i am no expert, but i do have the M1.
So far its been as advertises. Let me add a few notes though.
1) it has been awesome for my marriage! i never worry about money or have to tell my wife to wait another day to go grocery shopping. frrankly, for point #1 alone, i love it.
2) as per #1 .. cash flow is no longer an issue. if we need something we have the money.
3) i rarely withdrawl cash from it. i use my CC for everything and pay it off at months end.
4) i dont stress if the phone bill is due 4 days before payday.
5) your cash flow increases greatly, but you have to be disciplined to not spend it.
6) you really get to focus on your debt level. do you really have $10,000 in an ING account when you have a $250,000 mortgage? if i need that $10k, i can get it anytime with M1 but at least while I am not needing it it is saving me interest (and not generating a measly taxable income).
in my case, i got rid of an RRSP loan, a trailer loan and a medium size CC payment and cut those payments almost in third.
ultimatly, i think once I get a better handle on how to manage it, i might shut it down (sorry slava). the reason? there are cheaper ways to get the same result. right now, you pay M1 a premium on the interest rate vs getting an ala carte HELOC and chequing account. The M1 interest rate is prime, usually a HELOC is prime - .5 or better.
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