Interview with Brian Barnes- Founder and CEO of M1 Finance

[@jamesmags]

Thank you for putting M1 pies on the foundation website! I just learned about small cap value last week. Two days ago I added your Worldwide 50/50 Small Cap pie to my portfolio. It was a very slick process and only took a few mouse clicks. I am primarily an income investor, so these small cap positions will add some solid diversification.

[@ld5714]

This was a good interview with Brian and I learned a lot. I'm going to try to find the other video that Chris referred to that you made about short while ago. Thanks for sharing this.

[@kdkragt]

That $3 a month fee (for accounts under $10k) ticked me off at first. However, by saving to my Roth AND putting my extra cash into the saving account, I got to above that threshold in about 12 months. I will make up for the $36 in my savings account rather quickly.

[@Username_CC_]

I'm worried it will go up, but I was at that point early on too.

[@xaldath4265]

I fully believe Brian when he says the purpose of that $3 is to just break even on the accounts that quite honestly just don't bring in much revenue from traditional use. From a user and lifelong investor perspective, $36/year is pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but can be *just* enough to encourage getting your finances to a point where they start to give some peace of mind. It's not financial independence by any means, but $10k is enough to change how you look at your financial situation and I think it's *very* achievable for pretty much anyone with even a sliver of discipline. And not to belittle anyone who is either just starting out or on hard times, but if you can't get to $10k saved+invested because of $3/month there are some personal finance issues that need to be addressed before investing gets more focus.

[@kdkragt]

@@xaldath4265 You are not wrong, but I worry more about my 21 yo daughter who just started a Roth by scrapping together $500. She just graduated from college. $10k is going to take her MANY years (find a full-time job, pay off student loans, find and pay for a place to live, etc.....).

[@michaelswami]

Can I say this was just a wonderful amount of time to spend thank you guys so much.

[@michaelswami]

To paraphrase Bum Phillips, there’s two kinds of traders, them that’s broke and them that’s gonna be broke.

[@70qq]

🤘

[@xaldath4265]

It seems Chris, Paul, Brian and I all share similar thoughts on the M1 Finance negatives. They mostly come from people who want to be *traders*, not so much from the B&H passive investor.

[@johnjoe_247]

I had an Ultimate buy and hold in M1 Finance based on your suggestions, but i closed it and moved my money to Fidelity once M1 Finance started charging an account fee.

[@danielturner8798]

Makes sense until you have $10k to invest. I’d already rolled over more than that, so it didn’t impact me!

[@johnjoe_247]

@@danielturner8798 it will be all good until they decide to change their policy again

[@Username_CC_]

You don't have 10 grand?

[@xaldath4265]

I don't want to come off as insulting, but if $36/year is enough to ruin your portfolio, then the $36 isn't actually your problem. Maybe you just need some time to get to $10k, but I strongly suggest focusing on the more impactful decisions in your life, like the $3 difference between coffee from home or SBUX on your way to work. Yes, that last bit was a bit tongue in cheek, but I really do think you're missing the forest for the trees by using the $3 fee as justification for the move.

[@xaldath4265]

I bet you could even earn the entire year worth of fees in less time it took to set up your Fidelity account and make the transfer, which probably cost more than the account fees, ironically.