M1 Finance is a free investing app that I highly recommend. It’s my current favorite investing app and one that is great for anyone looking to start investing and that wants to make sure they’re doing it correctly. M1 Finance is also currently offering a $100 referral bonus if you sign up using a referral link. To earn your M1 Finance referral bonus, you have to do the following:
- Open an M1 Finance account using a referral link (here is my referral link). You can open either a taxable brokerage account or a retirement account such as an IRA or Roth IRA. I recommend opening a taxable M1 Finance brokerage account, as it will make earning the bonus easier.
- Fund your account with at least $5,000.
- Leave the $5,000 in your account for at least 30 days.
- You’ll receive your $100 bonus 7-14 business days after meeting these requirements. Note that you’ll need to have a taxable M1 Finance brokerage account to get the bonus (M1 Finance can’t put money into a tax-advantaged account like an IRA or Roth IRA).
In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly what you need to do to earn your M1 Finance referral bonus and give you my thoughts as to why I think M1 Finance is an investing platform that’s worth using.
One important thing to know is that you do not have to invest the funds that you deposit into your M1 Finance account to be eligible for the referral bonus. Accordingly, if you only want to get the bonus and don’t actually want to use M1 Finance, your best bet is to open a taxable account, fund it with $5,000, and then leave it in your account in cash for 30 days. We’ll talk about this more later in this post.
What Is M1 Finance?
M1 Finance is an investing app that offers taxable investment accounts, as well as tax-advantaged retirement accounts in the form of IRAs, Roth IRAs, and SEP IRAs. The app is what you could call a roboadvisor. Rather than manually choosing each investment, M1 Finance instead uses a pie-based interface. When you invest, you select your pie and M1 Finance will automatically distribute your contributions in the percentages you’ve set up in your pies.
There are two ways to create a pie. You can either create your own custom pie or you can use M1 Finance’s expert pies. I generally recommend using M1 Finance’s expert pies if you aren’t exactly sure what you’re doing or if you aren’t comfortable creating your own pie. Even if you create your own pie, remember that when it comes to investing, simpler is often better.
M1 Finance has a lot of expert pies. For example, under general investing, you can pick your investment pie based on how aggressive or conservative you want to be. Each pie consists of low-cost Vanguard index fund ETFs, which are empirically one of the best ways to invest.
I like to keep things simple when I invest, so my pie consists of a single investment, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI). This is a highly diversified index ETF that invests in every publicly traded company in the United States. Since I’m young and still have a long investing horizon, it’s fine for me to invest in this single ETF.
What makes M1 Finance unique among roboadvisors is that they charge no management fees of any kind. Other roboadvisors such as Betterment or Wealthfront typically charge a management fee of 0.25%. This makes M1 Finance one of the only free roboadvisors currently on the market.
M1 Finance Referral Bonus Step-By-Step Directions
M1 Finance is an excellent option if you’re looking to invest in either a taxable account or a tax-advantaged retirement account. I invest directly with Vanguard when it comes to my Roth IRA, but I use M1 Finance as a taxable account that I contribute to every month.
Even if you have no interest in investing using M1 Finance, it can still be worth opening an M1 Finance account simply to collect the referral bonus. Importantly, M1 Finance has no fees, so you can easily open an account, earn your bonus, then take your money out. In addition, earning the M1 Finance referral bonus does not require you to actually invest your money once you contribute to your account. If you want, you can simply opt not to create an investment pie and leave your money as cash.
That said, here are the step-by-step directions you can follow to earn your M1 Finance referral bonus:
1. Open An M1 Finance Account Using A Referral Link. To earn your $100 M1 Finance Referral bonus, first open an M1 Finance account using a referral link. Here is my M1 Finance referral link. I recommend opening an Individual Investing account, as shown below.
2. Fund Your Account With $5,000 Or More. Next, deposit $5,000 or more into your new M1 Finance account. Remember that you do not have to actually invest the money you put into the account. You can simply opt not to create a pie. Your money will then sit as cash in your account, which you can then withdraw later without any risk of loss.
3. Leave $5,000 In Your M1 Finance Account For 30 Days. The referral bonus terms require you to leave at least $5,000 in your M1 Finance account for 30 days. I recommend setting a calendar reminder 30 days into the future so you remember to check your account.
4. Your Bonus Will Post 7-14 Business Days After Meeting The Above Requirements. If you left $5,000 or more in your M1 Finance account, your bonus will post within 7-14 business days after the 30 days have passed. In my experience, the bonus usually posts sooner than that, but the terms do state it will take 7-14 business days.
Refer Your Friends For Additional Bonuses
M1 Finance also allows you to refer your friends and family members, which means you can earn more money by referring people that you know. You can find your referral link in the settings section of the app.
The referral bonus is normally $10, but occasionally, M1 Finance increases the referral bonus to higher amounts. There’s no way to predict when the referral bonus will increase or decrease, unfortunately. If you’re reading this and the referral bonus is more than $10, I’d recommend jumping on it right away. Whether or not it’s worth waiting for a potentially larger bonus is up to you – just be aware you might be waiting a while if you do wait for a higher bonus.
If you want to earn additional referral bonuses, consider sending your friends and family your M1 Finance link and walking them through the process. You can even copy and paste the directions in this post if you’d like.
Final Thoughts
M1 Finance is an excellent investing app that I personally use. It’s especially good for beginning investors who want to make sure their investments are properly diversified and that they have an appropriate asset allocation.
What makes M1 Finance particularly good is its fees. They charge no management fees and all of their investment options are low-cost, index ETFs from Vanguard. There’s really no downside to M1 Finance, in my opinion.
The fact that you can earn a referral bonus for opening an M1 Finance account is the cherry on top that makes M1 Finance, in my opinion, the best roboadvisor and best investing app out there.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
- GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
- Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks, $100 cash reward, 1 stock of Tesla or Google) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 3 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (24 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 24 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- GO2Bank ($100) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $100 referral bonus.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($750) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Fifth Third Bank ($225) – This offer is limited to customers in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and South Carolina. If you don’t live in one of those states, you won’t be able to open an account online but you can still open an account in-branch if you happen to be visiting a city that has a branch. This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, especially since there are plenty of data points showing what will trigger the direct deposit requirement. In addition, you can open the Fifth Third Momentum Checking bank account, which comes with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Read my guide on this bonus here.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($100) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Netspend ($40 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $40 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $40 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link.Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($20) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($35) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $35 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $750 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- DCU. Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a savings account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
I”m in. Opened account today and did the $100 deposit….I think this is about my third referral for you. 🙂
Can I make a plea for the community? I’m underemployed so I’m trying to get Likes and Subscribes on my channel that has mostly tech stuff on it:
https://www.youtube.com/c/RobertBullock/videos
Hope to monetize it soon.
Electric cars, computers, solar, etc. are current subjects.
Thanks,
rob
Never got my $50. 🙁
I clicked on the link, but the site says “There’s $10 waiting for you! Just sign up and fund your free M1 account.” Has the bonus been reduced?