Invest, borrow, and spend, all in one place. With combined investing, borrowing, and cash management in one easy-to-use automated platform, you can manage your money as you see fit.  M1 uses fractional shares and intelligent automation to invest your money according to your target allocations, so you can capture your money’s full potential.

The main way to earn is by using M1 smarter investing, which helps you earn returns through stock price appreciation and dividends. You can customize your own portfolio or choose from over 80 preset models. You can diversify easier with fractional shares and automate your portfolio with recurring buys and dynamic rebalancing. All M1 clients now have access to the best of M1 including premium features and competitive rates. With these changes, M1 introduced a monthly platform fee of $3.00 which is waived for clients who have $10,000 or more in M1 assets at least one day during each billing cycle or an active Personal Loan. Details.

M1 now offers a High-Yield Cash Account with a 5.00% APY and up to $3.75 million FDIC coverage. You can open up to 5 accounts (4 individual, 1 joint). There is no account minimum and you can make unlimited transfers. More details here.

To borrow on margin with M1, you need a minimum of $2,000 invested, and you can borrow up to 50% of your portfolio's value at a flat rate of 7.25% (rate is subject to change). A key differentiator of M1's taxable brokerage accounts is that they come with built-in access to margin lending, allowing clients to instantly borrow up to 50% of their portfolio value with just a $2,000 minimum investment, unlike competitors that require separate applications for portfolio lines of credit. You can see more details about M1 Margin loans here.

The M1 High-Yield Cash Account as a way for investors to park their short-term cash for a future investment. This account comes with no additional fees and offers joint accounts for those who have a partner contributing to the same goals.

On this account, M1 pays substantially all the interest M1 receives from partner banks but retain a portion of the interest to operate the product and platform. These rates, and the APY M1 pays to clients, are driven by the Effective Fed Funds rate, which is set by the Federal Open Markets Committee. This APY M1 pays clients and the EFF (effective federal funds rate).  

How M1 makes money on Invest 
Unlike other investing platforms, you’ll never be charged commissions or markups on trades or fees for deposit or withdraw from your connected bank. But M1 does make money in different ways, including miscellaneous fees.

Interest on brokerage cash 
When M1 customers hold cash on our platform, we can lend it out. Since the cash needs to be available at a moment’s notice to either withdraw or make investment purchases, M1 primarily lends the cash to banks on an overnight basis. The amount M1 receives tracks the Federal Funds rate — the interest rate controlled by the Federal Reserve. 

M1 is a technology-first company that utilizes the latest in information security. It is essential that they are a trustworthy partner. Their CEO values openness and honesty, and that transparency shines into every aspect of the M1 business and products. Their reliability can be seen through the over 500,000 accounts created and over 20,000 five-star reviews. Securities in M1 Invest accounts are insured up to $500,000 by the SIPC.