M1 Finance

Let's break down every dollar M1 will take from you.

The big ones:

• Stock and ETF commissions: $0. No trading commissions on any self-directed brokerage trades.
• Platform fee: $3/month if your total M1 Invest and Earn balance is below $10,000. Waived if you hit $10,000 for even one day during the billing cycle, or if you have an active M1 Personal Loan. New accounts get a 90-day grace period.
• Options trading: Not available. M1 does not support options at all.
• Margin (M1 Borrow): 5.65% interest rate, available on taxable brokerage accounts with $2,000+ invested. This is genuinely cheap — Fidelity charges 10.575%, Schwab 9.50%, E*Trade 10.00%, and Vanguard 9.95% at their base rates.

The hidden ones:

• Outgoing ACAT transfer: $100. Want to leave? That'll cost you.
• IRA termination fee: $100.
• Wire transfer: $25.
• Inactivity fee: $20 on accounts under $50 with no activity for 90+ days.
• Escheatment (abandoned account processing): $75.
• Crypto spread: ~1% on all crypto buys and sells. No explicit commission, but you're paying through the spread.
• ADR fees: 1¢ to 3¢ per share on American Depositary Receipts, passed through from the issuing bank.
• Regulatory fees: FINRA TAF of $0.000166 per share sold (max $8.30/trade), plus SEC fee of $22.90 per $1 million traded. These are standard industry pass-throughs.

The bottom line on fees: M1 is genuinely free for investors with $10,000+. Below that, the $3/month fee makes it expensive for small accounts. The $100 ACAT-out fee is steep and worth knowing about before you commit — Fidelity and Schwab charge $0 for outgoing transfers.

M1 covers the major account types US investors need:

• Individual Brokerage Account
• Joint Brokerage Account
• Custodial Account (UTMA/UGMA for minors)
• Traditional IRA
• Roth IRA
• SEP IRA
• Trust Account
• Crypto Account (powered by Bakkt)

Notably missing: 529 college savings plans, 401(k) plans, and rollover IRAs as a distinct product (though you can roll into a Traditional IRA).

You can trade stocks and ETFs listed on US exchanges. No mutual funds, no bonds, no options, no futures. If you want those, look elsewhere. M1 also offers 14 cryptocurrencies through a separate Crypto Account powered by Bakkt, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, and XRP. You can also access crypto exposure through ETFs like BITO and GBTC in your regular brokerage account.

The Pie system is M1's signature feature. Your portfolio is a "Pie" with "Slices" — each slice represents a holding with a target allocation percentage. You can nest Pies within Pies (e.g., a "Tech" Pie inside your main Pie). When you deposit money, M1 automatically buys whichever slices are most underweight. Click "Rebalance" and the platform sells overweight positions and buys underweight ones to bring you back to target.

Fractional shares are supported, meaning every dollar gets invested — no cash sitting idle because you can't afford a full share of Amazon.

What M1 does well:

• Automation is genuinely excellent. Set your target allocations, turn on auto-invest, schedule recurring deposits, and M1 handles everything. Dynamic rebalancing means each deposit nudges your portfolio closer to target without triggering unnecessary sells (and taxable events).
• Margin rates are best-in-class. At 5.65%, M1's margin rate crushes every major competitor. If you borrow against your portfolio regularly, this alone could justify using M1.
• The Pie system is intuitive. Visual portfolio building is easier to understand than staring at a list of tickers and percentages. Nested Pies let you organize by theme or sector.
• High-Yield Cash Account pays 3.10% APY on uninvested cash, with FDIC insurance up to $4.75 million through partner banks. The $100 minimum deposit is reasonable.
• Dividend reinvestment is flexible — reinvest into the specific stock, spread across your whole Pie, or sweep to your Cash Account.

Where M1 falls short:

• No real-time trading. Trades execute during scheduled "trade windows," not when you click buy. This is by design — M1 wants to remove emotion from trading — but it means you can't react to intraday price movements. Day traders, active traders, and anyone who wants limit orders should go elsewhere.
• No options, no mutual funds, no bonds. The investment menu is stocks, ETFs, and crypto. Period. If you want a complete brokerage, this isn't it.
• The $3/month platform fee punishes small accounts. A beginning investor putting in $100/month won't hit $10,000 for years. That's $36/year in fees on a tiny portfolio — terrible value.
• $100 to leave. The outgoing ACAT transfer fee is a pain point. It creates real friction if you decide M1 isn't for you.
• No tax-loss harvesting. Unlike Betterment or Wealthfront, M1 doesn't automatically harvest tax losses. You'd have to do it manually by adjusting your Pie.
• Research tools are thin. Don't expect the screeners, analyst reports, or educational content you'd find at Fidelity or Schwab. M1 is built for people who already know what they want to own.

M1 is great for:

• Buy-and-hold investors with $10,000+ who want to automate a long-term portfolio. This is M1's sweet spot. Set your Pie, automate deposits, and check in once a quarter.
• Dividend investors who want automatic reinvestment across their whole portfolio, not just back into the issuing stock.
• People who want cheap margin. The 5.65% rate is roughly half what the big brokers charge. If you use portfolio lending, M1 saves real money.
• "Lazy portfolio" fans who follow a Boglehead-style asset allocation and want a platform that enforces discipline. M1's structure makes it hard to panic-sell or chase hot stocks.

M1 is wrong for:

• Active traders. No real-time execution, no limit orders, no options, no level 2 data. M1 is philosophically opposed to active trading.
• Beginners with small balances. The $3/month fee on accounts under $10,000 makes M1 a poor choice for someone just getting started. Fidelity and Schwab charge nothing.
• People who want research and education. M1 assumes you know what you want to invest in. There are no stock screeners, no analyst ratings, no investment courses.
• Anyone who might leave soon. That $100 ACAT-out fee is a real cost. If you're experimenting with brokers, test drive Fidelity or Schwab first — they'll let you leave for free.

M1 vs. Fidelity: Fidelity offers $0 commissions, no platform fee, no account minimums, options trading, mutual funds, bonds, excellent research, and fractional shares. Fidelity wins on breadth and cost for small accounts. M1 wins on automation, visual portfolio building, and margin rates.

M1 vs. Schwab: Similar story to Fidelity. Schwab has a wider product menu, better research, no platform fees, and a massive branch network. M1's edge is the automated Pie system and that 5.65% margin rate.

M1 vs. Betterment/Wealthfront: These robo-advisors charge 0.25% annually on all assets, and they pick your investments for you. M1 lets you choose your own holdings while still automating execution. If you want full control with automation, M1 wins. If you want someone else to manage everything (including tax-loss harvesting), Betterment or Wealthfront may be better.

M1 vs. Robinhood: Both offer $0 commissions and fractional shares. Robinhood gives you real-time trading, options, and crypto with no platform fee. M1 gives you better portfolio automation and much cheaper margin. Robinhood is for active traders who want speed; M1 is for passive investors who want discipline.