Updated January 2025

If you create an account at M-1 Finance via our affiliate link — which offers direct access to our recommended portfolios — The Merriman Financial Education Foundation may receive a small fee (for accounts over $1,000.) This fee will cost you nothing extra and helps support our financial education work. Thank you! 

Through this link, M1 Finance may also offer you limited-time higher interest rates in their Cash Accounts¹ and/or reduced margin loan² rates. See M1 Finance for details. 

What Is M1 Finance?

We are excited to affiliate with M1 Finance, an innovative, commission-free³, automated online brokerage firm designed to help you build wealth by investing in a target allocation.

You can easily buy Paul Merriman’s recommended Sound Investing portfolios commission-free³, starting with as little as $100 to invest. And because M1 Finance uses fractional share investing and automatically invests any time your cash balance exceeds $10, dividends and new contributions will immediately go to work. You will find links to Paul’s M1 Finance “Pies” at the bottom of this page.

Put your investments on autopilot. M1 Finance supports automatic scheduled transfers and investing so that you can remove the emotion and nuisance of manual steps.

Rebalance with new contributions or by clicking a button. M1 Finance first applies new contributions to under-target assets, so every contribution nudges you back towards your desired allocation. If that’s not enough to keep your allocation on track, you can also trigger a commission-free³ rebalance at any time, which will happen in the next trading window. And, if you sign up through our affiliate link to M1 Finance – which costs you nothing extra – you’ll be helping sustain the work of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, making it possible for us to improve and maintain recommendations into the future.

More Things to Know About M1 Finance

M1 Finance is commission-free³ and convenient, but there are also some limitations:

1.   Customer support is less responsive than full-service brokerage firms.

2.   M1 Finance requires a minimum initial investment of $100 for brokerage accounts and $500 for retirement accounts.

3.   M1 Finance only accepts market orders for buying and selling — no limit or stop-loss orders.

4.   M1 Finance trades are done in two different daily windows. The morning trade window begins around 9:30 ET every day the NYSE market is open. The afternoon trade window begins around 3:00 PM ET. Accounts with $25,000 or more in equity can participate in both trade windows daily. All other accounts can choose which window to use.

5.   M1 Finance automatically invests cash in the account anytime there is more than $10.

6.   M1 Finance accounts have a “Portfolio” at their top level, consisting of “Pies” that include stable asset allocation targets that don’t drift with market values.

7.   M1 Finance Merriman Pies are just a setup shortcut. Any changes in recommended ETFs or allocations (as happens with the target date funds) will not be sent to investors as notifications. Investors will need to manually update or come back and re-click the short-cut links to synchronize over time.

8.   You can now open custodial accounts directly on the M1 Finance platform without paper forms. The process is the same as all other Invest accounts.

Getting Started at M1-Finance — Overview & How-To Video
M1 Finance Overview Video

Paul Merriman M1 Finance Pre-Built Portfolio Pies Now Available!

To use these at M1 Finance, follow these simple steps:

1. Create an account at M1 Finance (please use our affiliate link).
2. While still signed into your account, click one of the portfolios you want below.
3. When the new window opens, click the “Explore this Pie in M1” button.
4. On the next page, click “Add to Portfolio.”
5. Adjust the allocation to reach 100%, then click “Save”
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each portfolio you want.
7. Once you’ve added all the desired portfolios, before clicking “Save,” adjust the allocation to be what you want. If you’re using separate equity and fixed-income Pies, use the percentage boxes to set your desired equity/fixed-income allocation. If you’re using the target-date Pies and want an intermediate “Years to Retirement,” you could mix the two closest Pies to approximate the in-between allocation. For example, you could use 80% of the “10 Years to Retirement” and 20% of the “15 Years to Retirement” to approximate an 11-Years-to-Retirement allocation. 
8. Finally, set up your funding and deposit schedule to start investing.

The Equity Portfolio Pies 

WW UB&H 50|50 US|Int'l Tax-Deferred

WW UB&H 50|50 US|Int'l Taxable

WW UB&H 70|30 US|Int'l Tax-Deferred

WW UB&H 70|30 US|Int'l Taxable

WW 4-Fund 50|50 US|Int'l

WW 4-Fund 70|30 US|Int'l

US 4-Fund

US 2-Fund

WW All-Value 50|50 US|Int'l

WW All-Value 70|30 US|Int'l

US All-Value

WW All-Small-Cap-Value 50|50 US|Int'l

WW All-Small-Cap-Value 70|30 US|Int'l

US All-Small-Cap-Value

The Fixed Income Portfolio Pies

TAX-DEFERRED FIXED INCOME

TAXABLE FIXED INCOME

The Merriman Aggressive Target Date Glide Path Pies

40+ Years to Retirement Tgt Dt Tax-Deferred

35 Years to Retirement Tgt Dt Tax Deferred

30 Years to Retirement Tgt Dt Tax Deferred

25 Years to Retirement Tgt Dt Tax Deferred

20 Years to Retirement Tgt Dt Tax Deferred

15 Years to Retirement Tgt Dt Tax Deferred

10 Years to Retirement Tgt Dt Tax Deferred

5 Years to Retirement Tgt Dt Tax Deferred

0 Years to Retirement Tgt Dt Tax Deferred



Instead of naming our M1 Merriman Aggressive Target Date Fund Pies by year of retirement, we’ve named them by the number of years you have until retirement. We did this to avoid having to periodically update the allocations. As you get older and closer to retirement, you’ll want to trade from longer time-to-retirement Pies to shorter ones. M1 Finance is set up to trade the minimum shares needed to establish the new allocation. If you want to be more precise and have a smoother asset allocation over time, then feel free to use the Custom Merriman TDF Allocation Calculator to finely tune your own M1 Allocation Pies.

M1-Related Disclosures

This web page was updated on January 13, 2025. All information is subject to change. The opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of M1. They are for informational purposes only and are not a recommendation of an investment strategy or to buy or sell any security in any account. They are also not research reports and are not intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision. Prior to making any investment decision, you are encouraged to consult your personal investment, legal, and tax advisors.

M1 is a technology company offering a range of financial products and services. “M1” refers to M1 Holdings Inc., and its wholly-owned, separate affiliates M1 Finance LLC, M1 Spend LLC, and M1 Digital LLC.

If you choose to transfer your account to another broker-dealer, only the full shares are guaranteed to transfer. Fractional shares may need to be liquidated and transferred as cash.

All examples above are hypothetical, do not reflect any specific investments, are for informational purposes only, and should not be considered an offer to buy or sell any products.

All investing involves risk, including the risk of losing the money you invest. Brokerage products and services are offered by M1 Finance LLC, Member FINRA / SIPC, and a wholly owned subsidiary of M1 Holdings, Inc.

M1 does not provide investment advice, and this is not an offer or solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell any security, and you are encouraged to consult your personal investment, legal, and tax advisors. M1 is not recommending or endorsing this investment by making it available to its customers.

1)   M1 High-Yield Cash Account(s) is an investment product offered by M1 Finance, LLC, an SEC registered broker-dealer, Member FINRA / SIPC. M1 is not a bank and M1 High-Yield Cash Accounts are not a checking or savings account. The purpose of this account is earn interest on securities not actively invested. An open M1 Investment account is required to participate in the M1 High-Yield Cash Account. All investing involves risk, including the risk of losing the money you invest.

2)   

a)   M1 is not a bank. M1 Personal Loans are furnished by B2 Bank NA, Member FDIC and Equal Opportunity Lender, and serviced by M1 Spend LLC, a wholly owned operating subsidiary of M1 Holdings, Inc.

b)   Margin trading entails greater risk, including, but not limited to, risk of loss and incurrence of margin interest debt, and is not suitable for all investors. Please assess your financial circumstances and risk tolerance before trading on margin. If the market value of the securities in your margin account declines, you may be required to deposit more money or securities in order to maintain your line of credit. If you are unable to do so, M1 may be required to sell all or a portion of your pledged assets. Brokerage accounts on the M1 platform are either fully disclosed to APEX Clearing or cleared through M1 Finance LLC. Users utilizing APEX cleared margin accounts should review the APEX margin account risk disclosure before borrowing. Users utilizing M1 cleared margin accounts should review the M1 margin account risk disclosure before borrowing. M1 Margin Loans are available on margin accounts with at least $2,000 invested per account. Not available for Retirement or Custodial accounts. Margin rates may vary. Brokerage products and services are offered by M1 Finance LLC, Member FINRA / SIPC, and a wholly owned subsidiary of M1 Holdings, Inc..

3)   "M1 Finance, LLC does not charge commission, trading, or management fees for self-directed brokerage accounts. You may still be charged other fees such as M1’s platform fee, regulatory fees, account closure fees, or ADR fees. For a complete list of fees M1 may charge, visitM1’s Fee Schedule.