Great for DCA/micro-investing – M1: Investing & Banking Review

(Edited 4/27/18) I really wish I’d discovered this app before Stash, and then again before I switched to Betterment a year ago. The thought of the missed profit opportunity and fee savings is actually kind of depressing. If your goal is to build wealth over the longterm, there simply is no better option out there than M1 Finance. If you’re opening a Roth, seriously, there is no better option. The pie wedge approach is perfect for setting up and monitoring a longterm investment portfolio. You can buy fractional shares of practically any publicly traded fund. There are no commission or account maintenance fees, so the only costs you really need to be concerned with are fund expense ratios and tax implications. The UI could use some tweaking, and the app has been a little buggy—I’ve gotten a few errors here and there—but for the most part, everything works as it should. And both times I’ve contacted customer support, they’ve responded the same day with relevant, helpful information. If you’re interested in active trading, this isn’t the app for you. If, however, you’ve been eyeballing robo-investors like Acorns, Betterment, Stash, or Wealthfront, or you’re just looking for a simple way to save money, look no further than M1. All you have to do is plug in a portfolio to your liking (the simple Boglehead 3-fund is a no-brainer for me), and let it work for you. A few suggestions: -The ability to view a single pie of all M1 accounts. I have both a Roth and a taxable account through M1; the former is primarily domestic funds and bonds, the latter primarily international funds. It would be downright genius to allow us to view all of these investments at once to make balancing evaluation a little easier. -“Round up” deposits, as supported by apps like Acorns and Qapital. -Instant deposits. I understand that you’re working with only one trading window per day, but it would still be nice to see those funds immediately show up in the account. -Along those lines, it would be nice to be able to see total available funds including cash on the main portfolio screen.
Review by rollainm on M1: Investing & Banking.