M1 Review: A Fantastic All-In-One Investing Choice (2026)

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Key Takeaways

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• I’ve been an M1 (formerly M1 Finance) customer since 2022, after moving my IRA from Vanguard.

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I’ve been an M1 (formerly M1 Finance) customer since 2022, after moving my IRA from Vanguard. Since making the switch, I can confidently say that M1 is an excellent all-in-one investment platform, standing out for its unique combination of low-cost automated investing and customizable options.

In this comprehensive M1 review, I’ll share my experience using the platform, discuss its pros and cons, and explain how it compares to competitors.

4.5/5

Verdict: M1 is a top choice for long-term investors. It provides automated investing and rebalancing at no extra management fee. Key features include ready-made model portfolios and a variety of account types.

My experience: In 2022, I moved my IRA to M1, allocating 100% of my portfolio to the 2050 Moderate portfolio customization. As a hands-off investor, I appreciate that there's no management fees on top of the ETFs, and I'm pleased to report that my returns have surpassed those of the comparable Vanguard Target Retirement Fund without additional risk (so far).

How it compares: Unlike Robinhood, which caters to active traders, M1 is designed for long-term investors. It offers pre-built portfolios similar to Betterment and Wealthfront but without the management fees.

M1 Pros:

• Diverse account types: taxable, IRA, trust, custodial and crypto.
• Can invest in stocks, ETFs and crypto.
• High-yield cash account (M1 Earn).
• Access to margin and personal loans.
• Commission-free trades.

M1 Cons:

• Trading only occurs once per day.
• No automated tax loss harvesting.
• Advisory services and financial planning are not provided.

Start Investing With M1 Finance

Table of Contents

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• How Does M1 Work?
• M1 Pie Investing Strategy Explained
  • M1 Model Portfolios
  • M1 Custom Pies
• M1 Cryptocurrency Trading
• M1 Borrow Review
• M1 Owner’s Rewards Card
• M1 Cash Account
• M1 Platform Fee Schedule
• M1 Minimum Investment
• M1 vs. Betterment
• M1 vs. Robinhood
• M1 Review: Is It a Good Option?

How Does M1 Work?

M1 offers the best of numerous worlds, but at its core is a concept called “pies.” 

Pies are M1’s term for portfolio asset allocation.

There are two types of pies:

• Model Pies. These pies, formally known as Model Portfolios, allow you to invest in done-for-you portfolios that align with various financial goals and risk tolerances, such as retirement or dividend income. 
• Customized Pies. These pies give intermediate and advanced investors the ability to create a customized investment portfolio composed of stocks and ETFs that can be automatically rebalanced with a single click.

We’ll cover pies in more detail below.

But first, let’s go over the basics of M1, which offers multiple types of investment accounts, including:

• Individual Investing.
• Joint Investing.
• Retirement accounts (including traditional, Roth, SEP IRAs, and the rollover of existing 401k accounts).
• Trust accounts.
• Custodial accounts.
• Crypto accounts (taxable only).

The primary benefit of M1 is that it doesn’t charge any asset management fees. In comparison, numerous investment services, like Betterment, Wealthfront, and some types of mutual funds, charge a 0.25% fee or more for offerings similar to M1’s Model Pies. Although M1 lacks advanced features like Wealthfront’s direct indexing.

Keep in mind that some of the investments within a Pie, such as ETFs, do have their own expense ratios. However, these are typically on the very low end, at around 0.10%.

Beyond investing, M1 also offers:

• M1 Earn: A high-yield cash account that pays a high APY with $3.75 million in FIDC insurance.
• M1 Borrow: The ability to borrow up to 50% of your portfolio’s value at a favorable interest rate (with a minimum required balance of $2,000).
• Owner’s Rewards Card: A credit card that offers cash-back from companies you own stock in, with the ability to automatically invest any rewards you earn.

M1 Pie Investing Strategy Explained

With the M1 pie investment strategy, you choose between a Model Portfolio or a Custom Pie.

M1 Model Portfolios

Model Portfolios offer traditional asset allocations, such as retirement and general investment portfolios, to reach short-term, medium-term, and long-term financial goals.

Examples of M1 Model Portfolios.

However, there are also some more advanced investment options, such as the “ARK ETFs Equal-Weighted” pie, which brings together several of ARKs ETFs.

M1 ARK ETFs Equal-Weighted Pie.

Here are some of the Model Pies available on the platform:

• General Investing: You can set this up to reflect your own risk tolerance and create a diversified portfolio to protect yourself.
• Plan for Retirement: You can use this for setting up a target retirement date (see the next section for more details).
• Socially Responsible Investing: This is a good pick for those who put a high emphasis on being a socially responsible investor.
• Income Earning: This is an option for those who focus on dividends and income.
• Industries and Sectors: This option lets you invest in specific industries that interest you.

M1 Target Date Funds

Under the “Plan for Retirement” Model Pies, M1 offers a wide range of target date retirement funds for all ages. For those investing for retirement, there’s a lot to like about what the M1 platform offers in this area. 

While I’m somewhat nitpicking here, one of my complaints about Vanguard’s Target Retirement Fund, as well as numerous of the similar funds offered by other large investment institutions, is that they’re fairly cookie-cutter. 

For example, the current breakdown of Vanguard’s 2050 fund is:

The Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund allocates its assets to various underlying funds as follows: 54.70% to Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares, 35.60% to Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Investor Shares, 6.70% to Vanguard Total Bond Market II Index Fund, and 3.00% to Vanguard Total International Bond II Index Fund.

M1, on the other hand, has 16 different ETFs in their 2050 Moderate fund:

Looking back at the five-year returns of the different target date funds M1 offers, this has resulted in better gains:

FundFive-Year Return as of March 18, 2024V

Final Thoughts

Before you check out, double-check review fantastic all one against current offers and any coupons you can stack. Small habits like this add up to real savings over a year.

Originally published at thewaystowealth.com.