M1 calls a portfolio a Pie and each holding inside it a Slice. A Pie can hold up to 100 Slices, and any Slice can be another Pie, which is how one portfolio ends up nested inside another. T
he rest of the account is built around that arrangement: trades run in two fixed windows a day, the platform fee is $3 a month with two ways to avoid it, and uninvested cash earns 3.60% APY (as of 09/01/25).
How Pies and Slices Work
On M1 you don't buy positions one at a time and hope they stay in proportion. You build a Pie, give each Slice a target percentage, and the platform buys toward those targets.
A Slice can be a single stock or ETF, or it can be another Pie, so a "core" Pie can sit inside a broader one next to a handful of individual picks.
You can start from a Model Portfolio or one of M1's expert Pies built around different goals, then change the targets later.
The brokerage side covers more than 6,000 stocks and ETFs, with no commissions on online trades. Dynamic rebalancing steers new money toward the Slices that have drifted below target.
Direct real estate and individual bonds aren't on the menu. Bond ETFs and REIT ETFs cover those asset classes, and mortgage-backed security ETFs are available too.
The $3 Monthly Fee and the Two Ways Around It
M1 charges a $3 monthly platform fee. Two things remove it: an active personal loan, or $10,000 invested for at least one day during the billing cycle. IRA customers pay the same fee if they aren't exempt and aren't already paying it on a brokerage account.
A flat monthly charge lands differently depending on account size. On a large balance it barely registers. On a small one, that same $3 is a much bigger share of the account over a year, which is worth working out before opening at the minimum.
The fee is also part of how M1 makes money without charging commissions. The rest comes largely from interest, on the cash it holds and on the margin loans it makes.
Account Types and Minimums
| Product | Minimum | What It's For |
|---|---|---|
| Brokerage (individual, joint, custodial) | $10,000 invested, or an active personal loan, to waive the $3 monthly fee | Stocks, ETFs, and other securities |
| IRAs (traditional, Roth, SEP) | $500 initial deposit | Tax-advantaged retirement savings |
| Trust (revocable or irrevocable) | $5,000 | Assets passed to beneficiaries |
| Crypto | $100 initial deposit | Cryptocurrency investing |
| High-Yield Cash Account | $100 deposit to earn APY | 3.60% APY (as of 09/01/25) on uninvested cash |
| Margin loans | $2,000 invested in a brokerage or trust account | Line of credit against holdings |
| Owner's Rewards Card | Not applicable | Rewards that can be reinvested |
Getting started takes $100, or $500 for an IRA. That's low by brokerage standards without being the lowest available. Stash, for comparison, opens with a single dollar.
Auto-Invest and the $25 Trigger
Auto-invest is switched on by default until you opt out. You set a minimum cash amount to keep on hand, and once your balance sits $25 or more above it, M1 puts the excess to work in your Pie according to your targets.
In practice, a paycheck deposit and a couple of dividend payments can trigger a buy without you logging in. If you'd rather hold cash for a planned purchase, the cash cushion setting is the lever that stops it.
Trading Happens in Two Windows a Day
M1 executes trades in windows beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET and 3:00 p.m. ET on days the New York Stock Exchange is open. You can't place an order and watch it fill.
How much that matters depends on how often you trade. Buy-and-hold investors rarely notice it. Anyone trying to move in and out of positions during the day can't do it here, and because orders queue for the next window, the price on screen when you submit isn't necessarily the price you get.
Crypto is the exception. Crypto markets run seven days a week, so M1 supports weekend and on-demand trading there. You need a funded Invest account to trade it, and while there's no commission, crypto transaction fees apply.
Margin Loans Against the Portfolio
With at least $2,000 invested in a brokerage or trust account, you can borrow up to 50% of the value of your securities, either to reinvest or as a portfolio line of credit. Rates ran 7.99%–21.75% (as of 03/01/24), and they're variable, moving with the Federal Funds Rate. Retirement and custodial accounts aren't eligible.
The application is simpler than a bank loan because the collateral already sits in the account. The trade-off is the one that comes with all margin borrowing: the collateral can fall in value, and the interest accrues regardless of how the portfolio performs.
M1's own margin disclosure covers those risks in detail.
The Cash Account, Rewards Card, and Trust Accounts
The High-Yield Cash Account pays a variable 3.60% APY (as of 09/01/25) on uninvested cash. It requires an M1 brokerage account, and the $100 minimum deposit applies to earn the APY. Withdrawals are unlimited. Moving money to an investment account and back is a straightforward transfer.
The Owner's Rewards Card starts at 1.5% back on purchases. Spend at select retailers, Starbucks and Spotify among them, and the rate climbs, landing somewhere between 2.5% and 10%.
Redemption is where it differs from most cards: rewards can go into your M1 investment accounts instead of being taken as cash.
Trust accounts come in revocable or irrevocable form, with a $5,000 minimum.
No Mutual Funds, No Options, No Tax-Loss Harvesting
Three absences stand out:
- No mutual funds and no options trading.
- No automated tax-loss harvesting. Wealthfront and some other robo-advisors do this on their own, selling a losing position so the loss can offset gains elsewhere.
- Rebalancing takes more input from you than it does on fully automated platforms.
The gaps show up for anyone shopping specifically for hands-off tax management.
An investor who assembles an ETF portfolio and leaves it alone won't run into them.
SIPC Coverage and FDIC Eligibility
M1 Finance is registered with FINRA and the SEC as a brokerage. Brokerage products and services come from M1 Finance LLC, a member of FINRA and SIPC.
SIPC insurance protects investment accounts up to $500,000 if the brokerage fails. It does not protect against market losses. Stocks and ETFs can lose value, and all investing carries the risk of losing money.
Cash sitting in the cash account falls under SIPC protection before the sweep. Once M1 moves that money to partner banks, it becomes eligible for FDIC insurance.
Wealthfront, Robinhood, and Betterment Compared
- Wealthfront also offers commission-free stock trades, plus automated tax-loss harvesting and automated rebalancing. It has a 529 plan for qualified education expenses; M1 does not.
- Robinhood adds options trading and same-day activity, which M1's trading windows preclude. Uninvested cash earns a variable 3.35% APY (as of 02/11/26), though that rate requires a Robinhood Gold subscription at $5 a month. Gold members also get a 3% boost on IRA contributions, versus 1% without it, with holding requirements attached to the match.
- Betterment runs closer to a robo-advisor: you pick a diversified portfolio and it handles trading, rebalancing, and dividend reinvestment. An investment account costs $4 a month or 0.25% annually. Its cash reserve account paid a variable 3.25% APY (as of Oct. 24, 2025), and it offers a checking account with a cashback debit card.
What the Pie Structure Assumes
The account is put together on the assumption that money arrives on a schedule and nobody is watching the screen. Targets get set once. Auto-invest waits until the balance sits $25 above the cash cushion, then buys.
Dynamic rebalancing decides which Slices the money lands in. Trades clear in one of the two windows rather than when the order goes in. The $3 fee disappears at $10,000 invested, and the margin line converts the same holdings into borrowing capacity at a variable rate.
For someone new to investing, a Pie with percentages in it is easier to read than a list of order types. The entry cost is the other half of that picture: $100 to open, $500 for an IRA, against the single dollar it takes at Stash.
