolios, which automatically splits your deposits into your own unique asset mix to fit your risk tolerance, investing preferences and more. Using M1 can be a major benefit for new investors who are still learning about the different types of investment vehicles available.
• Education center. M1 Finance’s education center includes a wide range of articles and videos to learn more about investing and how to use the M1 Finance tools and features. Article topics range from answering focused investing questions (for example, “What is a mutual fund?” and “What is a beta value?”) to offering fun and easily digestible financial tips and tricks. 

Some of M1’s more casual articles include “Building Wealth: Great Financial Habits to Become Wealthy” and “Free Guide: Investing in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s.” Articles are written with a very casual tone and are largely focused on very basic investing concepts. New investors will love the guide’s easy-to-understand language but intermediate and advanced investors may not find much use for it.

• Platform explanation. M1 Finance offers a full selection of video courses to teach you how to use the platform. Videos offer explanations on how to link your bank account, how to turn on auto-investing features, how to schedule recurring transactions and more.

Though M1 Finance’s education resources are a bit limited, they can be useful for beginning traders. 

M1 Finance offers limited customer service assistance. To get in contact with M1 Finance’s team, you’ll need to fill out a support ticket. After your ticket is received, M1 Finance’s customer service team will contact you.

Customer service is available anytime the U.S. stock markets are open — Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST through its support phone number at 312-600-2883. You can submit an email (support ticket) option to get 1-on-1 help if you have any questions. M1 has plans to offer more support options in 2021. 

Let’s take a look at some assets you can invest with when you open an account with M1 Finance.  

M1 Finance Stocks, ETFs and Mutual Funds

M1 Finance offers $0 commissions on all stocks and ETFs, and the platform offers over 6,000 individual assets available for purchase. You can search for stocks and funds by industry or select a pre-made expert portfolio to fit your risk tolerance and preferred investing style. M1 also allows you to invest in fractional shares, which means that you can start investing in companies like Apple or Amazon with just $1.

M1 Finance doesn’t currently support mutual fund purchases or sales. 

Source

The M1 Finance app is comprehensive and streamlined and offers all of the functionality of the desktop platform. Let’s take a look at a few mobile features that we love.

• Streamlined, 1-stop-shop design. M1 Finance’s app offers a 1-stop shop for all of your M1 accounts. If you bank or borrow through the broker, you can find everything on your app. Just swipe through your screens to access all of your accounts.
• Native newsfeed. The M1 Finance has a native newsfeed that allows you to browse the market’s top stories and market movements as they occur. The app updates regularly to show you the latest news.
• Additional education. M1's blog and newsletter offer additional educational opportunities.

The M1 Finance app is available as a free download for both Android and Apple devices. 

There are a lot of features to love about M1 Finance. M1’s unique pie investing strategy offers you a visual way to picture where your money is actually going and how you’re progressing toward your goals.

M1 Finance is best used by investors who know that they should be saving for retirement or investing to create passive income, but who aren’t very interested in the heavy lifting that comes with choosing which investments to buy. Sure, you can research and purchase individual stocks and ETFs through your M1 account, but the platform doesn’t offer the research and charting tools that other brokers like TD Ameritrade and Fidelity do. The broker’s real value is in its pre-allocated expert portfolios, which make investing (according to your risk tolerance) easy and fun.

Beyond its pie investing feature, there are plenty of places where M1 Finance can improve. The broker doesn’t offer any form of mutual fund investing and it doesn’t offer day trading tools. We’d love to see the broker expand its asset offerings to include futures, forex and individual bonds.

M1 Invest and M1 Borrow (and its membership, M1 Plus) offer digital checking that integrates with your investment accounts and unlocks more automation possibilities.  

Is M1 Finance Safe?

M1 Finance is safe. It's a member of the Security Investment Protection Corp (SIPC). which oversees the liquidation of member firms that close when the firm is bankrupt or in financial trouble and customer assets are missing.

SIPC's focus is restoring customer cash and securities left in the hands of bankrupt or otherwise financially troubled brokerage firms. The SIPC insures the value of your investment portfolio, as well as any cash you have in reserve. This insurance covers up to $500,000 in your portfolio which includes up to $250,000 of cash.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) also regulates M1 Finance. 

Invest with M1 Finance Today

M1 Finance makes investing easier than ever. It's pie-based interface lets you piece together the perfect portfolio, and it's automation means your money is working even when you're not.

Check out M1 Finance, and start investing today.

Frequently Asked Questions