How to Use M1 Finance to Build a Custom Portfolio That Rebalances Automatically

M1 Finance sits between a do-it-yourself brokerage like Robinhood and a fully automated robo-advisor like Betterment. You choose which investments go into your portfolio and what percentage each one represents — M1 calls this a "pie" — but then the platform handles all the rebalancing automatically. Every time you deposit money, it goes into whichever investments in your pie are below their target allocation, keeping your portfolio balanced without manual effort.

The visual "pie" format is one of M1's most distinctive features. Your portfolio appears as a color-coded circle where each slice represents a holding and shows its target percentage. If you want 40% in a US stock index fund, 30% in an international fund, and 30% in bonds, you set those slices and M1 maintains them. If stocks outperform and drift above 40%, future deposits and dividend reinvestments go toward the other slices until balance is restored.

There is no commission on trades and no management fee for the standard M1 account. You can open a taxable brokerage account or an IRA with no minimum balance. M1 supports fractional shares, so even a small deposit gets fully invested across all the slices in your pie rather than sitting as uninvested cash.

M1 offers "Expert Pies" — pre-built portfolios designed around specific strategies, such as broad market exposure, dividend income, or responsible investing. These are a good starting point if you want a diversified portfolio without building one from scratch yourself.

M1 also offers a premium subscription called "M1 Premium" ($3 per month) that includes a second trading window each day and additional features. Most users will find the free tier more than enough.