If you’ve read our guide on the best brokers for dividend ETF investing, you already know M1 Finance is our top pick for hands-off, automated portfolios. Here’s the full breakdown.
What M1 Finance Actually Is
M1 isn’t quite a traditional broker and isn’t quite a robo-advisor — it sits in between. It offers individual, joint, trust, custodial, and multiple IRA account types, but instead of picking individual trades yourself or handing everything to an algorithm, you build a “Pie”: a custom portfolio where you assign target percentages to each stock or ETF you want to hold.
You pick your holdings and target weights — say, SCHD at 40%, VYM at 30%, DGRO at 30% — deposit cash, and M1 automatically buys fractional shares to hit those targets. New deposits flow toward whatever’s underweight, so the portfolio rebalances itself over time without you having to sell anything.
Fees
This is the part that matters most for a dividend-focused investor:
- Trading commissions: $0 on stocks and ETFs.
- Platform fee: $3/month, automatically waived if you maintain at least $10,000 in total M1 assets or have an active M1 Personal Loan.
- Account minimums: $100 for taxable accounts, $500 for retirement accounts.
- Transfer fees: $100 for a full or partial outgoing transfer, and a $100 IRA closing fee — worth knowing before you commit, since moving your portfolio elsewhere later isn’t free.
- Inactivity fee: $50, but only on accounts with a balance under $50 and no trading or deposit activity for 90+ days — not a concern for anyone actually using the account.
The honest read: M1 is genuinely the cheapest option once you clear $10,000. Below that, the $3/month fee is a real cost worth weighing against a fee-free alternative like Public.com.
What We Like
- The Pie system is genuinely well-built. Setting target percentages once and letting new deposits auto-balance is exactly what a long-term dividend investor wants — less fiddling, more consistency.
- Fractional shares mean every dollar you deposit gets put to work immediately, rather than sitting in cash waiting for a full share.
- No commissions or management fees on top of the flat platform fee — no percentage-of-assets model eating into returns as your portfolio grows.
What to Watch Out For
- Not built for active trading. M1 generally executes trades in set windows during the day rather than in real time, so it’s not the right fit for day traders or anyone who wants to react to price moves instantly.
- Research tools are light. If you want in-depth analyst reports or charting tools, M1 isn’t the place — it’s built for people who’ve already decided what they want to hold.
- The $3/month fee stings below $10k. On a smaller account, that’s a real drag on returns until you build up the balance.
Who Should Use M1 Finance
M1 Finance is the right fit if you have $10,000 or more to invest (or are close to it), want a truly hands-off dividend ETF portfolio, and don’t need active trading tools or in-depth research. If you’re starting with a smaller amount, our Public.com review might be a better starting point until your balance grows.
This review reflects our independent research and opinion. Some links on this page are affiliate links — see our Disclosure and Terms of Use for details.
A quick, honest disclaimer: I’m not a licensed financial advisor, and this isn’t personalized investment advice. It’s a framework I use and believe in, but your situation is your own — for anything specific to your finances, it’s worth talking to a qualified professional. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal, and past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.