Updated July 2020. Do you have small business income or work as an independent contractor? Uber/Lyft, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Airbnb? You are eligible to open a small business credit card, which keeps your personal and business expenses separate. If you are not a corporation or LLC, you can apply as a sole proprietorship, with your name as the business name and your Social Security number as the Tax ID number. I did this for years successfully before incorporating my business. Small business credit cards are offering strong perks and $500+ value for a single card during the first year to try out a new card. Below are the top 10 credit card offers that I would apply for (or have applied for already). Notable recent changes: Ink… [Read More...]
Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers – July 2020 (Updated)
Updated July 2020. I’m still collecting points and miles and maximizing the value of my credit card spending. Things are quiet as credit card issuers get conservative, but that just means picking up some slightly lesser bonuses that I passed over previously. That space in your wallet or purse is still valuable, and you should be the one to get that value. Selected banks are offering strong perks and $500+ value for a single card during the first year to encourage you to apply and try it out. These are the top 10 credit card offers that I would personally apply for right now, if I didn’t already have most of them. Notable recent changes: Added custom Delta offers, US Bank Altitude card New Sapphire benefits … [Read More...]
Bask Bank Review: Earn American Airlines Miles As Interest (5,000 Mile Referral Bonus)
Updated with my own experience and new referral bonus. Bask Bank is a FDIC-insured savings account that pays you American Airlines (AA) miles instead of cash interest. Every $1 earns 1 mile a year. For example, $1,000 kept for a year would earn 1,000 AA miles at the end of the year. If you kept $50,000 there for a year, you would earn 50,000 AA miles at the end of a year. There is no minimum balance and no monthly fees. I’ve updated this review after opening an account. Bask Bank is part of Texas Capital Bank (FDIC Certificate #34383), which also runs BankDirect. BankDirect has been giving out American Airlines miles for many years on their checking account, but with different requirements and a steep monthly… [Read More...]
Best Interest Rates on Cash – July 2020
The Fed rate is still at zero, which has bought us back to the time when anything above 2% APY is newsworthy (and there ain’t much news). The only reason to pay attention is that being willing to switch bank accounts can still beat out Treasury bonds and/or brokerage cash sweep options that paying nearly zero. Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash for July 2020, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. I track these rates because I keep 12 months of expenses as a cash cushion and also invest in longer-term CDs (often at lesser-known credit unions) when they yield more than bonds. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you’d… [Read More...]
The Money Hamster Wheel, Part 2: Multiple Solutions, Not Just More Money
In Part 1: Identifying the Problem, I shared Lawrence Yeo’s unique take on money and the hamster wheel metaphor, where we just keep spinning and can’t get off. Since then, I have thought more about how best to slow things down by instead attacking each step of the cycle. To be honest, I don’t know if I can properly explain Yeo’s concepts, so I came up with my own version of the hamster wheel. Here it is, rather hastily-drawn: A common criticism of seeking financial freedom is that it’s all about money. Make more money. Spend less money. However, if you take a step back, money is just part of the flow between how you spend the time in your life. How… [Read More...]
Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve: New Benefits July 2020
New added benefits as of July 2020. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Chase Sapphire Reserve card have been very popular for their generous travel and dining perks, but right now travel and dining aren’t really happening. Chase has wisely adjusted their rewards program for this new environment, in addition to the recently-added Doordash benefits. I will definitely be taking advantage of these new earning perks, although I’m still leaning slightly towards keeping my points to redeem toward a Hyatt hotel vacation one day… Chase Sapphire Preferred new changes: 3x points at Instacart. Earn 3x total points on all Instacart deliveries and pick-ups—groceries, household items, pharmacy and more—on up to $3,000 in purchases from July 1 to September 30, 2020. No activation required, just use your Sapphire… [Read More...]
SoFi Money $25 Bank Bonus, $50 Stock Bonus, 10% Cashback Promo
New 10% cash back categories. If have you a SoFi Money account, don’t miss that they are offering earn 10% cash back on select Grocery: Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Instacart and Subscriptions: Netflix, Disney+, Spotify when you pay with SoFi Money from 7/1 through 9/30. Max cash back is $50 for Grocery ($500 in purchases) and $50 for Subscriptions ($500 in purchases). I like that they keep coming up with new bonuses. If you opened a SoFi Money account prior to 6/9/2020, this is available to all members. If you opened a SoFi Money account after 6/9/2020, you need $500+ in monthly deposits (from any source, bank transfers okay) in order to qualify for the 10% cash back program. Looks like they added a new hoop with a grandfather… [Read More...]
AmEx Shop Small Offer: $5 off $10+ At Small Businesses (Up to $50 Savings Total)
If you have any American Express credit cards, check your “Amex Offers” in either your online account or smartphone app. Most people are seeing the offer “Spend $10+, get $5 back, up to 10 times when you Shop Small by 9/20/20”. Get a $5 statement credit by using your enrolled Card to make a single purchase of $10+ at a US business location on the Shop Small Map (or Online Directory) by 9/20/20. Limit of 10 statement credits (total of $50). Before you click on that “Add to Card” button, be sure that you have selected the specific AmEx card that you intend to use for this promotion. Once you add this offer to one of your cards, the offer will disappear from the… [Read More...]
The Money Hamster Wheel, Part 1: Identifying The Problem
I started looking into financial independence because I simply couldn’t imagine doing what I was doing every weekday at that time for another 30 or 40 years. Some people know exactly what they want to spend their life doing, and it also pays the bills and then some. I was always envious of those folks. Strangely, I never really felt that making more money was the final answer. I saved diligently in order to quit my job and go back to school and explore alternate paths. This week, I’ve been pondering a longread by Lawrence Yeo about his philosophy of money at How Money Forever Changed Us. It’s a very high-level exploration of how money both solves and causes various conflicts in our lives. This … [Read More...]
Pay with Citi ThankYou Points, Get 20% Off at Amazon.com (Targeted)
If you have a Citi credit card that earns ThankYou points, you can redeem them to buy eligible items at Amazon.com. The redemption rate is 1 ThankYou points = 0.8 cents to spend at Amazon, which may not be the best value available. You can also redeem ThankYou points for gift cards (varies, but you can usually get at least 1 cent per point) or redeem towards a check made out to your mortgage payment or student loan (1 point = 1 cent ratio). If you have certain cards (see below), you can transfer to selected airline miles. Here is a targeted promotion where you can get 20% off Amazon.com purchases (max $30 discount) when you redeem at least 1 ThankYou point. As with many other similar promotions from other… [Read More...]
Forrager Podcast: Start Your Own Home-Based Food Business
If you enjoy listening to podcasts about entrepreneurial stories on a smaller scale (i.e. not tech unicorns), I recommend the Forrager Podcast about cottage food businesses, where people sell food made in their home kitchens (as opposed to a commercial kitchen). Depending on the cottage food laws in their state, you can learn from successful small (often solo) business owners selling their homemade bread, granola, nut mixes, cookies, pies, and other food products in both retail or wholesale environments. The cottage food industry allows you to start small with minimal upfront investment. You keep your big potential upside, but you’ve minimized your downside. Being able to take asymmetrical risks like that is very powerful. You only need to hit it big once! Here’s a… [Read More...]
Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card Review: Up to 2.62% Back with Preferred Rewards
Update June 2020: In response to COVID-19, the Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card has expanded the eligible categories of spending against which you can get their 1.5% to 2.62% back from only Travel purchases to include Grocery Stores, Dining, and Takeout. This applies through December 31st, 2020 and applies retroactively to qualifying purchases made within the last 12 months. This should make it much easier to redeem your points for optimal value. Here is the fine print: Travel Statement Credit Expanded Category Offer. Now through 12/31/2020, you can also redeem Points for a statement credit in U.S. dollars to offset qualifying grocery store and dining purchases. This will apply to all qualifying purchases that posted to your account in the last 12 months, but is limited to the most … [Read More...]
5% Cash Back Cards: Amazon, Whole Foods, PayPal, Restaurants – July thru September 2020
Activation open for 3rd Quarter 2020. The credit cards below offer up to 5% cash back on specific categories that rotate each quarter. It takes a little extra attention, but it can add up to hundreds of dollars in additional rewards per year without changing your spending habits. You can also buy gift cards with the 5% back now but spend the gift cards later. New cardmembers may also get an upfront sign-up bonus. Chase Freedom Card From July 1st through September 30th, 2020 you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in the following categories: Amazon.com Whole Foods Market Enroll each quarter at ChaseBonus.com. As long as you activate by the end of the quarter the rewards are retroactive. All other purchases … [Read More...]
Live Cheaply and Invest In Yourself
The The Money Diaries series at Wealthsimple continues to offer periodic interviews with an interesting mix of people sharing about their financial lives. I’d never heard of Carson Mell, but I appreciated how he cared most about doing what he wanted with his time as a young adult, and how he lived cheaply in order to invest in himself. (His most well-known project is probably Silicon Valley on HBO.) The power on knowing the cost of your minimum viable lifestyle. My advice to a young ambitious person would be to figure out exactly how little you can live on. Mell’s monthly expenses were on the order of $1,150 a month: […] after a few months, I’d saved up some money and I… [Read More...]
Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers – June 2020 (Updated)
Updated June 2020. I’m still collecting points and miles and maximizing the value of my credit card spending. Things are quiet as credit card issuers get conservative, but that just means picking up some slightly lesser bonuses that I passed over previously. That space in your wallet or purse is still valuable, and you should be the one to get that value. Selected banks are offering strong perks and $500+ value for a single card during the first year to encourage you to apply and try it out. These are the top 10 credit card offers that I would personally apply for right now, if I didn’t already have most of them. Notable changes: IHG Hotels 140k/75k – 140k still highest ever, new 75k traveler … [Read More...]
SoFi Money $75 Bank Bonus + $75 Stock Bonus Via Referral (+ 1% Deposit Match?)
(I don’t know if this was targeted, but SoFi Invest (not Money) just sent me an email about a 1% deposit match bonus for the month of June for existing customers. The maximum bonus is $5,000 (if you move over $500,000). You cannot withdraw the net deposits for 90 days. Getting 1% of your deposit in 90 days is roughly the same as 4% annualized, which beats the interest rate on any cash equivalent even if you didn’t invest in anything.) Updated. SoFi (“Social Finance”) has expanded from students loans into a cash management and stock brokerage account. They’ve also updated their bonuses for trying them out, and if you have a spouse/partner, you can refer each other (in addition to … [Read More...]
The Role of Luck in Long-Term Investing, and When To Stop Playing The Game
I am re-reading a series called “Investing for Adults” by William Bernstein. By “Investing for Adults”, Bernstein means that he assumes that you already know the basics of investing and that he can skip to more advanced insights. There are four parts: The Ages of the Investor: A Critical Look at Life-cycle Investing Skating Where the Puck Was: The Correlation Game in a Flat World Deep Risk: How History Informs Portfolio Design Rational Expectations: Asset Allocation for Investing Adults A commonly-cited part of the first book The Ages of the Investor is the question “Once you have won the game, why keep playing?”. If you have enough money to buy a set of safe assets like inflation-adjusted annuities, delayed… [Read More...]
Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve: Helpful New COVID-19 Benefits (Up to 7.5% Back on Groceries)
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Chase Sapphire Reserve card have been very popular for their generous travel and dining perks, but right now travel and dining aren’t really happening. Chase has wisely adjusted their rewards program for this new environment, in addition to the recently-added Doordash benefits. I will definitely be taking advantage of these new earning perks, although I’m still leaning slightly towards keeping my points to redeem toward a Hyatt hotel vacation one day… Chase Sapphire Preferred new changes: 3x points at grocery stores. Earn 3x total points on grocery store purchases from May 1 to June 30, 2020, on up to $1,500 each calendar month. No activation required. Includes Instacart. Redeem Ultimate Rewards points at 1.25 cents per points towards grocery store, dining, and… [Read More...]
List of 529 Day (5/29) College Savings Plan Promotions
Promotions updated for 2020. 5/29 is “National 529 College Savings Plan Day” and certain state plans are offering promotions and/or giveaways. Some end on 5/29 and others end on 5/31, so that’s why I’m posting this early. Many are simply sweepstakes drawings which don’t really excite me, but here are some fixed bonuses: California Scholarshare 529 – $50 bonus when you open a new ScholarShare 529 College Savings Plan account with a $50 contribution and sign up for ongoing automatic contributions of $25 or more per month for a minimum of 6 months between 5/26/20 and 5/31/20. 2019 Gold rating by Morningstar. No special state income tax considerations for contributions. Minnesota 529 College Savings Plan (MNSAVES) – $50 bonus when you open a new MNSAVES account with a $50 contribution and sign up for … [Read More...]
Creative Business Idea: Selling Baked Goods Online via Etsy
My family enjoys watching Kid’s Baking Championship on Food Network, and I’m always impressed how many of these 8-13 year-old contestants have a side baking business! Last weekend, the WSJ article How Etsy Became America’s Unlikeliest Breadbasket profiled home bakers selling their baked goods online through Etsy. That could be a perfect business education for a teenager, including concepts like business plans, accounting, customer service, online marketing, and basic coding. Cottage food laws. Many states allow exemptions that don’t require you to use a commercial kitchen to sell “non-potentially hazardous” items like bread and other baked goods. I knew about “cottage food laws” in terms of church bake sales, but I wasn’t aware that some states have much more relaxed … [Read More...]
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