I have been using M1 finance for a couple of years now. One thing that recently became an issue recently is the inability to implement tax loss harvesting strategies using the platform. I also anticipate using tax gain harvesting as well in the future. I'm considering moving to one of the big three brokerages (Vanguard, Fidelity or Schwab). I'm wondering if anyone else using M1 shares these concerns and how others have thought about this? Thanks!
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Replies (5)
John Davidson
3 months ago
I love pies for auto rebalance but it is a limitation for loss and/or gain harvesting. If you export the tax lots you can sort by lots so your looking at the losses. Turn off auto, drill into "Holdings" and sell what about of the loss. Not, you need to shift your pie size to not buy more creating a wash. If it's a gain, you have to put in a ticket and ask to sell a lot(s) and it takes a bit but they should do it.
annad
19 XP1 year ago
I use both M1 Finance and Vanguard (long boring story) and have been thinking about consolidating to Vanguard to have more control over which lots to sell when. I'm paying cash for a property and will begin to liquidate assets to cover living expenses. But then I looked at the margin loans available at M1 and decided against consolidation of my taxable brokerage accounts. Short story - I think M1 and the other three all have pros and cons, none of which are strong enough for me to consolidate to just one. I understand your desire to make a change for tax loss harvesting but I also think you can get a similar result within M1 by adjusting your pie.
friedmag
483 XP1 year ago
I've thought about it, and I wouldn't do it. I'm currently using SoFi for my DCA because of their 1% bonus... and I'm rapidly reaching the conclusion that it's not worth it. To me, tax loss harvesting is similar. It's a small benefit that is quite easily outweighed by the simplicity that M1 offers. Especially if you're considering doing it manually at one of the big three - that's a lot of work, and potential risk of screwing it up. I would at least consider a Betterment or something that does it for you for a fee - if you think the benefits outweigh the fee. If you don't, it's just not worth it at all.
Keep in mind also M1 sells in a tax-conscious way as it is. So if you really wanted to, you could always sell some portion of your portfolio - sit on it 30 days (which of course has risks of missing the best days) - and then put it back in. Or you could have a secondary, non-overlapping pie (separate account) that you just shift the money to for 30+ days. That's rather tempting... only fault I see is that since it will attempt to rebalance with the sale, it will prefer selling your winners rather than overall losers. Though even your winners might have losing lots - especially looking at this in the context of a likely overall market decline, rather than just an annual strategy.
bhrisoulis
110 XP1 year ago
Thanks for the thoughtful response. I didn't consider how M1 sells shares of a pie. My biggest reason is anticipating tax gain harvesting in the future. I want to take full advantage of the 0% LTCG rates to increase my basis over time.