After a few weeks of researching M1 Finance accounts, I couldn’t hold back on opening one any more. How can you pass up the opportunity for free trades? I couldn’t. Additionally, being in the personal finance space, I have been seeing a lot of burgeoning support for M1 from others in the community. I wanted to have inside knowledge of an M1 account for myself to better serve my subscribers.
One of the benefits I like about M1 Finance is the ability to invest in fractional shares. I also like that they reinvest dividends back into your portfolio, though note this isn’t a true DRIP. Usually the dividends are invested back into the stock of the company that paid the dividends or back into the ETF that the dividends came from. With M1, the money you earn (or deposit) is invested across your portfolio according to the percentage allocations you have set up (which you do when you initially funded your investments). Your target percentages can be adjusted later as needed as detailed in this support article about editing your M1 Portfolio.
Last week, I opened an M1 Finance account, funded it with $1000, and chose my first four investments. While I was doing this, I recorded my computer screen and narrated what was happening each step of the way. If you are thinking of opening an M1 account, watch my video walkthrough to learn what to expect when you are opening the account and learn the basics about M1.
The video covers:
- Getting started opening your M1 Account
- Looking at stocks and ETFs to create a pie
- Answering personal and financial questions to set up your account
- Connecting your bank account to M1
- Building your portfolio
- Fees relating to paper copies, inactive account fee, outgoing transfers to another brokerage, and miscellaneous bank fees
- Dynamic rebalancing
- Viewing a portfolio when investments have been made
- Creating an ETF filter
- Choices for expert pies
- Noting additional features available: Watchlist, Spend, Borrow
- Refer and Earn Link
Use my M1 Finance Refer and Earn link to open your account and get $10 (and I will also get $10 for the referral). Once you have opened your account, you will get your own referral link that you can share with your friends.