• 100,000 bonus miles (equal to $1,000 in travel including vacation rentals) once you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months after account opening. (OR still earn 50,000 miles if you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.)
• Flat 2X miles on ALL purchases.
• Up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
• Redeem on travel-from vacation rentals to car rentals and more. Plus transfer your miles to over 10+ travel loyalty programs.
• Miles won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how many you can earn.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• $95 annual fee.

This means that if you average $1,700 in purchases per month on this card over a year, you’ll end up with 40,800 miles from purchases, plus another 100,000 miles, for a total of 140,800 Capital One miles, which can offset $1,408 worth of travel purchases charged onto the card (AirBnB, car rentals, hotels flights, etc).

Redemption details. Capital One “miles” can be redeemed directly for a cash statement credit on a 1 mile = $0.01 basis when offsetting any travel purchase made on the card within the past 90 days. In other words, 50,000 miles = $500 toward travel. That means you can fly on any airline or stay at any hotel, pay with this card, and then “erase” that purchase using your miles balance later. This even includes AirBNB vacation rentals, car rentals, and Uber rides.

This means that earning 2 miles on on every $1 in purchases essentially makes this a 2% back card when applied towards travel. You can also book travel through their travel portal (powered by Orbtiz), similar to Chase Ultimate Rewards, but you are not required to do so. You just charge travel directly on your card, which is more flexible.

New: Miles transfer options. Capital One now allows you to transfer your “miles” into select airline miles programs as well, on a 2:1.5 ratio (ex. 20,000 Capital One miles = 15,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles) except where indicated. Here are the transfer partners:

• Aeromexico
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France/KLM
• Alitalia
• ALL Accor Live Limitless
• Avianca
• Cathay Pacific
• Emirates (2:1)
• Etihad
• EVA
• Finnair
• JetBlue TrueBlue (2:1)
• Qantas
• Singapore Airlines Krisflyer (2:1)
• Wyndham Rewards

The bolded ones are my favorite. I would use these to top off an account to reach a specific award level. If you know how to leverage one of these international airline miles programs, this can be a good option, but it’s still nice to have the worst-case scenario of effectively earning 2% back towards travel.

Bottom line. The Capital One Venture Rewards credit card earns 2x miles on all purchases, which you can either redeem against any travel purchase or transfer to one of their airline/hotel partners. Right now, there is an offer of up to 100,000 bonus miles, worth $1,000 towards travel.

Due to the $900+ first-year value, I will be adding this card to my list of Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: 2X Miles + 100,000 Miles Limited-Time Offer from My Money Blog.

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Effective preparedness can be simple, but it has to be rooted in an honest and systematic review of the risks you are likely to face. Plenty of excited newcomers begin by shopping for ballistic vests and night vision goggles; they would be better served by grabbing a fire extinguisher, some bottled water, and then putting the rest of their money in a rainy-day fund.

[…] I also found that to come up with a rational threat model, we need to think of “risk” as a product of both the probability and the consequences of a given event. By that metric, stubbed toes and zombie outbreaks are equally uninteresting; one of them has nearly zero significance, the other, nearly zero odds.

Strangely enough, my favorite part might have been the section on getting in shape and losing weight, as it very closely matched my own experiences and opinions on the topic. But since this is my money blog, I’ll talk about the personal finance aspects. If you’re going to build a resilient lifestyle, you’ll need some assets and figure out how to protect them.

Good ole’ emergency fund. The most likely “disaster” you’ll face is probably unemployment. Forget retiring at age 30, you’re just trying to survive having no income (or a severe cut) for 6 months. If you can figure out how to build a stash of 6 months of living expenses, you’ll already be way ahead of most people and have a rough blueprint for eventual financial freedom anyway.

Cash. You should be prepared to not have access to banks or ATMs for a short period of time. It could be a huge systemic crisis, or you might simply have a bad case of identity theft. Cash is still mighty handy for anything other than an extremely severe event – although it might be good to smaller bills.

For short-term survival, simple solutions work best: just keep about 2-4 weeks’ worth of cash somewhere at hand; have enough money on you to get you back home when traveling, too. Of course, be mindful of the risk of burglary, so if you’re keeping the funds at home, pick an unobvious location for the stash; more about that soon.

Break-ins are difficult to prevent, especially in suburban single-family homes with secluded backyards and street-level windows and doors; tall fences and window bars can work, but they are expensive and tend to draw the ire of your neighbors. The most cost-effective solution may be to keep your windows and doors closed when away, but beyond that, just optimize for hassle-free outcomes. You can leave some less important goodies in plain sight – say, some cheap jewelry, a modest amount of cash, and a beat-up phone – and put all the real valuables in a much less obvious or less accessible spot. A heavy safe will usually do; diversion safes fashioned into books, cans or clocks are pretty cool, too – if you trust yourself not to accidentally throw them away.

Banking. The author suggests splitting your money between two unrelated banks. This practice could easily extend to your brokerage accounts.

As for the remainder of your money, I suggest splitting it across two largely unrelated financial institutions with different risk profiles – say, a big national bank and a local credit union.

Gold. Before you follow the safety box suggestion, know that banks aren’t responsible if they lose the contents of safe deposit boxes. Serious preppers recommend paying for a reputable, international vault to store your gold – I imagine it to be dug deep into the mountains of Switzerland – but as noted that is expensive and reserved for those with a high net worth.

Because of its very high value-to-volume ratio, physical gold is stored and moved around very easily, but keeping substantial amounts at home can be ill-advised; theft is a very real risk, and most insurance policies will not adequately cover the loss. Safe deposit boxes at a local bank, available for around $20 a year, are usually a better alternative – although they come with some trade-offs; for example, the access to deposit boxes was restricted by the government during the Greek debt crisis in 2015. Non-bank storage services do not have that problem, but cost quite a bit more.

Bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies aren’t discussed at all, but they are meant to be independent of governments. If you put your keys into a hardware wallet, this is another store of value that could have an infinite “value-to-volume ratio” and possibly easier to move than gold or cash. Will Bitcoin be more or less valuable in a crisis? I don’t know. The answer also might change over time.

Stuff. Yes, yes, guns and ammo. But for the most likely scenarios the best thing you could have done was to take a bit of your money buy some everyday stuff: keeping your gas tank half full, keeping a full propane tank, packing a simple Go Bag with clothes/first aid kit/energy bars/extra prescription medicine, a few crates of water, and so forth. Fire extinguishers, fire ladders, smoke and CO detectors in every room could be the best money you ever spent. You might also throw in a will and an advanced health directive.

Insurance. I was surprised that there wasn’t a more detailed discussion of insurance. If we’re talking real-world life-altering disasters, either getting hit by a car or hitting someone else with your car has got to be one of the more likely ones. Do you have adequate health insurance? disability insurance? auto (liability) insurance? homeowners? flood? earthquake/hurricane add-on? Don’t forget these 11 reasons to buy an umbrella liability insurance policy.

Bottom line. There are many simple things that you can do to make your life more resilient that doesn’t involve building your own underground bunker, and many of it meshes with basic personal finance advice. Here’s a nice ending line to keep things in perspective:

In the end, ladders, cars, and space heaters are a much greater threat to your well-being than a gun-toting robber or an army of zombie marauders could ever be.

Evidence-Based Doomsday Prepping and Personal Finance from My Money Blog.

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• The price of Bitcoin can vary a lot. It probably went up or down by a hundred dollars in the time you took to read this sentence.
• Stablecoin prices tend to vary less because they promise to be backed by a stable asset. USDT (Tether) and USDC (USD Coin) are both currently trading exactly at US$1.00, so it appears that the public believes this claim. However, US dollar stablecoins are not affiliated with the US government or any central bank.
• Brokers/exchanges where you can buy and sell these cryptocurrencies are not backed by government insurance. They are businesses – some will end up worth billions, some will get bought by a bigger competitor, and some will probably fail (likely because they were hacked). Even though they might be called “savings” or “interest” accounts, no cryptocurrency is held in an FDIC-insured bank, or even an SIPC-insured brokerage account. They will promise to keep your crypto safe and pay interest, but it is possible they may not live up to their end of the deal, AKA “counterparty risk”. Not every exchange is equal.
• This potential risk is a big reason that they have to pay you 6% annual interest in your Bitcoin and/or 9% annual interest in your USDC stablecoin.
• The result is two separate risks – the risk of the price of crypto itself, and counterparty risk of the place holding your crypto.

In the end, I agree with this part of the article (even with the mocking tone):

If you’re a risk-taker who relishes the ride when an asset soars and can laugh off the losses when it crashes, then maybe you should consider letting a broker borrow your cryptocurrency at a generous rate.

After all, if you aren’t troubled by the extraordinary volatility of virtual money, you might as well earn some interest on it.

I did buy some crypto a few years ago as a purely speculative investment and to promote my own learning. We are talking less than 1% of net worth, but it has become a 5-figure amount. I was very skeptical at first, but now I am partial to the theory that either BTC is worth zero, or it will eventually be worth at least on par with the market cap of gold (roughly $200,000). I accept that both scenarios are possible.

I bought Bitcoin using the Voyager app ($25 bonus, publicly-traded with $3 Billion market cap) and also opened an account with BlockFi ($200 bonus, just completed $350m Series D at $3B valuation). Both of these companies are worth well over a billion dollars and gone though various rounds of funding, which isn’t bulletproof but it means that smarter people than me have vetted their security protocols and business practices.

BlockFi pays me 6% interest on up to 2 BTC (8.6% on USDC) and Voyager pays 6.25% interest on BTC (9% on USDC). I reinvest the interest so that I own a little bit more BTC each month. However, I fully accept that I am getting paid this interest and getting the convenience of buying BTC with a few taps in exchange for the potential risk that they will go bust while losing all my BTC. There are other options like hardware wallets, but I am don’t want the inconvenience or to worry about forgetting my bitcoin passwords for my relatively small investment.

Bottom line. Sorry, you can’t earn a 9% “safe” interest rate on your cryptocurrency, even if it is a US-dollar backed stablecoin. At a minimum, you still have counterparty risk. This is a business lending out your assets, charging interest, and giving you a cut. They can go bust, and not all exchanges are the same. Perform your own due diligence when picking a broker/exchange to buy from. I picked what I think are among the safest, but it’s still risky.

Even though the interest rates are quite low, I keep my “safe” cash in FDIC-insured bank accounts and similar.

High-Yield Crypto Accounts: 6% Interest in Bitcoin or 9% Interest on Stablecoin from My Money Blog.

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Apart from the theoretically optimal, when do people actually start taking Social Security? Here is a chart from this Morningstar article (which otherwise includes a lot of speculation):

The three most popular times are:

• Age 62: As early as possible. Many people feel that they have little choice but to ask for the money the moment it is available. Some have health issues which change the odds against waiting. Some just want the bird in the hand now. Finally, this may be the mathematically optimal strategy for one member of a couple. Together, this makes ASAP the most popular choice by far.
• Age 66: “Full” retirement. Although there is nothing technically magical about the age 66, it is called “full retirement age” for people retiring in 2019. This is when you’ll get “100%” of your “full” benefits, and anything less is called a “benefit reduction” and anything more is called an “benefit increase”. I wonder if behavior would change if they changed their wording? They could, for example, also just call 62 the base age and call everything after that a benefit increase.
• Age 70: As late as possible. In order to decline “free” money from the government for 8 years, you must believe in your odds of having an average/above-average life expectancy and have enough financial assets to pay for your expenses during the wait. Less than 10% of people go this route. Your reward is a monthly benefit that is 33% higher than claiming at age 66, and 76% more than claiming at age 62. This increased income will also increase with inflation each year, and inflation-adjusted annuities are only sold by a few insurance companies and are quite expensive.

This matches my anecdotal experience from family and friends. Most people don’t consult a complicated calculator. They either take it as soon as they can for whatever reason, or they “follow the rules” and take it at the “full” retirement age. I’ll probably cough up the money for a calculator when the time comes.

The Most Popular Ages When People Actually Claim Social Security from My Money Blog.

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Chase Freedom Flex Card

From April 1st through June 30th, 2021 you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in the following categories:

• Gas stations (includes Fuel from Sam’s Club, BJs, Safeway, and Walmart)
• Home Improvement Stores

Enroll each quarter online in your Chase account or at ChaseBonus.com. As long as you activate by June 14th, the rewards are retroactive. Technically, you earn Ultimate Rewards points which can also be converted to airline miles or hotel points instead of cash if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Currently, the Chase Freedom Flex card is offering new applicants $200 if you sign up and make $500 in purchases in your first three months. No annual fee.

Discover it Card

From April 1st through June 30th, 2021 you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in the following categories:

• Gas Stations
• Wholesale Clubs
• Select Streaming Services (including Apple Music, Apple TV+, AT&T TV Now, BET+, CBS All Access, DAZN, Disney +, ESPN+, Fubo TV, Google Play Movies & TV, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Philo, Peacock TV, Showtime, Sirius XM, Starz, Sling, Spotify, Vudu, YouTube TV.)

Enroll after logging into your online account (look on the right-hand side). 5% rewards won’t apply until after you activate your rewards, so it is best to activate now before you forget. No annual fee.

New cardmember bonus details. If you are a new applicant and sign up via my Discover Card referral link, you will get a $50 Cashback Bonus after your first purchase within 3 months of being approved. You will also get Cashback Match for an entire year – a dollar-for-dollar match of all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year, automatically. During those 12 months, your 5% cash back rewards becomes 10% cash back, and your 1% cash back rewards become 2% cash back. You can verify this on the application by looking under “Terms and Conditions” or searching for “cashback match” and “statement credit offer”:

Cashback Match: We’ll match all the cash back rewards you’ve earned on your credit card from the day your new account is approved through your first 12 consecutive billing periods or 365 days, whichever is longer, and add it to your rewards account within two billing periods.

TERMS OF STATEMENT CREDIT OFFER: You will receive a $50 Statement Credit after making a purchase that posts to your account within three months of account opening. You must apply through your friend’s referral link and be approved by December 31, 2021 in order to be eligible for the $50 Statement Credit offer. Offer may not be combined with any other introductory offer. Promotional award will be applied within 8 weeks.

ABOC Platinum Rewards Card – $150 Statement Credit Offer

From April 1st through June 30th, 2021 you can earn 5x rewards on up to $1500 in combined purchases this quarter in the following categories:

• Home improvement
• Gardening and nurseries
• Home furnishing stores
• Costco.com, Target.com, Walmart.com
• See full list of eligible MCC codes on their site.

You must register each quarter at ABOCRewards.com or in your online account. Currently, the ABOC Platinum Rewards Mastercard is offering a $150 statement credit if you sign up and make $1,200 in purchases in your first 90 days. No foreign transaction fees. No annual fee.

U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card. You get to choose the two 5% cash back categories every quarter, out of a preset selection of specific categories:

• Fast Food
• Cell Phone Providers
• Home Utilities
• Ground Transportation
• Select Clothing Stores
• Electronics Stores
• Car Rentals
• Gyms/Fitness Centers
• Sporting Goods Stores
• Department Stores
• Furniture Stores
• Movie Theaters
• TV, Internet, and Streaming Services

Unfortunately, you can’t pick a broad category like gas stations, restaurants, or grocery stores. Make sure to choose your categories each quarter, even if you want them to stay the same. If you do not choose your categories, all purchases revert to only earning 1% cash back for that quarter. No annual fee.

American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card.

• 6% cash back at US supermarkets all year long (on up to $6,000 per year)
• 6% cash back at select US streaming subscriptions (includes Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Netflix, Sling, Vudu, Fubo TV, Apple Music, SiriusXM, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube TV, and more).
• 3% cash back at US gas stations and transit (taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more).

I use this card all year long for groceries, and then in December use up the $6k annual limit on gift cards bought in the supermarket aisle. New cardholders are also eligible for a $300 statement credit after $3,000 in purchases within the first 6 months. $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95. See details in link.

Amazon Prime Rewards Card. Earn 5% back at Amazon.com and Whole Foods all year long. Prime membership required. New cardholder bonus varies by person. No annual fee.

Citi Dividend Card. This card is no longer available to new applicants, but if you still have the grandfathered card you can view and activate your quarterly 5% category here. Limit of $300 cash back for the calendar year.

Don’t settle for the “1% on everything else” that these cards offer. Get 2% cash back or higher. Check out the card-specific reviews for details.

• Citi Double Cash Card Review. 2% cash back. No annual fee.
• Fidelity Rewards Visa Card Review. 2% cash back. Fidelity account required, but there is no minimum balance requirement. No annual fee.

5% Cash Back Cards: Gas Stations, Home Improvement, Wholesale Clubs, Streaming Services – April through June 2021 from My Money Blog.

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While it is understandable that most talk about “retirement planning” concerns money, a truly successful retirement requires more than that. Coincidentally, the same week I was pondering the Components of Happiness, I also stumbled upon a 6-year leanFIRE update from LivingaFI. It was a very honest and thoughtful story of someone who carefully planned and quit their job at age 37. I usually focus on my reason for financial indepedence as “spending my time as I wish”, but now I realize that it may help to specifically address certain areas regularly.

For your consideration, here are The Four Pillars of Retirement*:

• Money: You need enough money to pay for housing, transportation, food, healthcare, and everything sold at Walmart/Target/Amazon/Costco.
• Purpose: You need to feel that you are useful, moving forward, pursuing a goal, and/or making the world a tiny bit better.
• People: You need love. Love and social interaction from your life partner, children, family, friends, and/or animal companions.
• Health: You need to feel physically healthy, or be at peace with your level of health.

Imagine each pillar as one of the legs of a square table. We have to maintain and shore up any cracks before it gets serious. If you are lacking in any one of these pillars, your retirement gets wobbly. If any two are crumbling, that’s enough to make the entire thing tip over.

Most people say that they hate work, but working takes care of more than just the money pillar. In addition to income, work can provide a sense of purpose and self-worth, as well as a wide social circle. Some people just like having something fixed to build their routine around; they flounder with “nothing to do”. People often imagine retirement as a perpetual weekend – playing golf, eating out, travel, shopping, etc. – but it can get weird when all your friends are still working. Here is a WSJ article on how leaving work can put a lot of strain on couples.

It can be difficult to get out of the “I must be busy and productive” mindset. When you retire, use the opportunity to sit in the quiet and ponder what is most important to you. Choose your hard thing.

Finally, even if you have done all you can to be prepared, life still happens. The author of LivingaFi had nearly $1 million in assets, reasonable expenses, a committed life partner with a similar level of assets, lots of outside interests, and good health. This is not judgment, but a scary reminder for all of us: jobs, bull markets, relationships and good health can all end faster than you think. Your actions matter, but luck matters too. For example, the Social Security Administration says that a 20-year-old worker has a 1-in-4 chance of being disabled before retirement age. (Where available, we should buy adequate life, health, and disability insurance.)

My biggest blind spot was that if you have children, any one of them may also develop a health condition or other special needs that may require additional financial support indefinitely. I really didn’t appreciate the hidden struggles that so many families go through that is no fault of their own. I also didn’t fully appreciate how lucky I was to not have to deal with any of these things while growing up as a kid.

If you accept that luck matters in your investments, then the optimal choice might be to retire earlier with a more modest amount so that if things go well, you get more retirement years, but if things go badly, then you fall back on some part-time back-up work. Being willing to be flexible can pay off. You have to balance your odds of running out of money with the odds of running out of time.

On the other hand, if you are a high-earner, it might be better to work “One More Year” while you work on planning for the other pillars. Finding a new purpose, finding new friends, finding a new routine, it can be quite difficult. Looking back, I am thankful that we did not attempt to retire early and instead adjusted our hours (and income) downward while still keeping our foothold in the workforce. I’m still working on these pillars myself, but our middle path has worked well for us.

(* A nod to the classic The Four Pillars of Investing, one of the first investing books I ever read and reviewed here way back in 2004.)

Four Pillars of Retirement: Money, Purpose, People, and Health from My Money Blog.

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• Added Venture 100k/$1,000, Sapphire 80k/$1000, Delta 70k, Hilton 100k + $100 w/ no annual fee, Hawaiian 60k, Amex Rose Gold 60k+, Sapphire Preferred+.
• Removed Southwest w/ Companion Pass, JetBlue 60k, Hyatt 50k, United 70k, Freedom Flex Grocery offer, Barclays AA, Marriott 5 Free Nights.

This is a companion post to my Top 10 Best Business Card Offers. Small business bonuses are on average even higher than those on consumer cards.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

• 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points (highest ever, worth $1,000 minimum towards travel and more) after $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Up to 25% boost in Ultimate Rewards redemptions. See link for details.
• + Up to $50 in statement credits towards grocery store purchases. Just spend $50 at any grocery store in your first year after opening, and get $50 in statement credits.
• Pay Yourself Back: 80k points = $1,000 back on dining, groceries, and home improvement through 9/30/21.
• 2X points on Travel and Dining at restaurants worldwide.
• $95 annual fee.
• Subject to 5/24 rule.
• Alternative: Chase Sapphire Reserve Card. 60k bonus worth $900 towards UR travel. Up to 50% boost on Ultimate Rewards redemptions, 3X on Travel and Dining, Priority Pass airport lounge access, $550 annual fee, $300 annual travel credit.

Capital One® Venture® Rewards Card

• 100,000 miles (worth $1,000 towards travel) after $20,000 in purchases within the first 12 months. See link for details.
• 2X miles on ALL purchases..
• Up to $100 credit towards TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee.
• $95 annual fee.

Gold Delta Skymiles Card from American Express

• 70,000 Delta Skymiles after $2,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. Limited-time offer expires 04/28/2021. See link for details.
• 70,000 Skymiles are worth at least $700 in Delta airfare with “Pay with Miles” option.
• First checked bag free on Delta flights ($60 value per roundtrip, per person).
• $0 annual fee for the first year, then $99.

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card

• 150,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after $2,000 in purchases within first 3 months. Limited-time offer. See link for details.
• Additional $150 statement credit after first purchase of any amount within first 3 months.
• Weekend Night Reward certificate after you spend $15,000 in purchases in a calendar year.
• $95 annual fee.
• You can also get 100,000 points + $100 for their no annual fee version.

American Express® Rose Gold Card

• 60,000 Membership Rewards points after $4,000 in purchases in first 6 months. Limited-time offer. See link for details.
• $120 in Uber Cash annually (good towards Uber Eats or Uber rides in the US).
• $120 in annual dining credit at Grubhub, Seamless, and more.
• 4X points at at restaurants worldwide.
• 4X points at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 per year.
• $250 annual fee.

The Platinum Card from American Express

• 75,000 Membership Rewards points after $5,000 in purchases in first 6 months. See link for details.
• 10X Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at U.S. Gas Stations and U.S. Supermarkets, on up to $15,000 in combined purchases, during your first 6 months of Card Membership. That’s up to another 150,000 points!
• $200 in Uber/Uber Eats credits annually.
• 5X Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel. Starting January 1, 2021, earn 5X points on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year.
• Best airport lounge access program including Delta SkyClub and exclusive Centurion lounges.
• $550 annual fee.

IHG Rewards Club Premier Card

• 140,000 IHG Rewards club points after $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. See link for details.
• Free Night after each account anniversary year (valued up to 40,000 IHG points).
• $89 annual fee.
• Subject to 5/24 rule.
• Want something lower risk? The no-annual fee Traveler version is now at 60,000 IHG points.

Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Mastercard

• 60,000 American Airlines miles after $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details.
• First checked bag free on domestic AA flights ($60 value per roundtrip, per person).
• $0 annual fee for the first year, then $99.

Citi Premier Card

• 60,000 points (worth $750 towards travel booked at ThankYou.com) after $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details.
• 3X points for every $1 spent on travel including gas stations.
• Must not have gotten bonus from or closed a Citi Rewards+, ThankYou Preferred, Premier, or Prestige card in the past 24 months.
• $95 annual fee.

Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

• 50,000 points (worth $500 towards travel) after $3,000 in purchases within the first 90 days. See link for details.
• 2 points for every $1 spent on travel and dining purchases and 1.5 points for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
• $100 annual Airline Incidental Statement Credit.
• Up to $100 credit towards TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee.
• $95 annual fee.

Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard

• 60,000 Hawaiian miles after $2,000 in purchases within 90 days. See link for details.
• Free first checked bag for primary cardmember when using your card to purchase eligible tickets directly from Hawaiian Airlines.
• Receive a one-time 50% off companion discount for roundtrip coach travel between Hawaii and The Mainland on Hawaiian Airlines.
• $99 annual fee.

U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card

• 50,000 bonus points ($750 value towards airfare) after $4,500 in purchases within 90 days. See link for details.
• $325 in annual statement credits towards travel and takeout, food delivery and dining purchases per Cardmember year (based on account opening date)
• Up to $100 statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
• Priority Pass Select membership for airport lounge access.
• $400 annual fee. (Bigger bonus, big annual fee.)

If you pay off your balances every month, then you can join me and many others in funding a huge chunk of your annual travel budget with cash credits, points, and miles. I mostly use my rewards points on domestic economy flights, mid-range hotels, and cheap car rentals. If you have credit card debt, you should focus on paying that off first as the interest charges could offset most of the perks.

Note: Certain Chase cards have a “5/24 rule” which is an unofficial rule that they will automatically deny approval on new credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit cards from any issuer on your credit report within the past 2 years. This rule applies on a per-person basis, so if you are new, you might want to start with those Chase cards.

Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers – March 2021 (Updated) from My Money Blog.

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New limited-time bonus worth $1,000+! The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is a premium travel rewards credit card that has gotten very popular due to its rewards structure and valuable Ultimate Rewards points. The card earns points that can be redeemed for cash, travel credits, or transferred to airline miles. If you don’t have it yet, the current limited-time offer is the best offer I’ve ever seen. Here are the highlights:

• 60,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points after $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. This is worth $1,000 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards towards travel and other categories (including grocery and dining through 9/30/21).
• New: Up to $50 in statement credits towards grocery store purchases. Just spend $50 at any grocery store using your card in your first year after opening, and get $50 in statement credits. Easy.
• 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Again, that means 80,000 points are worth $1,000 toward travel. No blackout dates. As long as there’s a seat on the flight, you can book it through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
• 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide, eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out. 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
• New: 2X points on up to $1,000 in grocery store purchases per month from November 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021. Includes eligible pick-up and delivery services.
• Free year of DoorDash DashPass. Get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12 for a minimum of one year on qualifying food purchases with DashPass, DoorDash’s subscription service. Activate by 12/31/21. If you are new customer to DoorDash and sign up via my DoorDash referral link, you will get $10 off your first 3 DoorDash orders over $20 ($30 total savings). I will get food credits as well. Thanks if you use it!
• Earn 5X points on Lyft rides through March 2022. That’s 3X points in addition to the 2X points you already earn on travel.
• New: $60 in statement credits on Peloton Digital and All-Access Memberships through 12/31/2021.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs.
• $95 annual fee.

New “Pay Yourself Back” Tool. Chase has added a number of new flexible benefits to this card on a temporary basis to compensate for the effects of COVID-19. This includes the ability to redeem your Ultimate Rewards points towards grocery store, dining out, and home improvement purchases through September 30, 2021. Look for the “Pay Yourself Back” tool in your online account and/or Chase app.

Note the following text:

The product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 48 months.

Chase has an unofficial rule that they will automatically deny approval on new credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit cards from any issuer on your credit report within the past 2 years (aka the 5/24 rule). This rule is designed to discourage folks that apply for high numbers of sign-up bonuses. This rule applies on a per-person basis, so in our household one applies to Chase while the other applies at other card issuers.

Ultimate Rewards points. This card offers a special 25% bonus on travel redemptions made through the Ultimate Rewards travel website. For example, 60,000 Ultimate Rewards = $750 in travel. Similar to Expedia or Travelocity, you can book flights on most major airlines and hotel chains. This makes it much more flexible to spend your points. You can even buy something more expensive and pay the difference.

If you have other Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points like the Freedom Flex, Freedom Unlimited, Ink Business Cash or Ink Business Unlimited, you can transfer points into this card account and take advantage of the this higher premium. In other words, your existing Ultimate Rewards points balance could be increased in value by getting this card.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve Card is the “ultra-premium” rewards card that offers a bigger 50% bonus on travel redemptions, along with more perks and a higher annual fee.

Prefer airline and/or hotel points? This card also allows you to transfer Ultimate Rewards points into hotel and/or airline miles. Transfer to United Airlines, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, Southwest, Hyatt Hotels, IHG Hotels, and Marriott Hotels at a ratio of 1 Ultimate Rewards point = 1 mile/hotel point. Miles redemption continue to offer great value for savvy travelers, especially for last-minute travel and business class seats. I personally use the transfers to “top off” my account to reach a free coach ticket or free hotel night when I don’t have enough points otherwise. My favorite options are United miles, Southwest miles, and Hyatt hotel points. In this manner, I can often get close to 2 cents per point value.

Cash redemptions are a simple and easy option, but the conversion is a straight 100 points = $1.

Sharing points. Ultimate Rewards points are instantly transferable to other accounts like family members, as long as they have their own Chase card with Ultimate Rewards as an authorized user. This way, you can pool points together for transfers and redemptions if you like.

Additional card benefits:

• Premium, dedicated customer service line with a live person, 24/7. A real person picks up after a couple rings, no phone trees or typing those darn 16 digits over and over. You can use this feature to redeem cash rewards over the phone for free, although booking rewards tickets over the phone costs $20 (doing so online is free).
• Primary car rental collision damage waiver insurance. Decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card. Coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to $75,000 for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad. Most other cards only offer secondary coverage that kicks in only after the deductible of your individual insurance policy is used.
• Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance. If your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.
• Trip Delay Reimbursement. If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 6 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket

Bottom line. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is a popular premium travel rewards card. The sign-up bonus is currently 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points worth 80,000 United miles, 80,000 Hyatt points, or $1,000 towards travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal or in select categories via their Pay Yourself Back tool. The 2X points on travel and dining out is attractive (although the new Freedom Flex now offers 3X on dining out).

You can only get one Sapphire bonus every 48 months, so compare with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, which offers a bigger 50% bonus on travel redemptions, along with more perks and a higher annual fee.

This offer is on my list of Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: 80,000 Bonus Points = $1,000 In Travel + $50 Grocery Store Credit (Highest Ever) from My Money Blog.

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Improved 60k offer worth $900 through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Chase has updated their “ultra-premium” credit card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, which has headline features of Visa Infinite benefits, 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points sign-up bonus, $300 annual travel credit, 3X points on travel and dining, and a $550 annual fee. Here is the long list of perks:

• 60,000 Bonus Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. That can be redeemed for $900 of airfare, hotels, and other travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Through 9/30/21, you can also redeem for $900 towards groceries, dining, and home improvement via the Pay Yourself Back tool.
• $300 annual travel credit. Every year, the card will rebate you back up to $300 in travel purchases such as airfare and hotel nights charged on your card. Through December 31, 2021, gas station & grocery store purchases will also count towards earning your Travel Credit.
• Up to $100 statement credit towards Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
• Priority Pass Select membership. Provides free access to 1,000+ airport lounges in over 400 cities worldwide.
• 3X points per $1 spent on travel & dining worldwide. The 3X points on travel kick in immediately after earning your $300 travel credit. 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• Free year of DoorDash DashPass. Get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12 for a minimum of one year on qualifying food purchases with DashPass, DoorDash’s subscription service. Activate by 12/31/21. If you are new customer to DoorDash and sign up via my DoorDash referral link, you will get $10 off your first 3 DoorDash orders over $20 ($30 total savings). I will get food credits as well. Thanks if you use it!
• Free year Lyft Pink membership + 10x points on Lyft purchases through March 2022. Lyft Pink usually costs $19.99 a month and includes 15% off Lyft rides, 3 complimentary bike and scooter rides a month, and priority airport pickups.
• Free Grubhub+ membership is now included with the Lyft Pink membership above. Details here. If you have not joined Grubhub yet, you can also get $10 off your first Grubhub order if you join via my referral link. I will get food credits as well. Thanks if you use it!
• $120 in statement credits on Peloton Digital and All-Access Memberships through 12/31/2021.
• 1:1 points transfer to various frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs.
• Annual fee is $550, not waived the first year.

Note the following text:

This product is available to you if you do not have any Sapphire card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for any Sapphire card in the past 48 months.

Ultimate Rewards points. This card offers a special 50% bonus on travel redemptions made through the Ultimate Rewards travel website. That is more than any other Chase card (a 25% bonus is the most otherwise). 50,000 Ultimate Rewards = $750 in travel. Similar to Expedia or Travelocity, you can book flights on most major airlines and hotel chains. This makes it much more flexible to spend your points. You can even buy something more expensive and pay the difference.

If you have other Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points like the Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Ink Business Cash or Ink Business Unlimited, you can transfer points into this card account and take advantage of the this higher premium. In other words, your existing Ultimate Rewards points balance could be increased in value by getting this card.

Prefer airline and/or hotel points? This card also allows you to transfer Ultimate Rewards points into hotel and/or airline miles. Transfer to United Airlines, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, Southwest, Hyatt Hotels, IHG Hotels, and Marriott Hotels at a ratio of 1 Ultimate Rewards point = 1 mile/hotel point. Miles redemption continue to offer great value for savvy travelers, especially for last-minute travel and business class seats.

Cash redemptions are a simple and easy option, but the conversion is a straight 100 points = $1.

Sharing points. Ultimate Rewards points are instantly transferable to other accounts like family members, as long as they have their own Chase card with Ultimate Rewards as an authorized user (free with Chase Freedom). This way, you can pool points together for transfers and redemptions if you like.

Additional card benefits:

• Dedicated customer service line with a live person that answers the phone 24/7. No waiting or complicated phone trees.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Primary car rental collision damage waiver insurance. Decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card. Coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to $75,000 for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad. Most other cards only offer secondary coverage that kicks in only after the deductible of your individual insurance policy is used.
• Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance. If your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.
• Trip Delay Reimbursement. If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 6 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket
• Enjoy special car rental privileges from National Car Rental, Avis, and Silvercar when you book with your card.

Note that Chase has an unofficial rule that they will automatically deny approval on new credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit cards from any issuer on your credit report within the past 2 years (aka the 5/24 rule). This rule is designed to discourage folks that apply for high numbers of sign-up bonuses. This rule applies on a per-person basis, so in our household one applies to Chase while the other applies at other card issuers.

As for the $300 annual travel credit, “annually” means the year beginning with your account open date through the first December statement date of that same year, and each 12 billing cycles starting after your December statement date through the following December statement date. So it’s not exactly by calendar year, but roughly close and you can likely get this twice under the first year’s annual fee.

Bottom line. The Chase Sapphire Reserve Card has an improved 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points sign-up bonus, 50% boost to all your redemptions of Ultimate Rewards points, $300 annual travel credit, 3X points on Dining/Travel, Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership, up to $100 Global Entry application credit, Lyft perks, DoorDash perks, $120 in Peloton credits, and more… in exchange for a $550 annual fee. You should compare against that of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, which has less perks but also a lower annual fee.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Review: 60k Points Worth $900 in Travel, $300 Annual Credit, New Lyft/DoorDash Perks from My Money Blog.

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If you want simplicity, the best rewards card for most people that pay their balance every month is the Citi® Double Cash Card. It offers a flat 2% cash back with no points or miles to redeem, no categories to remember, and no bank affiliation required. Even the highlights are short:

• 2% cash back on purchases: 1% when you buy plus 1% as you pay.
• To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time.
• 0% Intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months. (Balance transfers do not earn cash back.)
• No annual fee.

This all comes with no caps, no tiers, no category restrictions, no quarterly enrollment hoops, no rotating categories. The only way you don’t get your 1% + 1% total is if you default on your bill and don’t even make the minimum payments. You can redeem your cash rewards in full as soon as it totals $25 or more, via check, direct deposit, or statement credit (i.e. if you have $31.44, you can get a check for $31.44). The New York Times, CNBC, and Wirecutter have also rated this the best cash back rewards credit card.

Care about the math details? How exactly does earning cash back twice work? First, imagine you put $100 on the charge, 1% is earned so you have $1. Then you redeem that $1 (ignore minimums for this example) for a paper check or direct deposit (not statement credit). You pay the $100 bill from your bank account, and get an additional 1% or $1 back. Final tally: $2.00 back on $100 in purchases. In other words, 2% cash back.

Alternatively, imagine you charge $100 on the card and again 1% is earned so you have $1. Then you redeem that $1 (ignore minimums for this example) for a statement credit (as opposed to paper check or direct deposit) which means Citi actually “paid” for $1 of the $100. So you pay the remaining $99 and get an additional 1% or $0.99 back. Final tally: $1.99 back on $100 in purchases. 1.99/100 = 1.99%. Just pointing out a technicality here. If you charged $1,000 per month, the difference between 1.99% and 2% per month would be a whopping 10 cents per month, or $1.20 per year.

Obviously, you’ll want to pay in full every month as to not rack up interest charges which can quickly offset your cashback rewards. Note that you are only allowed to redeem cash rewards in the form of an electronic funds transfer into a linked bank account if it is a checking account from any bank from which you have paid a Citi Credit Card bill at least two times, or any Citi savings/checking account.

There have been similar cards in the past but they either closed to new applicants or require additional relationship accounts. If you have another Citi card, you can call in and try to convert to this card with varying success. Converted cards are not eligible for the 0% interest offer.

Bottom line. The Citi® Double Cash Card lets you earn 2% cash back on all purchases: 1% when you buy plus 1% as you pay. No categories to track. This is indeed double what many other cash back credit cards offer, and comes with no annual fee. Everyone should have a 2% cash back card in their purse/wallets, even if they have other cards with higher cashback in specific categories. I’ve had this card for several years now.

• Citi® Double Cash Card application link

Citi® Double Cash Card Review: 2% Cash Back on ALL Purchases, No Annual Fee from My Money Blog.

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The TD Double Up card is a new cashback rewards credit card from TD Bank which earns up to 2% flat cash back on all eligible purchases without worrying about the merchant or category.

• 1% cash back on purchases + 1% cash back when you redeem into an eligible TD Bank Deposit Account.
• New customer bonus: $75 cash back via statement credit after $500 in purchases within the first 90 days.
• 0% introductory APR on balance transfers for first 15 billing cycles.
• No annual fee.

At first, I though this was not-so-subtle copycat of the Citi Double Cash card, which offers 1% on purchases + 1% when you pay Citi back for those purchases (which you should each month to avoid carrying a balance). Citi does not required any other accounts with them. Here, the restriction to earn that extra 1% back is that you must be an active holder of a TB Bank checking or savings account. TD Bank only offers accounts to customers in select states:

Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, D.C.

Bottom line. If you are a TD Bank customer, the TD Double Up card is another welcome option for a simple flat 2% cash back credit card with no annual fee. Everyone should have a 2% cash back card in their purse/wallets, even if they have other cards with higher cashback in specific categories. If you don’t bank with TD Bank or have a Fidelity account, check out the Citi Double Cash card.

TD Double Up Card: 2% Cash Back on All Purchases (TD Bank Deposit Account Required) from My Money Blog.

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This Compound Advisors article does a great job exploring why gold is not an ideal hedge against inflation. The comparison chart below of performance since 1975 summarizes things in one picture. Over the 50 years since the US came off the gold standard, gold has only barely kept up with inflation while stocks and REITs… well, just look:

Here is the price of gold over the last decade (FRED).

Okay, so maybe I’m not interested in holding a huge chunk of gold as a long-term asset. But what about a little bit during this strange period of negative real yields? Movement Capital points out in the chart below that gold prices are “tethered” to real interest rates. Gold prices seem to go up when bonds stop keeping up with inflation.

If you own bonds, it is quite possible that your return this year has been negative. I peeked and the Vanguard Total Bond ETF (BND) is down 4% YTD (as of 3/19/21). Gold seems to perform best when bonds perform their worst, as highlighted below:

Therefore, if bonds are supposed to keep your portfolio safe, but right now they are in the vulnerable position of paying out less interest than inflation, gold might be a good complement. Even if gold just matches inflation, you would still come out ahead. Of course, gold often feels so volatile that it is hard to rely on the price for anything specific.

I’ve said before that I simply don’t have the proper faith in gold to own it long-term, and I’m still in that place. I suppose my primary observation is that low interest rates have made nearly everything go up in price (stocks, bonds, real estate, Bitcoin), but gold seems to be mostly ignored.

Gold as a Hedge Against Bonds During Low Interest Rates from My Money Blog.

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Krispy Kreme is giving away a free Original Glazed doughnut if you show them your COVID-19 vaccination card. This is valid once a day, every day for the rest of 2021! Valid in-store or drive-thru in participating US locations. No purchase required. No, they won’t take a picture of your card.

You don’t need to eat a doughnut every day, but it’s a nice gesture and this means you can just pop in whenever you feel like it. If you happen to stop in on a Monday starting 3/29, you can get a free donut and a medium brewed coffee for free, no purchase required. Monday Coffee offer does not require any vaccination card and expires 5/24/21.

Free Krispy Kreme Donut Every Day in 2021 w/ Vaccine Card from My Money Blog.

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ZYNLO Bank is another new “digital-first” bank, backed by the FDIC insurance of PeoplesBank in Massachusetts. Along with the common features of no monthly fees and Allpoint ATM network access, ZYNLO differentiates itself from the banking app crowd in a few different ways.

0.80% to 1.25% APY. Their main page advertises 0.80% APY on their Money Market account, which is already a competitive rate, but if you enter the promo code BANK (should auto-populate at this promo link) at account opening, they promise a higher promo rate of 1.25% APY on up to $250,000. Looks like promo code NERD gives the same result. Unfortunately, there is no rate guarantee as to how long either rate will last.

100% match on Roundups. When you purchase something with the ZYNLO debit card from their checking account (ex. $4.44), they will round up the transaction to the nearest dollar (ex. $5), deposit that amount (ex. 56 cents) into your savings account, and also match that amount (ex. another 56 cents). Their Savings Account (not the same as Money Market) offers a 100% match on “roundups” during their first 100 days. After that, you must maintain an average daily balance of $3,000 to continue to receive a 100% match. Otherwise, you only get a 25% match. The savings account pays negligible interest.

Let’s say you make 20 debit card purchase per month. If your purchase amounts are random over time, you will average a roundup of 50 cents per transaction. At a 100% match, that works out to $10 a month in matches per month (plus $10 of your own money being put aside in savings for you). 40 debit transaction per month = $20 a month at 100% roundup, and so on. If you make a lot of debit card purchases, it might be worth keeping a $3,000 balance to keep that 100% match.

Note that they don’t accept applications from a few states:

Who can use ZYNLO?
Any U.S. citizen 18 or older with a valid Taxpayer Identification Number. We can open accounts for people throughout the United States with the exception of CA, CT, MA, & NY.

My take. The money market promo rate may be attractive to those with very high balances as it applies to balances up to $250,000. The roundup matching might be attractive for people that make a lot of purchases on their debit cards. The negative is that there is no rate guarantee period and thus the slightly higher promo rate may not be high to guarantee a solid return over what might be a short period of time, given the other bank options near 3% APY available.

Hat tip to DepositAccounts.

ZYNLO Bank Review: 1.25% APY w/ Promo Code, 100% Match on Roundups from My Money Blog.

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• PERMA Profiler (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment), “Measures Flourishing”
• Authentic Happiness Inventory, “Measures Overall Happiness”

How happy am I? The types of questions asked were interesting, as it revealed what the creators believed were the components and characteristics of happiness and high levels of well-being. I have a hard time believing that anyone never feels lonely or that they always for excited and positive about life, but…

Here’s how the world’s happiest person might answer these questions:

• I consistently feel that I am making progress towards accomplishing my goals. I have direction in my life.
• I consistently become absorbed in what I am doing. Time seems to pass quickly when I am working.
• I rarely feel anxious.
• I consistently achieve the important goals that I set for myself. I am successful at what I do.
• I am in excellent health and am satisfied with my level of health.
• I consistently lead a purposeful and meaningful life. I spend my time on things that are important.
• I consistently receive help and support from others when I need it.
• I consistently feel that my life is valuable and worthwhile.
• I am consistently excited and interested in things.
• I rarely feel lonely.
• I consistently feel positive and rarely sad nor angry.
• I consistently feel loved.

If aren’t part of the online class, you can sign up for a free account at the UPenn Authentic Happiness website to take them yourself. They list many other happiness assessment options as well.

My own measured happiness levels ended up somewhere a bit above the middle of their scales. I hope you didn’t think I was deliriously happy, I definitely could do better – why else would I sign up for this course?

Topics not addressed. Neither survey asked about any of the following items. Perhaps they don’t correlate with happiness and well-being? Perhaps they do but just not as much as the topics they did ask about? Perhaps something else altogether.

• Salary/income
• Net worth
• Marital/relationship status
• Number of children
• Prestige of job title
• Quality of stuff (size of home, brand of car, model of smartphone)
• Physical beauty or attractiveness.

The Happiest Person in the World: The Components of Happiness and Well-Being from My Money Blog.

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Limited-time offer. The Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card is the re-branded business credit card of the Marriott Bonvoy program (formed after the merger of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest). This card offers unique perks for Marriott customers. Here are the highlights:

• 100,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after $5,000 of eligible purchases within the first 3 months. Plus, earn up to $150 back in statement credits on eligible purchases made on your new Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
• 6x points at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
• 4x points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations, U.S. purchases on shipping, and wireless telephone services purchased from U.S. service providers.
• 2x points on all other eligible purchases
• Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card account anniversary. Earn an additional Free Night Award after spending $60K in purchases on your Card in a calendar year. Awards can be used for one night (up to 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) at a participating hotel.
• Silver Elite status included with your Card. Plus, earn Gold Elite status after making $35,000 in eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
• Elite Night Credit. Each calendar year you can receive credit for 15 nights towards the next level of Marriott Bonvoy Elite status.
• Annual fee is $125.

Keep in mind the following terms and conditions:

Welcome offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product or The Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express. We may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your welcome offer eligibility.

Welcome offer not available to applicants who (i) have or have had the Marriott BonvoyTM Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy BusinessTM Credit Card from Chase, or the Marriott Rewards® Business Credit Card from Chase in the last 30 days, (ii) have acquired the Marriott Bonvoy BoundlessTM Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy BoldTM Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott BonvoyTM Premier Credit Card from Chase or the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card from Chase in the last 90 days, or (iii) received a new Card Member bonus offer in the last 24 months on the Marriott Bonvoy BoundlessTM Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy BoldTM Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott BonvoyTM Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase or the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card from Chase.

This is more specific than before, note the different 30-day, 90-day, and 24-month waiting periods that may now include consumer cards. American Express usually gives you a pop-up warning during the application process if you are ineligible based on their records. This is why you should be looking to get the best possible bonus (like a limited-time offer and waived annual fee) when you do apply.

Many people aren’t aware of the fact that they can apply for business credit cards, even if they are not a corporation or LLC. The business type is called a sole proprietorship, and these days many people are full-time or part-time consultants, freelancers, eBay/Amazon/Etsy sellers, Uber/Lyft drivers, or other one-person business owners. This is the simplest business entity, but it is fully legit and recognized by the IRS. On a business credit card application, you should use your own legal name as the business name, and your Social Security Number as the Tax ID.

Free Night Award. At your card anniversary (when you pay the annual fee), you will receive a Free Night Award that is good for one night (redemption level at or under 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) at a participating hotel. This excludes the very top properties, but for regular travelers it will be very easy to get your $95 or even $125 value. Many W Hotels, Westin, and even some Ritz-Carltons worldwide are included. Here are some sample hotels that qualify under the 35,000 point limit:

• Sheraton Kona Resort (Big Island, Hawaii)
• Westin Hapuna Beach Resort (Big Island, Hawaii)
• Courtyard Waikiki Beach (Honolulu, Oahu)
• Sheraton Kauai Resort (Kauai, Hawaii)
• W Atlanta
• New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge
• Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile
• W Chicago
• The Ritz-Carlton, Beijing, China
• The S. Regis Bangkok, Thailand

Bottom line. The Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card is the co-branded business card between Marriott hotels and American Express. You also get a Free Night Award at card anniversary, which can be worth much more than the annual fee. Right now, there is a limited-time offer where the cash back more than offsets the annual fee and you can get 100,000 Marriott points.

Also see: Top 10 Best Small Business Card Bonus Offers.

Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card Review – 100,000 Bonus Miles + $150 Statement Credit from My Money Blog.

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Want to take a free online class together with me (and 3.3 million other people)? The NYT had a nice profile of the free online course The Science of Well-Being offered by Yale University on Coursera. (It was the most popular class ever taught at Yale.) I’d heard about this class before and have even taken other courses at Coursera, but I had the mistaken impression that it was more of a lecture series. In reality, the course requires weekly practice to help you “rewire” and permanently change your behavior based on psychology research.

In this course you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. As preparation for these tasks, Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change. You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life.

I’m not sure how often the course runs, but I’m enrolled in the one that starts today, March 17th, 2021. I’m guessing they’ll keep enrollment open for a little while longer at least. Here’s my first message after enrolling, which gives you a better idea of what to expect:

Congratulations on taking part in this journey! Over the next several weeks, we’ll explore what new results in psychological science teach us about how to be happier, how to feel less stressed, and how to flourish more. We’ll then have a chance to put these scientific findings into practice by building the sorts of habits that will allow us to live a happier and more fulfilling life.

Each week you will have requirements (graded quizzes) and “rewirements” (weekly practices aimed at rewiring your habits to boost mood and overall well-being). The final project asks you to practice a scientifically validated wellness behavior for four weeks and write about the experience.

Even though the course is completely free (skip the $49 certificate), it is one of those “you get out what you put in” situations. The course runs for 10 weeks and is estimated to require a consistent commitment of 1-2 hours per week. In a given week, you might track your sleep patterns, keep a gratitude journal, perform random acts of kindness, or try to meditate regularly.

You take an initial happiness assessment (answer a bunch of questions) in the beginning and another one at the end of the course. In this way, you have a way of measuring of whether taking these new actions has changed your well-being. Even a small improvement in happiness has to be a pretty valuable thing, no? I mean, think of how often we try to gain a little bit of joy through buying a new object (home, car, phone, shoes, meal).

The creator and professor of this course, Dr. Laurie Santos, also has a podcast called The Happiness Lab. Another popular online course with broad application is Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects.

Free Practical Course To Improve Your Happiness from Yale University from My Money Blog.

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I own inflation-linked bonds as part of my investment portfolio. Specifically, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) make up about 1/3rd of the bond portion, or 10% of my total portfolio. I go into more detail in my post Reasons To Own TIPS, but essentially they pay interest based on a fixed real yield plus ongoing inflation. To simplify: if the real yield is 1% and inflation is 3%, they pay 4%.

Traditional “nominal” Treasury bonds simply pay a flat interest rate that doesn’t change with inflation (i.e. 3%). The difference between the TIPS real yield and the nominal Treasury yield is at any given time is what inflation would have to be for them to pay out the exact same total yield, called the “breakeven inflation rate”. If the real yield on TIPS is 1% while the nominal rate is 3% at the same moment, then the breakeven rate is 2%. You could call it a market-based prediction of future inflation.

It turns out that 10-year TIPS bonds that matured over the last several years mostly underpeformed regular nominal Treasuries, as the actual inflation turned out to be less than the breakeven inflation rate. David Enna of TIPS Watch created the interesting chart below comparing the final performance of TIPS vs. nominal Treasury bonds maturing over the last several years, where green means that TIPS “won” and red means TIPS “lost” in terms of total return. I removed some columns and highlighted the initial breakeven rate (the market-based guess) and the actual inflation rate.

Enna states:

Still, the market-determined inflation breakeven rate measures sentiment and should not be viewed as an accurate prediction. In fact, the market often does a lousy job of predicting future inflation. The fact is, over the last decade, investors have been betting on higher inflation than actually resulted, and that has led to TIPS (in general) under-performing nominal Treasuries of the same term.

I have read some articles suggesting that you could adjust your TIPS holdings based on the real yield, but perhaps another way is to adjust your holdings based on inflation breakeven rate instead. You can track the 5-year and 10-year breakeven inflation rates at FRED. As of this writing in March 2021, the breakeven inflation rate has been rising very quickly since dropping quickly in early 2020.

The last time that the breakeven inflation rate dropped so drastically was in 2009. As with stocks, it can pay off to buy when everyone else is afraid. I was lucky to buy a chunk of long-term TIPS in 2009, but I didn’t buy much in 2020 since the real yields were still quite low.

I hold Treasuries, TIPS, and FDIC/NCUA-insured CDs because I like my “safe” assets to be of the highest quality, with no worries about getting both my principal and interest. In addition, TIPS also serves as a hedge against higher-than-expected inflation. However, that also means I might suffer if there is lower-than-expected inflation. My “insurance” didn’t pay out over the last 10 years, but that’s okay. I’m also fine if my don’t make a claim on my auto insurance, homeowners insurance, (and definitely life insurance!).

p.s. If you want to buy TIPS, these days you should consider buying Series I Savings Bonds first these days (up to the purchase limits). Their 0% real yield is better than the negative real yields on nearly all TIPS right now.

TIPS Inflation Bonds Performance: Breakeven vs. Actual Inflation Rates from My Money Blog.

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Neighborhood Nosh (formerly iDine) is a promotional service allows you to earn cash back when you dine at participating restaurants and pay with your linked credit card. You may already be familiar with using Rewards Network to earn airline and hotel points, but this is a rebrand of their standalone program which offers cash back in the form of an American Express gift card. Here is the standard structure:

• Sign up for a free account and provide your credit/debt card numbers. (I believe they only ask for the 16 digits. They won’t charge anything on it.)
• If you use that linked card to pay for a meal at a participating restaurant (dine-in, takeout, or direct delivery), you will automatically earn cash back rewards on the entire amount including tip.
• No membership cards, no coupons, no apps. You don’t do anything that announces that you are seeking a discount.
• Earn either 5% or 10% back.

Usually, you earn 5% back until you reach $750 in spending with in the calendar year. After that, you start earning 10% cash back.

New and existing member promo. Right now, existing members get 10% back until 4/4/21. If you sign up as a new member by 7/31, link a card, and pay with that card within the first 30 days, and opt-in to their marketing emails, you’ll also earn 10% cash back right away.

Existing iDine member rewards will also automatically be transferred to Neighborhood Nosh.

Cash out details. It appears they will mail you a physical AmEx gift card once you reach a rewards balance of $20.

After a member reaches $20 in accumulated restaurant rewards from Neighborhood Nosh, an American Express® Reward Card will be mailed the following month with all available rewards. Rewards in an amount less than $20 are subject to expiration if no dining activity occurs within one year from the date the rewards were originally earned.

My take. I like the fact that you don’t have to do change your existing eating habits to earn extra rewards. I could simply link the card that I put most dining purchases on (for example the Chase Sapphire Preferred 2X or Chase Sapphire Reserve 3X points or the American Express Gold 4x points) and then promptly forget about it for the most part. If the restaurant I visit happens to be part of the program, then I get some free rewards as a nice surprise.

I do look through their list of participating restaurants when I want some miles activity for a specific airline to avoid the expiration of points. Each of your credit cards can only be linked to one type of Rewards Network account. I usually have 5-7 different credit cards linked to 5-7 different programs, so I can pick up points from a specific program as needed with a single targeted purchase. You have to plan ahead a little bit, as the points can take a while to post.

Now, if you eat at a participating Rewards Network restaurants regularly, then the 10% cash back from Neighborhood Nosh could really add up. Could be worth a look.

Neighborhood Nosh Review: Up to 10% Back at Participating Restaurants from My Money Blog.

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3rd Stimulus checks / Recovery rebates.

• $1,400 for each eligible recipient. This includes $1,400 for each child and adult dependent, including college students claimed as dependents.
• Income phase-out starts at AGI of $75,000 Single, $112,500 Head of Household, and $150,000 Married Filing Joint. Fully phased out at $80k/120k/160k. Qualify using your 2019 or 2020 income (once filed), or even 2021.
• Track status at IRS Get My Payment tool.

Unemployment benefits.

• Previous changes extended (including expanded eligibility) for additional 25 weeks, until 9/6. $300 weekly supplement also extended until 9/6.
• For 2020, the first $10,200 of UI benefits are now tax-free if your income is under $150,000.

Expanded Child Tax Credit.

• For 2021, it increases to up to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for ages 5 and under). The age limit for qualifying children also rises to 17, from 16. Previously, the max credit was $2,000 per child (and was only $1,000 as recently as 2017).
• Now fully refundable.
• Income phase-outs start at MAGI of $150,000 for married filing joint ($75,000 single).

Expanded Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.

• For 2021, now worth up to $4,000 for one qualifying individual or $8,000 for two or more. More expenses are eligible, at a higher percentage. The net increase in value could be worth up to $5,900 (see chart below).
• Now fully refundable.
• Qualifying children are under the age of 13 for the entire year.

Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts.

• For 2021, you can now contribute $10,500 (married filing joint) into a Dependent Care FSA instead of the normal $5,000 (married filing joint). Single filers can contribute up to $5,250, up from $2,500.
• Employers must choose to allow this option. Bug your HR department and hopefully they’ll make the change before it’s too late.

Student loans.

• For student loan debt forgiven between 1/1/2021 and 12/31/2025, the forgiven amount will no longer be considered as taxable income.
• No actual student loan debt is being forgiven as part of this bill, but it may be wise to prepare for the possibility in the near future. (I might not consider paying down any student loan amounts under $10,000, especially while they are in deferral.)

COBRA Health Insurance.

• If you lost your job involuntarily (or had job hours cut and thus lost coverage), the government will pay for your entire COBRA health insurance premium from 4/1 through 9/30. This could add up to several thousand dollars.

Health insurance bought from ACA exchanges.

• Subsidies are increased.
• Use this updated Kaiser subsidy calculator.

There will always be debate about details of this bill, but that is theoretical while my goal is to be actionable. The goal here is to help taxpayers be proactive and make sure they get any benefits and aid for which they qualify.

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: New 3rd Stimulus Chart, Child-Related Tax Credits, COBRA, Dependent Care FSA Limits from My Money Blog.

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• One-year Sam’s Club membership ($45 value)
• Complimentary membership card for a spouse or other household member
• $10 e-Gift card after using each of the following Sam’s Club convenience services (up to $30 in eGift cards total):
  • Scan & Go
  • Curbside Pickup
  • Online Ship to Home

The $35 option (Up to $99.97 value) includes all of the above plus:

• Free Member’s Mark Take-n-Bake pizza (up to $9.99 value).
• Free Member’s Mark 10” round cake – balloon or roses (up to $14.98 value)

This deal is for new memberships only, as defined as follows:

Offer valid for new Sam’s Club Members only. Not valid for membership renewals, for those with a current membership, or those who were Sam’s Club members less than 6 months prior to March 1, 2021.

Some folks like to rotate a year with Sam’s Club and a year with Costco, as both usually offer new member deals regularly.

Save even more on your Groupon with a cashback shopping portal. Many offer new customers bonuses if you make a qualifying purchase, including MyPoints ($10 bonus), Rakuten (formerly eBates) ($30 bonus with $30 purchase), TopCashBack (varies), and BeFrugal ($10 bonus). So you could sign-up and stack this Groupon to trigger the bonus. I have cashed out of all of these in the last 12 months.

Sam’s Club New Membership Deal for $25/$35 With $30 in Gift Cards from My Money Blog.

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(Updated 2021. T-Mobile absorbed Sprint, so no more Sprint MVNOs. Tello is now a T-Mobile MVNO, but is still quite affordable. Ting Mobile has new flexible plans that work well for occasional data users, and you can now choose from either the T-Mobile or Verizon network.)

You can get unlimited talk and unlimited texts for $10 a month or less on every major network. That’s less than my bare landline used to cost. The major networks sell wholesale minutes to lesser-known MVNOs (Mobile Network Virtual Operators), which they in turn sell at a significant discount to individuals. Below are the best options by network below (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile) along with an alternative. I sort by network because that usually makes it easier to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), though every MVNO will have a form where you can check compatibility via identification number (IMEI or MEID). Here are the cheapest plans with unlimited talk & text and 5G/LTE high-speed data.

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links where available. If you make a purchase through the links below, I may be compensated.

T-Mobile Network – T-Mobile Network Color: Hot Pink

• Unlimited Talk & Text. Tello Mobile also has an unlimited talk, text, and no data for $8 a month. You need to choose a custom plan to find this option. Upgrade to 1 GB of data at only $10 per month. New user promo: Get 50% off their first 3 months.
• Unlimited Talk & Text + Flexible Data. Ting Mobile has an unlimited talk and text for $10 a month plus pay-for-what-you-use data for $5 per GB of high-speed data. This may work best for those that want to always have access to data at a reasonable price, but no data during most months. Ting data can also be shared across multiple lines ($10 per line base). Ting now runs on both the T-Mobile and Verizon networks. For T-Mobile, you should be directed their “X1 SIM card”. New user promo: Bring over your own phone and get a free $25 service credit.
• Higher price, but not MVNO. Alternatively, you can go directly with T-Mobile Connect and get unlimited talk and text with 2 GB data for $15 a month.

Note: I personally use Mint Mobile, which offers unlimited talk, text, and 4 GB data for $15 a month – see my Mint Mobile review for tips and details based on my experiences.

AT&T Network – AT&T Network Color: Blue

• Unlimited Talk & Text. Good2Go Mobile offers unlimited talk and text for $10 a month. Upgrade to 1 GB of data and pay $15 month. Buy the SIM card from Amazon for $5 and get $5 credit included.
• 3 GB LTE data, more expensive. Alternatively, Red Pocket Mobile offers unlimited talk, text, and 3 GB data for $19 a month. After your LTE data runs out, you still get data included at slower 2G data speeds until your month resets. Be sure to choose the AT&T network (GSMA) when you sign up.

Verizon Network – Verizon Network Color: Red

• Unlimited Talk & Text + Flexible Data. Ting Mobile has an unlimited talk and text for $10 a month plus pay-for-what-you-use data for $5 per GB of high-speed data. This may work best for those that want to always have access to data at a reasonable price, but no data during most months. Ting data can also be shared across multiple lines ($10 per line base). Ting now runs on both the T-Mobile and Verizon networks. For Verizon, you should be directed their “V1 SIM card”. New user promo: Bring over your own phone and get a free $25 service credit.
• I previously listed US Mobile, which also advertises unlimited talk and text for $10 a month, but they actually tack on a mandatory $2 month “access fee” on top of the usual taxes and fees. I don’t know of any other provider that does this, as it is basically a secret way to make the price really $12 a month.
• 3 GB LTE data, more expensive. Alternatively, Red Pocket Mobile offers unlimited talk, text, and 3 GB data for $19 a month. After your LTE data runs out, you still get data included at slower 2G data speeds until your month resets. Be sure to choose the Verizon network (CDMA) when you sign up.

(Note: Now that Sprint has finally completed its merger with T-Mobile, some T-Mobile MVNOs can now access Sprint towers and some previous Sprint MVNOs are switching to T-Mobile MVNOs.)

Here are the cheapest plans with unlimited talk & text and 5G/LTE high-speed data.

Lesser-Known Cheap Basic Prepaid Cell Phone Plans on Every Network – Starting Under $10 a Month from My Money Blog.

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The US Mint regularly releases limited-edition coins to collectors. The coin sets are often limited to one per customer. PFS Buyers Club is a website broker that recruits regular folks to buy their allotted coin set with a set markup amount, with the agreement that they will sell only to PFS Buyers Club. For example, you might pay $300 for a coin and they’ll agree to pay you $350 for it – a fixed profit of $50.

Note that the eventual value of the set may exceed that elsewhere – you may be able to get $400 for that coin on eBay, for example – but if you want to make that bet, don’t promise to sell to PFS Buyers Club. Just buy it on your own and try to sell it yourself. Keep in mind that eBay fees can be quite high, and you’ll be responsible for other costs like the proper shipping with adequate insurance. PFS Buyers Club will send you a prepaid mailing label (including insurance) and pay you via eCheck, paper check, or PayPal.

On Thursday March 11th (short notice, I know), there is a new guaranteed profit opportunity. The commission is larger than usual (up to $300 + credit card rewards), but so is the upfront cost (up to $6,500). I will be trying this out myself for the first time, especially as the high spending amount will also help me trigger some big credit card bonuses. PFS Buyers Club has a very solid reputation, but this way I can also write more honestly and in detail about the process.

The cost of the Four-Coin Set should be either $4,317.50 or $4,410.00 and the cost of the One Ounce Gold Eagle should be either $2,325.00 or $2,375.00. (The Mint will only be releasing the exact price for these products on Wednesday the 10th, and it will depend on the spot price of Gold over the next couple of days.)

Each item would need to be purchased as a separate Mint order, as such, each purchase will also have a $4.95 shipping charge. You will have each order shipped to your own house or office and then ship it to PFS Buyers Club with a prepaid shipping label that we will provide for you.

PFS will be offering a commission of $200.05 for each Four-Coin Set.

PFS will be offering a commission of $100.05 for each One Ounce Gold Eagle coin.

This is also a great opportunity to earn valuable points/miles on your credit cards, as well as meet any spending thresholds.

Spending $6,500 on your credit card would earn another $130 profit at 2% cash back. That’s a total of $430. You could do even better if satisfying a credit card sign-up bonus hurdle. Here is the 4-coin set and the 1-ounce coin.

If you want to jump on this, you can sign up to join PFS Buyers Club here. I’ll write a more detailed review afterward. If you use that link, I will receive a referral fee if you successfully sell your coin for a profit.

PFS Buyers Club: US Mint Coin Purchase Opportunity ($100 + $200 Guaranteed Profit) from My Money Blog.

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“The Sweaty Startup,” on the other hand, is all about achievability: Create a service business. Do it better than competitors. Make a couple hundred thousand a year, work 40 hours a week or so, and leave plenty of time for family, friends, and hobbies. […] “It’s get-rich-slow,” says Huber, who cautions against following your passion when creating a business. “You gotta do something not-fun for five years to make this work.”

Why? It all comes down to competition. If it’s fun, the competition is too intense and as a result the margins will be too slim. You have to find the stuff that nobody else really wants to do, searching the “inefficient markets”, and do it better than the (limited) competition.

His point: there’s too much competition for the fun stuff — so go for the scut work. “People don’t want to hear this stuff,” Huber says.

“Let’s think about who’s making really good money by not being very good businessmen, and go compete with them.”

Not Fun = Good (Less Competition)

• Plumbing
• Pest Control
• Lawn Care
• Firewood delivery
• Maid services
• Water damage removal

Fun = Bad (Too Much Competition)

• Smartphone App that goes viral
• Bakery
• Designing jewelry
• Cute stuff on Etsy
• YouTube/Instagram influencer
• Life coaching

As with many things this is all easier said than done, but I’m sure some folks will happen to have the personality and knack for this type of thing – which is also perfectly compatible with financial independence. Create your own six-figure job, save a large percentage of it for years, and when you’re close to being done, the best part is that you also own a valuable asset. You can now sell that small business for a multiple of the annual revenue. (Compare this against a franchise, where if you don’t do it right, you are simply “buying a job”. Read this Hustle article about Subway franchises.)

I became curious about early retirement after I couldn’t think of any job where I’d say “Wow, I love doing this so much, I’ll work until I die”. Some people truly love their work. I know that now. However, other people are built to “suck it up” for a while and then get the heck out. With this concept, you can sell your job when you’re done, and sail off into the sunset.

The Sweaty Startup: Think Small and Do NOT Pursue Your Passion from My Money Blog.

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Fintech accounts
Available only to individual investors, fintech accounts oftentimes pay higher-than-market rates in order to achieve high short-term growth (i.e. higher interest via venture capital). I define “fintech” as a software layer on top of a different bank’s FDIC insurance. Although I have open accounts with the ones listed below after doing my own due diligence, read about the Beam app for potential pitfalls and best practices.

• 3% APY on up to $100,000. The top rate is 3% APY for January through March 2021, and they have not indicated any upcoming rate drop. Sign up now and complete a direct deposit to get the highest tier in April. HM Bradley requires a recurring direct deposit every month and a savings rate of at least 20%. See my HM Bradley review.
• 3% APY on 10% of direct deposits + 1% APY on $5,000. One Finance lets you earn 3% APY on “auto-save” deposits (up to 10% of your direct deposit, up to $1,000 per month). Separately, they also pay 1% APY on up to another $25,000 with direct deposit. New $50 bonus via referral. See my One Finance review.
• 3% APY on up to $15,000. Porte requires a one-time direct deposit of $1,000+ to open a savings account. $50 bonus via referral. See my Porte review.
• 2.15% APY on up to $5k/$30k. Limited-time offer of free membership to their higher balance tier for 6 months with direct deposit. See my OnJuno review.

High-yield savings accounts
While the huge megabanks pay essentially no interest, it’s easy to open a new “piggy-back” savings account and simply move some funds over from your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

• T-Mobile Money has the top rate at the moment at 1.00% APY with no minimum balance requirements. The main focus is on the 4% APY on your first $3,000 of balances as a qualifying T-mobile customer plus other hoops, but the lesser-known perk is the 1% APY for everyone. Thanks to the readers who helped me understand this. There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at closer to 0.50% APY.

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
A common question is what to do with a big pile of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple and take your time. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

• No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. Marcus has a 7-month No Penalty CD at 0.45% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. AARP members can get an 8-month CD at 0.55% APY. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.50% APY for all balance tiers. CIT Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.30% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit. You may wish to open multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
• Lafayette Federal Credit Union has a 12-month CD at 0.80% APY ($500 min). Early withdrawal penalty is 6 months of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).

Money market mutual funds + Ultra-short bond ETFs
Normally, I would say to watch out for brokerage firms that pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). However, money market fund rates are very low across the board right now. Ultra-short bond funds are another possible alternative, but they are NOT FDIC-insured and may experience short-term losses in extreme cases. I personally don’t think the risk is worth the tiny yield at this time.

• The default sweep option is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund which has an SEC yield of 0.01%. Vanguard Cash Reserves Federal Money Market Fund (formerly Prime Money Market) currently pays 0.01% SEC yield.
• Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 0.38% SEC yield ($3,000 min) and 0.48% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so there is more interest rate risk.
• The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 0.24% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 0.38% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes. Right now, this section isn’t very interesting as T-Bills are yielding close to zero!

• You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 3/5/2020, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.04% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.08% annualized interest.
• The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) has a -0.01% SEC yield and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a -0.08% (!) SEC yield. GBIL appears to have a slightly longer average maturity than BIL.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. The annual purchase limit is $10,000 per Social Security Number, available online at TreasuryDirect.gov. You can also buy an additional $5,000 in paper I bonds using your tax refund with IRS Form 8888.

• “I Bonds” bought between November 2020 and April 2021 will earn a 1.68% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More info here.
• In mid-April 2021, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.
• See below about EE Bonds as a potential long-term bond alternative.

Prepaid Cards with Attached Savings Accounts
A small subset of prepaid debit cards have an “attached” FDIC-insured savings account with exceptionally high interest rates. The negatives are that balances are severely capped, and there are many fees that you must be careful to avoid (lest they eat up your interest). Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others do. There is a long list of previous offers that have already disappeared with little notice. I don’t personally recommend nor use any of these anymore.

• One of the few notable cards left in this category is Mango Money at 6% APY on up to $2,500, along with several hoops to jump through. Requirements include $1,500+ in “signature” purchases and a minimum balance of $25.00 at the end of the month.

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops which usually involve 10+ debit card purchases each cycle, a certain number of ACH/direct deposits, and a certain number of logins per month. If you make a mistake (or they judge that you did) you risk earning zero interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others would rather not bother. Rates can also drop suddenly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling.

• The Bank of Denver pays 2.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases of $5+ each, receive only online statements, and make at least 1 ACH credit or debit transaction per statement cycle. The rate recently dropped. If you meet those qualifications, you can also link a Kasasa savings account that pays 1.00% APY on up to $50k. Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info.
• Devon Bank has a Kasasa Checking paying 2.50% APY on up to $10,000, plus a Kasasa savings account paying 2.50% APY on up to $10,000 (and 0.85% APY on up to $50,000). You’ll need at least 12 debit transactions of $3+ and other requirements every month. The rate recently dropped.
• Presidential Bank pays 2.25% APY on balances up to $25,000, with fewer hoops than some others.
• Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union pays 3.30% APY on up to $20,000. You’ll need at least 15 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
• Lake Michigan Credit Union pays 3.00% APY on up to $15,000. You’ll need at least 10 debit transactions and other requirements every month.
• Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
CDs offer higher rates, but come with an early withdrawal penalty. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD to keep the ladder going. Some CDs also offer “add-ons” where you can deposit more funds if rates drop.

• Wings Financial Federal Credit Union has a 5-year CD from 1.26% APY ($500 min)up to 1.41% APY ($250,000 min) . Early withdrawal penalty is big – 2 years of interest! Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization for as little as $5 (Wings Financial Foundation).
• Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union has a 5-year certificate at 1.25% APY ($500 minimum). Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. 4-year at 1.05% APY, and 3-year at 0.95% APY ($500 minimum). Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($25 one-time fee).
• You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. I see a 5-year CD at 0.90% APY right now, which might still pay more than the other options at your brokerage. Be wary of higher rates from callable CDs listed by Fidelity.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

• Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year at Vanguard for 1.80% APY. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs from Fidelity.
• How about two decades? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a unique guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate which is quite low (currently 0.10%). I view this as a huge early withdrawal penalty. But if holding for 20 years isn’t an issue, it can also serve as a hedge against prolonged deflation during that time. Purchase limit is $10,000 each calendar year for each Social Security Number. As of 3/8/2021, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate was 2.18%.

All rates were checked as of 3/8/2021.

Best Interest Rates on Cash – March 2021 from My Money Blog.

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