Ally Bank Deposit Bonus: 0.50% of New Deposits, Up to $125 (New Customers via Referral Only)

Posted on January 16, 2024 // 2 Comments

Ally Bank is one of my favorite banks in terms of user interface, practical features, and reliability. They were my primary checking account for years. Unfortunately, their savings account rates have been lagging the top rates by about 1% recently. Despite that, I still keep some active accounts there because I use them as my central hub connecting all my many different bank accounts.

Ally is running a new up to $125 deposit bonus by referral only (that’s mine). You get a 0.50% cash bonus on new money deposited (3/29/24 to 7/15/24) on top of their standard interest rate. Here are the details, direct from the offer page:

  • Enroll and open a new Ally Bank Savings Account by 3/1/2024. Enter your name and email address below to start your enrollment in the program. Be sure to open your Savings Account with the same email address you enroll with by 3/1/2024.
  • Fund and build your Savings Account balance. Deposit new money from another financial institution to your newly opened Savings Account by 3/25/2024. You can make multiple funding transactions between the account opening date and 3/25/2024, however your account must be funded within 30 days of opening, or it will be closed. You are eligible to receive a 0.50% cash bonus on the new money you deposit, up to $25,000 (max $125 cash bonus).
  • Keep your money parked through 7/15/2024 to earn your cash bonus. You will receive a 0.50% cash bonus, up to $125, on the new money you deposit into your Savings Account by 3/25/2024 as long as you retain your funds from 3/25/2024 through 7/15/2024. Your cash bonus will be deposited into your Savings Account on or by 7/31/2024.

Napkin math. You have to open by 3/1/24, but there is no minimum balance and you don’t need to make the qualifying deposit until 3/25. The minimum hold period is thus from 3/25 to 7/15, which is 112 days. If we round up to 120 days, then the 0.5% bonus works out to an extra 1.5% annualized yield during that hold period.

If you assume the current interest rate of 4.35% APY holds during the minimum hold period, your total annualized yield would be 4.35 + 1.5 = 5.85% APY. This is a net profit from the current top rate but isn’t an amazingly high number, so I probably wouldn’t do this deal unless you wanted an Ally Savings Account as a long-term account for other reasons beyond highest yield. Ally has done other deposit promos in the past that benefited existing customers. (I wonder if they’ve been losing a lot of deposits recently.)

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

$6,500 IRA Contribution Bonus Challenge: $5,444 in Bonuses (2023 Year End)

Posted on January 12, 2024 // 21 Comments

Final totals for 2023. Each year, I challenge myself to earn the equivalent of the maximum annual IRA contribution limit (up to $6,500 for 2023) using the profits from various finance promotions alone. In 2021, I reached $5,592 in bonuses. In 2022, I reached $6,259 in bonuses. I just went back and tallied up the totals so far for 2023.

I consider it a profitable hobby with serious potential if you add in some disciplined investing. If you had put $6,000 into your IRA every year for the recent 10 year period (2013-2022) and invested in a simple Target Date retirement fund, you would have turned small, weekly deals into a $104,000+ nest egg. You didn’t need to be an investing genius. Another example of Focus + Long attention span = Surprising results.

That’s worth repeating: An extra 100 grand has been the real-world result of playing this game and investing $500 a month in proceeds for the last 10 years! Not to mention, a couple could double these numbers.

Ground rules: Real-world results for one real person only. Following with My Money Blog tradition, this will track my personal, real-world results. It would be quite easy to list a bunch of promotions that add up to $6,000, but these will be promotions that I personally sign up for and complete the requirements (even though I’ve already opened 100+ bank accounts, credit cards, and brokerage accounts over the years). I will track my individual results only, although my partner does also participate on a more selective basis. Nearly all of them have been documented in real-time in the Deals and Offers category, Top 10 credit cards list, and brokerage bonus list.

2023 bonuses and promotions list. The 💵 symbol means I have received and/or cashed out the bonus successfully. The ⌛ symbol means that the promo is still in progress. “Still live” means the offer is still available but the values may have gone up or down.

Total for 2023: If I assume that all bonuses for which I have completed the required activity will eventually post (just a couple left worth under $200), the total tally so far is $5,444, which is 84% of the $6,500 annual IRA contribution limit for 2023. My progress stalled significantly towards the end of 2023; I didn’t apply to any new credit cards at all this quarter, which usually do the bulk of the work. Mostly picked a few low-hanging fruit here and there.

Honorable mention #1: Johnson & Johnson. I did make a $1,350 profit over only 10 calendar days from the Johnson & Johnson odd lot tender play. This did require a $17,000 commitment to buy 99 shares (the max allowed as an individual small investor) before the odd lot tender, but the lockup time was very short.

Honorable mention #2: Microsoft/Activision. I also participated in a merger-arbitrage deal involving Microsoft and Activision. My net profit on my $10,040 initial investment was $2,534, which is $1,177 more than the $1,357 that I could have earned from owning the S&P 500 over the same time period of about 17 months.

This is a personal challenge/game that I like to play (and have played for a long time now). It’s not for everyone. I happen to enjoy trying out new apps and services. I also like my hobbies to be profitable – not gonna lie – but I don’t like to waste my time either. I look for a solid return based on the time commitment required. I tend to avoid speculative bets, bonuses that are hard to convert to real cash-equivalent value, and anything that requires driving to stores where things may or may not be in stock. The deals that I post often last only a few days, but it’s a bit like value investing where you have to be ready to get off your butt and take decisive action when an opportunity shows up, because they won’t last forever.

Many things I have to skip simply because I’ve already done them. For those new to this hobby, I would first grab the best overall cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Reserve and build up a nice stash of flexible Ultimate Rewards points. After that, I would recommend looking at the Citi Premier (ThankYou points), Capital Venture X (Capital One Miles), and American Express Gold (AmEX Membership Rewards points) to jumpstart your points stashes.

In terms of the top current bonus, I would pick the Chase Aeroplan Card that offers the chance to earn 100,000 Aeroplan points that can be used to offset $1,250 of any travel purchases charged on the card.

Exclusions. Importantly, this list ignores the additional interest earned from otherwise optimizing my existing cash balances, as well as everyday credit card rewards like 2% to 2.6% cash back on all purchases and 5% cash back on specific categories or 1% or better cash back on rent.

I am also excluding small-business deals like big Chase Ink Business Cash card bonuses, big business checking bonuses, and so on.

Filed Under: Banking, Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, Goals //

Best Interest Rates on Cash – January 2024

Posted on January 9, 2024 // 10 Comments

If you’re leaving your cash in a checking account at most major banks, you’re probably earning zero interest. With an online application, you could earn a lot more money while keeping the same level of safety by moving to another FDIC-insured bank or NCUA-insured credit union.

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of January 2024, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. There are often lesser-known opportunities available to individual investors. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you could earn from switching. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 1/8/2024.

TL;DR: Rates are dropping at longer maturities, in expectation of future Fed rate drops. Still 5%+ savings accounts, but no more 5-year CDs at 5% APY. Compare against Treasury bills and bonds at every maturity, taking into account state tax exemption.

Fintech accounts
Available only to individual investors, fintech companies often pay higher-than-market rates in order to achieve fast short-term growth (often using venture capital). “Fintech” is usually a software layer on top of a partner bank’s FDIC insurance.

  • 5.32% APY ($1 minimum). Raisin lets you switch between different FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-insured credit unions easily without opening a new account every time, and their liquid savings rates currently top out at 5.32% APY. See my Raisin review for details. Raisin does not charge depositors a fee for the service.
  • 5.36% APY (before fees). MaxMyInterest is another service that allows you to access and switch between different FDIC-insured banks. You can view their current banks and APYs here. As of 12/6/23, the highest rate is from Customers Bank at 5.36% APY. However, note that they charge a membership fee of 0.04% per quarter, or 0.16% per year (subject to $20 minimum per quarter, or $80 per year). That means if you have a $10,000 balance, then $80 a year = 0.80% per year. This service is meant for those with larger balances. You are allowed to cancel the service and keep the bank accounts, but then you may lose their specially-negotiated rates and cannot switch between banks anymore.

High-yield savings accounts
Since the huge megabanks STILL pay essentially no interest, everyone should have a separate, no-fee online savings account to piggy-back onto 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 and solid user experience. 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.

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 (plan to buy a house soon, 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. Raisin has a 5-month No Penalty CD at 5.40% APY with $1 minimum deposit and 30-day minimum hold time. CIT Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 4.90% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 4.55% APY for all balance tiers. Marcus has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 4.70% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Consider opening multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
  • CIBC Agility Online has a 12-month CD at 5.51% APY. Reasonable 30-day penalty if you withdraw your CD funds before maturity.

Money market mutual funds + Ultra-short bond ETFs*
Many brokerage firms that pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). * Money market mutual funds are regulated, but ultimately not FDIC-insured, so I would still stick with highly reputable firms. I am including a few ultra-short bond ETFs as they may be your best cash alternative in a brokerage account, but they may experience losses.

  • Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund is the default sweep option for Vanguard brokerage accounts, which has an SEC yield of 5.29% (changes daily, but also works out to a compound yield of 5.42%, which is better for comparing against APY). Odds are this is much higher than your own broker’s default cash sweep interest rate.
  • The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 5.49% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 5.30% 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 and are fully backed by the US government. 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, which can make a significant difference in your effective yield.

  • 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 1/8/24, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 5.39% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 4.83% annualized interest.
  • The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) has a 5.45% SEC yield and effective duration of 0.10 years. SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a 5.21% SEC yield and effective duration of 0.08 years.

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 for electronic I bonds 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 2023 and April 2024 will earn a 5.27% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More on Savings Bonds here.
  • In mid-April 2023, 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.

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/or 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.

  • OnPath Federal Credit Union pays 7.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and login to online or mobile banking once per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization. You can also get a $100 Visa Reward card when you open a new account and make qualifying transactions.
  • Credit Union of New Jersey pays 6.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit, online bill payment, or automatic payment (ACH) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
  • Pelican State Credit Union pays 6.05% APY on up to $20,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, log into your account at least once, and make at least 1 direct deposit, online bill payment, or automatic payment (ACH) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization membership.
  • Orion Federal Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make electronic deposits of $500+ each month (ACH transfers count) and spend $500+ on your Orion debit or credit card each month. Anyone can join this credit union via $10 membership fee to partner organization membership.
  • All America/Redneck Bank pays 5.30% APY on up to $15,000 if you make 10 debit card purchases each monthly cycle with online statements.
  • 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.

  • United States Senate Credit Union has a 60-month CD at 4.86% APY with $1,000 minimum. Jumbo CDs have slightly higher rates ($100k+, $200k+). The early withdrawal penalty is 360 days of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization.
  • BMO Alto has a 5-year CD at 4.60% APY. 4-year at 4.60% APY. 3-year at 4.60% APY. 2-year at 4.75% APY. 1-year at 5.50% APY. No minimum. The early withdrawal penalty (EWP) for CD maturities of 1 year or more is 180 days of interest. For CD maturities of 11 months or less, the EWP is 90 days of interest. Note that they reserve the right to prohibit early withdrawals entirely. Online-only subsidiary of BMO Bank.
  • 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. Right now, I see a 5-year non-callable CD at 4.05% APY (callable: no, call protection: yes). Be warned that now both Vanguard and Fidelity will list higher rates from callable CDs, which importantly means they can call back your CD if rates drop later.

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 CDs at 3.8% (callable: no, call protection: yes) vs. 4.01% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs where they can call your CD back if interest rates drop.

All rates were checked as of 1/8/2023.

Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //

Ink Business Cash® Credit Card Review: Up to $750 Cash Bonus, 5% Back Categories, No Annual Fee

Posted on January 8, 2024 // 15 Comments

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card has a sign-up promotion offering up to a $750 total cash bonus (75,000 Ultimate Rewards points) for new cardholders that meet the spending requirements, along with 5% cash back and 2% cash back on select small business categories, all with no annual fee. Here are the details:

  • Up to $750 total bonus. Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.
  • 5% cash back (or 5X Ultimate Rewards per dollar) on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year.
  • 2% cash back (or 2X Ultimate Rewards per dollar) on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year.
  • 1% cash back on all other card purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn.
  • Free additional cards for employees.
  • No annual fee.
  • Member FDIC

Ultimate Rewards points. The cash sign-up bonus actually comes in the form of Ultimate Rewards points at 1 point = 1 cent in cash. 75,000 points = $750 cash. This is similar to the situation with the Chase Freedom Unlimited.

If you have also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred Card, then you can pool all of your Ultimate Rewards points together (even with your spouse/partner as an authorized user) and either use the airline/hotel transfer partners or redeem using the new “Pay Yourself Back” tool for a 25% to 50% boost in value.

Leveraging the 5% back bonus categories. Putting all of your small business cell phone, landline, and internet bills on the card and getting 5% back is pretty handy. For example, even just $200 a month x 12 months x 5% back is $120 back a year without changing your spending habits. Now let’s take the office supply store category and the fact that you can buy gifts cards to Amazon.com and other retailers at such office supply stores like Staples and OfficeMax… now you can effectively discount many of your other purchasing needs by 5% as well. Putting those purchases on such gift cards upfront can also help you meet the spending requirement for the bonus.

10% Business Relationship Bonus details. If you have the Ink Business Cash card plus a Chase Business Checking account on your first card anniversary, you’ll earn a one-time 10% bonus of all eligible cash back earned in your first year. Offer is only available for Ink Business Cash cards opened between March and November 2024.

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, 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.

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.

Bottom line. The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card has a large sign-up bonus and ongoing features of 5X/2X categories with no annual fee. This card is best if you have significant expenses in the special 5% and 2% categories above. If you have certain other Chase credit cards, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points over to those cards and increase your value.

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

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, Reviews //

iPhone 6/7/SE Performance Slowdown Class Action Settlement

Posted on January 8, 2024 // Leave a Comment

Update January 2024: It took over 3 years, but if you received a $92.17 deposit in your bank account with the description “IN RE APPLE INC Payouts”, it is your payment for this settlement. It’s always best to assume it will take a few years for these payouts to show up, and choose your payment method accordingly. For example, if you move a lot, don’t pick paper check. If you switch bank accounts a lot, pick one you always keep.

Original post from July 2020:

Apple settled a class action lawsuit claiming that they secretly throttled the performance of iPhones using software in order to offset battery problems. Some users claimed that if Apple did this openly, they could have simply replaced the batteries in their old phones instead of replacing the entire phone. If you owned one of the following devices and experienced diminished performance, you can make a claim here.

  • iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and/or SE device that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21, 2017, or
  • iPhone 7 or 7 Plus device that ran iOS 11.2 or later before December 21, 2017

The estimated cash payment is $25, but the final amount may go up or down depending on the number of claimants.

Apple will provide a cash payment of approximately $25 per eligible device, provided that Apple will not pay more than $500 million in aggregate to the Settlement Class Members. If the total value of approved claims submitted exceeds the $500 million Ceiling, the value of each approved claim (per eligible device) will be reduced on a pro rata basis. Additionally, under the proposed settlement, if the total value of approved claims submitted by Settlement Class Members does not exceed the $310 million Floor, the value of each approved claim (per eligible device) may be increased on a pro rata basis, up to a maximum of $500 per device.

You will need to provide your iPhone serial number. If their search tool does not work, here are other ways to find your iPhone’s serial number:

  • If you have your phone, go to Setting > General > About > Serial Number.
  • Under your Apple ID account > Devices at appleid.apple.com.
  • Look on the outside of the original box, near the barcode.
  • On your original paper or online receipt.
  • On your Applecare documentation (if you bought this).
Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card Review

Posted on January 4, 2024 // 18 Comments

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® Credit Card is a no-annual-fee rewards card which earns a flat 1.5% cash back on all non-bonus purchases (or a possibly more valuable 1.5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent). This is a different card from the new Chase Freedom Flex, which has 5% cash back on rotating categories, on up to $1,500 in purchases each quarter. Here are the highlights for new cardholders:

  • $250 bonus (25,000 Ultimate Rewards points) after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.*
  • 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers. 3% intro balance transfer fee when you transfer a balance during the first 60 days your account is open, with a minimum of $5. After that, the fee for future balance transfers is 5% of the amount transferred, with a minimum of $5.

Here is the standard rewards structure, before the new cardholder offer:

  • 5X points (5% cash back) on travel purchased through Chase TravelSM.
  • 3X points (3% cash back) on dining out, take-out, and eligible delivery services.
  • 3X points (3% cash back) on drugstore purchases.
  • Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases.
  • No minimum to redeem for cash back. You can choose to receive a statement credit or direct deposit into most U.S. checking and savings accounts. Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open!
  • Cash back does not expire as long as your card is open.
  • No annual fee.

1.5% cash back on all purchases is better than the 1% cash back you see from a lot of cards, but there are now multiple 2% back back cards out there.

But wait, you actually get Ultimate Rewards Points! The lesser-known perk of this card is that you actually earn Ultimate Rewards points, which are in turn redeemable for cash back at a rate of 100 points = $1 in cash back, or 1 cent per point. But you don’t have to do that. Ultimate Rewards points are worth collecting because of their flexibility. (I hope Chase doesn’t forget this fact.) This is important because there are many ways in which Ultimate Rewards points can be worth much more than 1 cent per point.

If you have also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred Card, then you can pool all of your Ultimate Rewards points together (even with your spouse/partner as an authorized user) and thus utilize all of the same transfer partners with the following results:

  • Earn 1.5 United Mileageplus miles per dollar spent on ALL purchases.
  • Earn 1.5 Hyatt points per dollar spent on ALL purchases.
  • Earn 1.5 British Airways Avios per dollar spent on ALL purchases.
  • Earn 1.5 Southwest Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent on ALL purchases.

Notice that you are earning more miles and points on ALL purchases than even the specific co-branded cards from United or Hyatt themselves! Most of them just offer 1 point/mile per dollar spent on all purchases.

If you placed a perceived value of 1.5 cents on each United Airlines mile or Hyatt hotel point, then you’d receive 2.25 cents of perceived value per dollar spent with this card. Your actual numbers will depend on your own specific redemption choices, but you can see that you can definitely exceed 2% cash back value on an ongoing basis with the Sapphire Preferred/Freedom Unlimited combo.

With the Sapphire Reserve, you can also redeem for travel through the Chase TravelSM portal at 1.5 cents per point value, which means 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points = $300 towards airfare, hotel, car rentals booked through Chase Travel. 5% cash back on groceries turns into 7.5% potential value back, and so on.

If you would like the opportunity to earn 5% cash back on rotating bonus categories each quarter, compare with the Chase Freedom Flex card. You can have both a Freedom and a Freedom Unlimited card, but you’ll have to apply for each card separately. I think this is actually a great combo if you plan to keep a Sapphire Preferred/Sapphire Reserve/Ink Preferred cards as well.

Restrictions. This card is subject to “5/24” restrictions, which means that your application will be automatically denied if you have opened 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 months (check your credit reports). Our household strategy is to have one person only apply for Chase 5/24 cards, and the other person applies for everything else. There is also this language on the consumer card:

This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.

Bottom line. The Chase Freedom Unlimited® Credit Card> is a unique card that works best in combination with either the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Preferred Business cards. The combination of earning 1.5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on all purchases plus the unique redemption options from those other cards can create a value exceeding that of 2% cash back. You also get a bonus category of 3X points on dining out and drugstore purchases.

The information for the Chase Freedom Unlimited® Credit Card has been collected independently by My Money Blog. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Fierce Finance App Review: 5.25% APY + New Deposit/Referral/Trade Bonuses

Posted on January 3, 2024 // 5 Comments

Update January 2024: If you opened an account with Fierce previously, keep a lookout for e-mails with new promotions. In addition to the new account bonuses detailed below, I have received the following promos: a $25 bonus for setting up recurring $100+ deposits for 90 days (doesn’t have to be “direct deposit”), and another $25 bonus for making 10 stock purchase orders of $10+ before the end of the quarter. (Note: The roundtrip cost of an SGOV buy/sell trade of a single share has been only a penny in my experience during the trading day.)

Here is the fine print from my e-mail. I am not sure if they are targeted.

*To qualify for the $25 Bonus, you are required to set up Direct Deposit or Recurring Deposits to your Fierce Cash account with a value of $100 or greater per deposit for a minimum of 90 days from your first deposit. After your first successful Direct Deposit or Recurring Deposit transaction, the $25 Bonus will be credited to your Fierce Cash account at the end of the following month. Normal account service charges and miscellaneous charges may apply to the Fierce account, which may reduce earnings.

*To qualify for the $25 Bonus, you are required to execute 10 or more stock purchase orders of $10 or greater before 11:59pm ET on March 31st, 2024. The $25 Bonus will be credited to your Fierce Cash account at the end of the following month. Normal account service charges and miscellaneous charges may apply to the Fierce account, which may reduce earnings. The $25 Bonus offer cannot be used in combination with any other Fierce promotional offer.

Original post with new account bonuses:

Fierce Finance is another new fintech with big ambitions. Currently available as an iPhone app (Android “coming soon”), it combines a checking account, stock trading, and crypto. Notably, the checking account pays 5.25% APY and offers a few different bonus opportunities, which they say don’t stack but I’ve still been offered them one after another. Additional details below.

Banking

  • 5.25% APY (as of 1/3/24) on the Fierce Checking Account.
  • No monthly fees, no minimum balance requirement.
  • Banking services provided by Cross River Bank, Member FDIC.
  • Uses the Allpoint ATM network of 55,000 surcharge-free ATMs worldwide.
  • “Live Support via phone, email, or live chat.”

Investing

  • It says “zero management fees”, I can only guess they also have zero stock commissions like nearly everyone else.
  • Brokerage services provided by FIN2, member FINRA and SIPC.
  • “Earn yield on your stocks” – I’m guessing this is also just fully paid securities lending.
  • Regulated Crypto Trading in all 50 states.

Deposit Bonus details (EXPIRED). If you open a new Fierce account and reach one of the deposit tiers below within 30 days of account opening, keep it there for 180 days, and keep your account open for 210 days, you can receive the following bonus amount:

  • $25 for deposits of $1,000+
  • $100 for deposits of $10,000+
  • $200 for deposits of $30,000+
  • $500 for deposits of $100,000+

If everything goes perfectly, the $100 for $10,000 deposit tier would add about 2% to your APY over that period (in reality probably a little less). As long as they maintain their currently competitive interest rate, it’s not a bad combined total return for 6-7 months.

Fine print from their website:

The Deposit Bonus offer is only available to new customers that meet all current account opening requirements. To qualify for the Deposit Bonus, you are required to open a new Fierce account and initiate cumulative new money deposits, according to the table below, within 30 days of account opening. The cumulative value or greater must remain in your Fierce account for a minimum of 180 days. The Deposit Bonus will be credited to your Fierce Cash account at the end of the following month. Accounts must be kept open for 210 days from the time of qualifying. Normal account service charges and miscellaneous charges may apply to the Fierce account, which may reduce earnings.

Deposit Bonus:
$25 for deposits of $1k+
$100 for deposits of $10k+
$200 for deposits of $30k+
$500 for deposits of $100k+

The Deposit Bonus offer cannot be used in combination with any other Fierce promotional offer. For tax purposes, the value of the bonus will be reported to the IRS on Form 1099-INT. Fierce reserves the right to limit an individual to one account-related gift incentive per rolling 12-month period. Accounts closed at the time of bonus payment are not eligible. Offer is subject to cancellation without notice and cannot be combined with any other bonus offer. Fierce is not responsible for, and will not honor, promotional offers that appear on third-party websites that are not authorized by Fierce.

$25 Referral Bonus details. If you open via a referral link (opening on iPhone recommended, my link), you will get a $25 bonus if you open a new account and deposit $250. The terms suggest you can’t combine this with the deposit bonus below, so I would just do this bonus if you don’t want to deposit $10,000+ for the deposit bonus. Swagbucks also has their own bonus (currently I see 3,000 SB for a $25 deposit).

Fine print from their website:

The $25 Referral Bonus offer is only available to customers that meet all current account opening requirements. To qualify for the $25 Referral Bonus, the referrer is required to have a Fierce account in good standing with a balance of $250 or more. The referred customer must initiate cumulative new money deposits totaling $250 or more into their Fierce Cash Account within 30 days of account opening. A cumulative value of $250 or more must remain in their Fierce account for a minimum of 30 days. The $25 bonus will be credited to the referrer’s Fierce Cash account at the end of the following month. Accounts must be kept open for 90 days from the time of qualifying. Normal account service charges and miscellaneous charges may apply to the Fierce account, which may reduce earnings. Limited to 10 Referral Bonuses payments or $250 in bonus payments per customer.

The $25 Referral Bonus offer cannot be used in combination with any other Fierce promotional offer. For tax purposes, the value of the bonus will be reported to the IRS on Form 1099-INT. Fierce reserves the right to limit an individual to one account-related gift incentive per rolling 12-month period. Accounts closed at the time of bonus payment are not eligible. Offer is subject to cancellation without notice and cannot be combined with any other bonus offer. Fierce is not responsible for, and will not honor, promotional offers that appear on third-party websites that are not authorized by Fierce.

Trading bonus details. This appears to be their advertised bonus on their front page at the moment (January 2024), but it was sent to me via email after opening up my account so I feel they should be stackable in my situation. I would open up using the deposit or referral bonus above, and then keep a lookout. $10 bonus for your first $10+ stock purchase, and a separate $10 bonus for your first $10+ crypto purchase. Total $20.

Fine print from website:

The Trading Bonus offer is only available to customers that meet all current account opening requirements and have not previously purchased stock or crypto on Fierce.

To qualify for the Trading Bonus, you are required to have a Fierce account in good standing that has not previously purchased stock or crypto. The customer must initiate cumulative new stock or crypto orders, according to the Trading Bonus table below, between the time the offer is received and 11:59 pm ET on October 31st 2023. The cumulative value or greater must remain in your Fierce Stock or Fierce Crypto account for a minimum of 30 days. The Trading Bonus will be credited directly to your Fierce Cash account at the end of the following month. Accounts must be kept open for 90 days from the time of qualifying. Normal account service charges and miscellaneous charges may apply to the Fierce account, which may reduce earnings. Limited to 1 Stock Trading Bonus payment per customer and 1 Crypto Trading Bonus payment per customer, or a total of $20 in bonus payment per customer.
Trading Bonus:
$10 cash bonus for stock purchases equalling $10 or greater.
$10 cash bonus for crypto purchases equalling $10 or greater.

The Trading Bonus offer cannot be used in combination with any other Fierce promotional offer. For tax purposes, the value of the bonus will be reported to the IRS on Form 1099-INT. Fierce reserves the right to limit an individual to one account-related gift incentive per rolling 12-month period. Accounts closed at or prior to the time of bonus payment are not eligible. Offer is subject to cancellation without notice and cannot be combined with any other bonus offer. Fierce is not responsible for, and will not honor, promotional offers that appear on third-party websites that are not authorized by Fierce.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Fidelity Bloom App: Fintech App from Traditional Broker

Posted on January 3, 2024 // 20 Comments

Update July 2024: Looks like Fidelity is ending this little experiment. They are no longer accepting new applications. It was fun to try out and collect the various incentives.

Update January 2024: If you have the Fidelity Bloom app, this is a reminder that the 10% annual savings match is reset and you can again get $30 for a $300 transfer into your Fidelity Bloom Save account. If you use the SPAXX option for cash sweep, you are also earning close to the equivalent of 5% APY (as of 1/3/24). Here is a screenshot of my 2023 rewards:

Full review:

Fidelity Bloom is a new(er) app from Fidelity Investments targeted at helping young adults become more financially aware and develop better savings habits. iOS and Android. Fidelity has included many “behavioral psychology” features from other fintech startup apps like a match on savings transfers, debit card cash back rewards, rounding-up purchases and saving the difference, and shopping portal cashback. The highlights:

  • (No new user bonus at the moment. Was $100.)
  • 10% annual savings match (up to $30). Get a 10% match on the first $300 saved into their Bloom Save account (up to a $30 match on $300 of new money deposited).
  • 10 cents from Fidelity with every debit card purchase. Fidelity will automatically deposit a fixed 10 cents into the Fidelity Bloom Save account every time customers use the Fidelity Bloom debit card. Reminds me of the Citi Rewards+ credit card.
  • Automatically round up purchases into savings. Customers can automatically round up purchases to the nearest dollar and have the difference moved to savings from their Fidelity Bloom Spend to their Fidelity Bloom Save account.
  • Up to 25% cashback through shopping portal. Receive up to 25% cash back into your Fidelity Bloom Save account when you shop in-app with 1,100+ participating retailers.

Interest rate is competitive (up to ~5% as of 1/3/24 with SPAXX), but it’s a brokerage account. Is it a bank account? Is it a brokerage account? It’s a SIPC-insured brokerage account:

The Fidelity Bloom App is designed to help with your saving and spending behaviors through your Save and Spend accounts, which are brokerage accounts covered by SIPC insurance. They are not bank accounts and therefore are not covered by FDIC insurance.

You do get a routing number and account number for your two accounts, but the cash is held like their other non-retirement accounts. During the sign-up process, you can pick between one of three options for your core position:

  • Fidelity® Interest-Bearing Option (FCASH)
  • Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX)
  • Fidelity Treasury Money Market Fund (FZFXX)

Although I have confidence in Fidelity’s long-term experience and conservatism in running these money market mutual funds, the lack of FDIC coverage is something to note. The rates may change daily. View current rates here.

After you open via app, you can see the account balances at Fidelity.com but you’ll still need the app to change any settings. Here’s a screenshot from my app.

Fidelity recently shut down another of its experimental apps called “Fidelity Spire”, so we’ll see if this one catches on a bit better.

For posterity, here are the terms & conditions for the (expired) $100 limited-time offer:

This offer is valid for new or existing Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC (“Fidelity”) customers who make an initial total deposit of at least $50 (“Qualifying Deposit”) into their Fidelity Bloom Spend account or Fidelity Bloom Save account on or after August 13, 2023 through the Fidelity Bloom app. This offer is limited to one cash award per individual. For clarity, existing Bloom clients who have not yet made any deposits into either of their Fidelity Bloom Spend or Fidelity Bloom Save accounts can participate in this offer by making a Qualifying Deposit by August 27, 2023. Existing Fidelity customers who have previously made deposits into their Fidelity Bloom Spend or Save accounts, including individuals who have already participated in the Bloom $50 offer, are not eligible for this offer.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //

NASA FCU Premier eChecking Account: $300 Bonus

Posted on December 21, 2023 // 2 Comments

NASA Federal Credit Union (NASA FCU) has a new checking account promotion that is a bit of extra work, but may be worth it when you consider they often have pretty good certificate rates (see current special rates including 9-month CD at 5.70% APY). Anyone can join NASA FCU by agreement to join a partner association (they will pay your membership fee to National Space Society).

Their $300 checking account promo has the following requirements:

  • Open a Premier eChecking account between 12/11/2023 and 12/31/2023. You must also open a Share Savings account and keep $5 in there as long as you are a member.
  • Establish a $500 minimum monthly recurring direct deposit for 3 consecutive months AND make at least 15 debit card purchases (pin or signature) for 3 consecutive months, all within 120 days of account opening. (You get 5 cents of rewards for each signature debit transaction, up to $250 annually.)
  • There is no monthly fee as long as you maintain direct deposit (any amounts) OR active billpay + paperless online statements. Otherwise, $8 a month. There is no minimum balance requirement otherwise. Limit one bonus per member.

You are able to fund up to $500 initially with a credit card. Some ways to generate extra debit card purchases beyond your usual small purchases may include Amazon gift card reloads, paying cell phone or other bills online in increments, and making credit card charitable donations. There will be the usual “Know Your Customer” identity checks and they will ask to upload your driver’s license and/or other ID like passport. Finally, be aware that they will close your idle accounts without notice if you don’t have any transactions for a while.

This will go towards my 2024 IRA challenge bucket.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Lowe’s: Buy $50 Gift Card, Get $10 eGift Card Free

Posted on December 21, 2023 // 2 Comments

We are in the home stretch of 2023. I hope that you all will be able to spend time with friends and family this holiday season. Posting will be extra brief and sporadic for the rest of the year.

Buy $50 in Lowe’s Gift Cards, get a $10 bonus eGift Card free. Limit 2 per household. While supplies last. Expires 12/24/23. $20 savings is still $20 savings…

If you’re anything like me, whenever there is a home improvement project going on, it’s always 11 extra trips to Home Depot or Lowe’s because you forget a single piece of hardware or need just one more tube of caulk.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Targeted Fidelity Customers: Free TurboTax Premium Online ($5 for Download)

Posted on December 17, 2023 // 18 Comments

Fidelity Investments is offering selected customers free access to TurboTax Online Premium (Federal and State), or $5 for the TurboTax Premier Desktop edition. To find out if you are eligible, it is suggested that you look for the offer under “Accounts & Trade” and then “Portfolio” and look for a tile with this offer.

Exclusive offer on TurboTax®
Fidelity is pleased to offer you a free federal and state tax return using TurboTax Online Premium, or for $5 use TurboTax Premier desktop download. Select the link below to access your offer.

However, a more direct method is to simply visit one of these links below directly, log into your Fidelity account, and see if the offer link works.

$5 for TurboTax Premier Desktop edition is a significant savings (worth at least ~$68 due to the lowest ever price of $73 at Amazon), but I don’t know that the lower 30% offer is really that much better than other discounts out there.

Special Offer: 30% off TurboTax
To help make tax time easier this year, Fidelity partnered with TurboTax. Whether you’d like a tax expert to file for you, help you along the way, or you’d like to file on your own, take advantage of 30% off all TurboTax federal products.

There are many theories as to what characteristics you need at Fidelity to qualify for this offer, but I don’t know that there is any single thing that applies. I have significant assets at Fidelity across a variety of account types, from a Solo 401k to IRAs to a taxable brokerage account, and I did not qualify. However, it’s a quick click and worth a moment to check.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Top FDIC-Insured Savings Account Interest Rate vs. Inflation (2017-2023)

Posted on December 15, 2023 // Leave a Comment

Whenever an article mentions the “average savings account rate”, I find that information useless. There are a lot of zeros in that average! But this Axios article has an interesting chart comparing the top savings rate vs. the rolling 3-month inflation rate from January 2017 through December 2023. That’s more applicable. Via reader Bill.

This serves as a good reminder that back in July 2021, the absolute top interest rate on an FDIC-insured savings account was redlining at… 1.00% APY. And that was actually a very good relative rate as the Vanguard money market fund with a yield of essentially zero (0.01% APY). Conservative savers had a very hard time earning hardly any interest and were falling behind inflation.

As of December 2023, you are now able to take zero principal risk and yet earn 5% from both the top savings accounts and the top money market funds. Every $10,000 should earn you $500 a year in interest. Every $100,000 should earn you $5,000 a year in interest. $1,000,000 will earn out $50,000 year, absolutely guaranteed. Best of all, that amount is finally a good margin higher than inflation at the moment.

But for those of us with long investing horizons, we must remember that over that long horizon, cash (as tracked by Treasury bills) has historically only just barely kept up with inflation. Sometimes cash wins, sometimes inflation wins, but over the long arc, it’s basically been a a draw. Even if we rate-chase and gain an extra 1% of “alpha”, that’s historically still not as good as stocks for the long run.

So while I still chase rates, 2/3rds of my investment portfolio remains held permanently in stocks. Here’s a chart of the S&P 500 total return for 2023 year-to-date (credit Ycharts). Up 25% as of this writing (12/14/23).

I did not predict that. This should also serve as a reminder that any 2024 S&P 500 forecasts you read this month are also garbage.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing, Retirement //
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