M1 Finance and Fees

May 23, 2020 interactive brokers m1finance [investing]

One of the key issues I have with making M1 Finance my primary brokerage and bank is their fees, which to be frank, are annoying.

For example lets look at their $25 IRA Conversion Fee. If you perform say a Backdoor Roth at M1 and can swing the maximum $6000, this comes out to a cost of 0.42% or enough to pay all expenses of the Vanguard S&P 500 Fund, VOO, for 14 years!!!. Its even worse for the poors among us that can’t contribute the full amount. $25 for a service I get free everywhere else like Interactive Brokers Lite, Schwab, Fidelity, and even Vanguard!

Another fee, annoying for a so called set it and forget it broker, is the inactivity fee. Imagine that you listen to the experts to set up your ideal allocation and let it run. If you leave it for 3 months or 90 days, they’ll hit you with a $20 fee. Way to take advantage of small investors there. You definitely don’t get that at Interactive Brokers Lite or Schwab. I didn’t even bother to check the others’ fee. Its so asinine.

Finally the last fee I’ll rant about is their ‘TOD Account Transfer Fee’. What is this again? It’s a Transfer On Death Account Transfer Fee. Talk about a long redundant visit to the redundancy department. Imagine that when you die, M1 comes and sticks it to you one more time when your folks come to collect your measly account. Combine that with the $20 inactivity fee and the $75 escheatment fee and we find out M1 is a horrible brokerage to be holding when you kick the bucket. lol.

Now that we know how M1 make their money, please consider using my referral link. I’ll get $10 and you’ll also get $10 to start. I’ve only put in the minimum investment of $25 and you can see the fun I’m having with just that.