M1 Finance Review 2023: M1 Invest | M1 Borrow | M1 Spend | M1 Credit Card| M1 Plus (1 year review)

In this M1 finance review, I will take a closer look at the features offered by M1 Finance as I have been using them for over a year now. M1 Finance is a unique online platform that allows you to invest, borrow, and spend all in one place. You can use M1 Finance to invest in stocks, ETFs, and index funds, and there are no trading fees.

What does M1 Finance offer?

Does M1 Finance work? I have subscribed to their M1 plus membership and must say it has saved me a good bit. They offer different financial products and are categorized into M1 Invest, M1 Borrow and M1 Spend.

M1 plus is basically their premium membership platform where they offer services with some extra benefits and more on that later!

In short, I would say I have been extremely happy with them and would recommend them to my friends and family if you are looking for an investment platform with a long-term view in mind. So let’s get started with an in-depth review of each of them.

1 M1 Invest Review:

M1 offers an automated, commission-free investing taxable brokerage account which is called M1 Invest. Basically, your total investment value is divided into segments called “slices” and you can set a target for each slice. All the slices together constitute the “pie” and you can create how many ever you would like to. I simply set my own portfolio on auto mode and forget it.

Note: investing involves risk, always perform due diligence before purchasing securities

Pros:

• Simple easy to understand & visualize dashboard
• Customize your pie to your liking (portfolio customization)
• they have 60 curated pies that you can build off of
• Automated investing and automatic rebalancing
• Fractional shares on individual stocks possible. Buy as little as 1$
• Best for those who buy and hold (passive investing)
• Custodial accounts & trust accounts available
• Smart transfers
• Also offers retirement accounts and crypto accounts (shortly)
• Best way to invest in low-cost index funds

Cons:

• They only offer two trading windows a day
• The second-afternoon trading window is only offered for plus members
• Trading window preference is only offered to plus members
• Not so great for those who buy and sell often
• M1 does not do tax loss harvesting

Is there any fee?

there is an account inactivity fee of 20$ for accounts with up to 20$ and no activity for 90+days. you can also find all the associated information on the fees in the following link here

2 M1 Borrow Review:

These are basically margin loans and borrowing against the stocks/ETFs that you hold in the M1 Invest account. Note: Always understand the risks of margin accounts before borrowing. As of this publishing for an M1 Plus member you could borrow at a 4.25% interest rate, I would say that’s really competitive and one can borrow up to 40% of your portfolio value in M1 invest.

I had borrowed many times myself and should say it has served me well when instead I had to take personal loans from other institutions that offer really high-interest rates! The M1 borrow feature has saved me in tough times without having to actually sell my stocks or investments. you can repay your loan balance (principal) anytime as long as you keep paying the monthly interest accrued on the balance. One thing you should know is that it’s a variable rate that they offer which basically depends upon the fed rates.

Pros:

• funds are available almost instantaneously
• liquidity without having to sell investment
• liquidity available for unplanned expenses
• competitive interest rate
• a great option for long-term investors
• Flexible repayment (on the outstanding balance)
• no need to go through a credit check

Cons: (Not many to be honest in my opinion)

• 2000$ minimum investment in M1 Invest

3 M1 Spend Review:

The M1 Spend account comes with M1 Checking account and M1 credit card financial products

3a M1 Checking

M1 checking Pros:

• 2.5%APY (with M1 Plus) as of publishing the article
• 1% cash back on debit card purchases (with M1 plus)
• check option available
• 0$ minimum balance
• 4 ATM Fee reimbursement per month (with M1 Plus)
• FDIC insured up to 250,000$

3b M1 Credit card (Owner’s rewards card)

Effective 11/09/2022 good news is that there is no annual fee to get this card!! One can get up to 10% cash back if you are an M1 plus member. With purchases made with brands in the Owners Rewards program can earn you 2.5%, 5%, or 10% cashback. If you are not an M1 plus member you will earn 1.5% cash back on everything

• Credit check necessary
• You can use the card at 70+ brands to earn extra cashback of which 50+ tickers are available to invest
• No annual fee ( earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase)
• To earn 2.5% to 10% cash back requires an active M1 Plus membership
• Using M1 automation you can reinvest the earned cash back to help your portfolio grow
• contactless card
• you can earn up to 200$ cash back per month
• Metal card
• securities in M1 invest accounts are insured up to 500,000$ by SIPC

^Earn 10% cash back on the following brands:

So, for example, let’s say you have a monthly subscription with Netflix or Spotify and have this M1 card on file, one could get 10% cash back, which you can reinvest if wanted to!! (Note: Need to have M1 Plus membership to earn 2.5-10% cash back, else would get a flat 1.5% cash back on every purchase)

^Earn 5% cash back on the following brands:

^Earn 2.5% cash back on the following brands below:

^at the time of publishing the article

4 M1 Plus Review:

M1 plus costs 125$/year in annual fees but is totally worth it if you are considering the M1 borrow option OR the M1 credit card!

Currently, they are offering 3 months free trial on M1 plus!

see the advantages of having M1 plus membership below:

5 M1 Crypto

Does M1 finance do crypto? Will M1 finance add crypto?

Yes.

Seems like M1 might offer investment in the following coins shown below in the image. Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin are a few choices shown.

Features include:

• Creating custom pies same as with M1 Invest
• Set a target for each slice
• Automated trading and dynamic rebalancing
• Commission free
• Crypto assets are held in a custodial wallet powered by Apex crypto

Though I haven’t had the chance to try this myself but ill be looking forward to investing through M1 Crypto. So please stay tuned!

Is M1 finance trustworthy? Is M1 finance safe?

Is M1 finance legitimate?

From my personal experience so far yes, absolutely! the checking account is FDIC insured through Lincoln Savings Bank and the brokerage account is FINRA compliant

Is M1 finance good for beginners?

In my opinion Yes, but only if you are interested in investing for the long term.

Does M1 finance have DRIP?

Does M1 finance reinvest dividends?

No. But you can use a feature called Auto-Invest which technically does the same thing. As in whenever you get the dividend paid it goes to your “Cash balance” and you can reinvest the cash balance once it’s over 25$ of your minimum cash balance.

Does M1 finance have Roth IRA?

Yes. It offers Traditional, Roth & SEP IRA

Does M1 finance have options?

No, currently they don’t offer trading options

When does M1 finance buy stock?

The morning trading window begins at 9 30am ET when the markets are open. If you are an M1 plus member you also have a second window which begins at 3 00pm ET

When does M1 release tax documents?

Usually in the month of February or March from what I have seen

Is M1 finance international?

No, currently they operate only in the US

Can I have multiple pies on M1 finance?

Yes, you can create multiple pies

M1 finance customer support?

Yes, you can contact M1 finance by following the link here

For urgent issues on M1 invest, you can call them on 312-600-2883 between Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 4 pm ET, unless there is a market holiday. otherwise, you normally submit a request through email. Link above.

If you have questions about M1 Credit Card payments, credit balance, credit limit, disputes, statements, application, and closure you can contact 833-978-3351. Credit card support are available Monday-Friday 9am-9pm ET & Saturday 10am-3pm ET

Does M1 finance have Zelle?

No, M1 Finance doesn’t offer Zelle transfers

Conclusion

I would say M1 finance is a great platform and an ecosystem with a lot of features and advantages. Yes, there is scope for improvement, but It is great for long-term investors who want to invest in low-cost index funds and for those who want to borrow against their investments without having to sell them. The annual fee for M1 Plus is worth it if you plan on taking advantage of the M1 finance Borrow and M1 Credit features. Sign up for a free trial of M1 Plus today! and stay tuned for M1 Crypto!

Happy investing! 🙂