One of the most common questions I receive from my family and friends is what is the best trading platform for first time investors? When it comes to trading in the market, you have options on which platform you use. Because of these options it makes it overwhelming to make a decision of which one to use, who gets the best rates, and how easy it is to use. On top of all that you need to learn how to invest. I’ve been investing in the market for over 10 years and in the last few years remarkable new platforms make it easier than ever to invest in the stock market.
The one platform I recommend for first time investors to use when they start investing is M1 Finance. I started using M1 during March 2020 in the midst of the Stock Market crash due to Covid 19. As a fairly new user to the platform, I have been impressed with the features it offers and how easy it is to use. On top of that I’ve recommended it to my family and friends to sign up.
What features does M1 Finance trading platform offer?
You may be wondering what features does M1 offer that is so unique or why should I use this platform over the 100s of other trading platforms on the market? Today I’m going to share with you why I think M1 is a great trading platform if you’re a beginner and want to invest in the market and have no idea what to invest in!!
One of my favorite features is the M1 expert pies. I go into what the expert pies are in more details, but in short they are pies created by the M1 expert staff to help you invest and give recommendations based upon what your investment goals are
Although a lot of platforms offer Dividend Reinvestment, M1 does it automatically for you. Therefore, once your M1 finance account set up it will continue to reinvest the dividends in each pie for you. Plus the pies always remain perfectly balanced for you.
With M1 you can set up automatic weekly or monthly deposits for an amount you feel comfortable with. I always tell my friends who are new too investing, do 20 bucks a month or just something so you are investing in the market. Most people have the perception that when you invest in the market you have to do it in large amounts, but that is untrue.
One of the newest features when it comes to trading is fractional shares. Today, not every platform allows you to do fractional trading. The great news with M1 is that is allows for fractional trading. Meaning if you can’t afford to buy an entire share of Apple you can buy a fraction of a share.
In conclusion the best features M1 has to offer is the expert pies (which in my opinion this is the best feature they offer), automatic dividend reinvestment, austomaic deposits, and fractional shares.
Understanding the different Expert M1 Finance Pies
If you are unsure what to invest in, M1 makes it easy with the already built pies. You may be wondering what is an M1 pie? Well a M1 expert pie was created by the M1 expert team, and they are created to help you aid in your investing. What I like about these pies is it shows you the return over 1 year, 3 years and 5 years.
The pies are divided into 6 categories, these categories include: General Investing, Plan for Retirement, Responsible Investing, Income Earners, Hedge Fund Followers, Just Stocks & Bonds.
Once you determine the category you want to invest in, then simple click on it and add that to your pie. The great thing about M1 is that you don’t just have to have one thing in your pie, you can have multiple things and choose the percentage you want. For example, you can have a retirement piece of the pie and follow a hedge fund piece of the pie.
The other cool thing is that if you want to create multiple pies you can do that under the same account. For example, if you want to put $1000 in this pie and $250 in another pie you can do that.
On the flip side, if you don’t want to use an Expert M1 pie, you don’t have too.
Does M1 support retirement plans?
If you are like me and you want to make sure that the platform you choose has a retirement plan in place, or even allows you the option then M1 is perfect for you. Not only does M1 offer Retirement expert Pies, you can also have your IRA or ROTH in an M1 pie!
Cons to M1 Finance platforms
With every platform there are pros and cons. There are 2 big negatives for me when it comes to M1. The first is that the pies are not updated in real time (this is because it prevents impulse trading). The second negative with M1 is that if you change your pie, you completely sell your pie or piece of a pie. The system doesn’t recognize that sometimes expert pies overlap. When I first started using the platform I didn’t realize this was in place.
Does M1 Finance have a Sign up bonus?
One of my favorite things about joining a new trading platform, or even a new bank for that matter is the sign up bonuses you receive! For a limited time only, M1 is offering a great sign up bonus for new users.
| PLATFORM | FEES | PROMOTIONS | Account Minium |
| M1 FINANCE open account | $0 per trade | $50 for signing up!! | $100 |
The M1 referral code: https://m1.finance/cUZCrMslmGoo
As of August 2021, M1 is offering $50 to anyone who signs up! If you ask me this is a great deal. When I signed up I only received 10$ so they are really offering great benefits to those who sign up today!
Full disclaimer I also get 50 bucks if you sign up for the platform. We both get 50 bucks so it’s a win win (a few weeks ago it was only 20$ so now is a good time to take advantage of this offer)
Recap on why I think M1 Finance is the best trading platform for First Time investors
In conclusion, I strongly believe the best trading platform for first time investors who are unsure of what to invest in is M1. Not only do they offer Expert Pies that will be tailored to your risk tolerance as an investor, but it also shows you the previous returns that pie has had. For me, M1 removed the complicated part of investing. I always tell people when they are unsure of what to invest in the S&P 500 is always a safe bet