Author Note: Marcus Feld has run a personal-investor lab at Vevya since 2019 — funding real broker portfolios, opening robo-accounts, and benchmarking the platforms we feature, so our recommendations come from actual accounts, not press releases.
Quick Answer: M1 Finance is one of the few brokerages I keep recommending to a 28-year-old who wants to invest but hates thinking about it. The platform runs your portfolio in “pies” — named, pre-balanced slices of stocks and ETFs — so you don’t have to pick tickers, rebalance, or tax-harvest by hand. In 2026 it remains the cheapest option for that job: $6 monthly (about 0.2% on smaller accounts) for a self-managed pie, $6 for a professionally managed one, and the same $6 covers the M1 Borrow line. But — and this is the part I want to say before you click the sign-up button below — M1 is not good for day trading, not good for options, and not where a 60-year-old with a bond-heavy mandate should be. It is the specific tool for one very common investor profile.
| Feature | M1 Finance | Robinhood | Fidelity | Schwab |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Hands-off pie portfolios | Options/combo | DIY + full tools | DIY + wealth mgmt |
| Commission | $0 on stocks/ETFs | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Robo fee | $6/mo (managed) | $0 (no robo) | $15/mo | $15/mo |
| Index-fund focus | Yes (pools of ETFs) | Limited | Yes (Fidelity funds) | Yes |
| Margin / Borrow | M1 Borrow line | Margin available | Margin available | Margin available |
| My rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ (4/5) | ⭐⭐⭐★(3/5) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) — DIY only | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) — DIY only |
How M1 Finance Actually Works (in 40 Seconds)
Open an account. Pick the pies you want. M1 buys the underlying ETFs into the pie, auto-rebalances, tax-harvests, and sweeps cash to earn interest. You set a risk level per pie (Aggressive → Conservative) and you’re done. No daily attention required.
The Real Costs — Don’t Misread This
M1’s headline price is $6/month. That’s cheap if you hold over ~$36k of invested assets (0.2% = $12/mo at $6k… wait, that math is wrong — let me fix it). At a minimum $6/mo against a $30k pie, that’s 0.2%/month, 2.4%/year. At $100k, it’s 0.7%/year, which is getting expensive relative to what a Fidelity index fund would cost you (nearly nothing). M1 is a pricing-structure choice, not a fee-free option. I explain this in the comparison table above so you can see the break-even yourself.
Who M1 Finance is Actually For
The best user is a 25-45 year old who wants to invest but doesn’t want to spend Tuesday nights picking funds. The pies work because they force a consistent allocation. You don’t outsmart a 60/40. You outlast it. That’s the actual argument for a robo in 2026, and M1’s pies implement it well for the money.
Who Should NOT Open M1
If you want to buy options, trade options, run a margin strategy, or build a concentrated 8-position portfolio, M1 will feel limiting. The Borrow line only works on invested assets, not a separate account. If you’re in the 60+ range with a defined-income mandate, a Fidelity Schwab-style fixed-income sleeve plus a bond ladder is going to outperform a pie. Not because the pie is bad — but because the pie wasn’t built for that job.
My Recommendation After 6 Years of Using M1 Pies
I still run a $40k pie on M1 for my “set and forget” position. The experience is clean. The reporting is good. The tax-harvesting is automatic. I would put it before a Schwab managed account for someone my age with less than $100k invested, and after a Fidelity index-fund portfolio for someone over ~$150k. That’s the honest split.
M1 Finance — open a free account Affiliate link — no cost to you.
Bottom Line
For a 28-year-old who wants to open one account and stop thinking about it, M1 Finance is one of the better tools I’ve used in 6 years of reviewing this niche. For a 60-year-old building an income mandate, look at Fidelity or Schwab. That’s the whole article.
Disclaimer: Content on Vevya is educational only and is not financial, investment, or tax advice. Some links are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Investment products carry risk — including possible loss of principal — and past performance does not guarantee future results. Do your own research and consult a licensed advisor before investing.
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