I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[Chancery8]

I’m not completely confident, and I may have misunderstood the posts I read, but I think I read on a FIRE board that it may not be required to pay the medical expenses with the HSA and the money in the HSA is allowed to grow tax free. This is a real nice option to save for future health expenses. Especially if one does plan to FIRE. Clearly I’m not good at Quotes.

This isn't a direct answer to your question, but in case anyone reading isn't aware, you can also use the HSA as a retirement account. You can invest HSA money in more than just a savings account (investment options depend on what is available through your employer though) so that it grows over time. As long as the money is eventually used for a qualified health expense, HSA money is not taxed when it is contributed or when it is withdrawn, even if it's been growing for decades.

Since we are on the topic of HSA, just remember not everyone is eligible for a HSA, you need to have a high deductible insurance plan. Even if your company does not offer an option to have a HSA through direct deposit you can still open an account on your own and then get the positive tax savings on your tax return. If you are eligible it is a great idea, even if you use it for healthcare costs, instead of planning to eventually use it for retirement. Look at your options when opening an account, some have fees if you don't have a minimum amount.

I feel a lot of people confuse the HSA with a FSA. Excellent point to call out!

A few things to add about HSA (This information is current, but given tax laws/etc, it could change at any point in the future):

• You can't have both a HSA and a "general medical" FSA (only "dependent" or "limited use" FSA, for example, the FSA can only pay for dental and vision expenses).
• HSA can act like a retirement account because there's no "use it or lose it" rule like FSA, so funds roll over year to year.
  
• Treating HSA as a retirement account gives you a triple tax-free benefit: pre-tax contributions, tax-free withdrawals, and tax-free growth.
• Before age 65, withdrawals are only tax free if you use it for qualified medical expenses. Otherwise, there's a 20% penalty AND you also have to pay tax (however, there is a loophole of sorts to this, see below).
  
• After age 65, still tax-free withdrawals for medical expenses OR you can spend the money on anything as there is no more 20% penalty, but you'll have to pay tax like a regular IRA distribution (unless you use the loophole).
• You can use HSA as tax-free savings as well: There is no reimbursement deadline, so if you stockpile medical receipts throughout the years, you can cash them out all at once if you need to access your HSA savings. Just make sure to keep METICULOUS records/receipts for qualified expenses. Since technically you're withdrawing for medical expenses, this is a loophole to avoid paying the 20% penalty & taxes on the distribution.

ETA: For the loophole, while there's technically no time limit for reimbursement, I wouldn't advocate trying to submit a 20 or 30 yr old receipt. I'm thinking that's just gotta be asking for an audit.

 

[wanderlust7]

Frustration. My CIP payment got returned AGAIN. First time, I thought maybe I typed the account number wrong, retyped it and it went through. Had another payment go through after that. No idea why this automatic payment got returned. Definitely not for insufficient balance.

First time they refunded the returned payment fee. This time there's the returned payment fee, late payment fee, and interest charges. A little worried since it's the second time, but if they don't refund it all, I'm going to be . Sent a SM already, so I should hear back tomorrow morning. ARGH. Hope I don't need to escalate!

ETA: Thought I'd go and change my auto pay to be a few days earlier just in case this happens again. Nope. Not an option.

Quoting myself, so heard back from Chase. Apparently, the auto pay was still using the account with the typo. The epay had the correct number. I only see one linked account though. But supposedly it's fixed now and all fees will be refunded. Yay!

Finally got DH's W2 and got far enough on TurboTax to know that we'll need to pay. Boo, but yay MSR? We'll be getting a nice refund from state though. So I'm looking at paying federal tax with a credit card. Looks like Pay1040 has the lowest fees. IRS guidelines says only 2 payments for a 1040. But reddit says you can do 2 per payment processor. With spreading out AmEx spend, I'd like to do more than 2. But reluctant to go against IRS guidelines. So...mulling. Anything else to watch out for? Never done this before, lol.

 

[platamama]

Just chatted with AMEX, they see no record of this offer. So either I call in or it's nothing. DH is NOT going to call in. Guess I have to hope it comes back again sometime. Grrrrrr.

Arghhh, that's so frustrating! I signed up for it on 1/19 on my Biz Plat and the points posted on 1/22. I signed DH for it on 1/20 on his Biz Plat and so far nothing. I do have screenshots if I need to press the issue but I'm going to give it a few more days. (I'm assuming screenshots will help my case if I need to make it.)

BTW congrats on your new job!!

 

[platamama]

Quoting myself, so heard back from Chase. Apparently, the auto pay was still using the account with the typo. The epay had the correct number. I only see one linked account though. But supposedly it's fixed now and all fees will be refunded. Yay!

Finally got DH's W2 and got far enough on TurboTax to know that we'll need to pay. Boo, but yay MSR? We'll be getting a nice refund from state though. So I'm looking at paying federal tax with a credit card. Looks like Pay1040 has the lowest fees. IRS guidelines says only 2 payments for a 1040. But reddit says you can do 2 per payment processor. With spreading out AmEx spend, I'd like to do more than 2. But reluctant to go against IRS guidelines. So...mulling. Anything else to watch out for? Never done this before, lol.

Good to hear they will fix it and refund the penalties, phew!

I've read many times that you can do 2 payments per processor per quarter. FrequentMiler has a good write up on this. Are you planning on Amex cards in the short term that you'd want to spread out your Amex spend in order to avoid the pop up?

 

[miztressuz]

Wow, got hubby to do an about face on opening a new card. I was picking his brain on what he wanted to do for the next card(s) so I have a goal to work towards. I discussed a few options and floated the CIP out there trying to convince him we could do 5k if we plan it right. Met with resistance, which I wasn't surprised, but got more surprised when I started getting resistance about opening ANY new card at all. I know he's tired of all the CC talk and he goes through phases where I know when to back off and when I can bring it up again, but he also knows how much the points and banking game has gotten us already. Literally we would not be able to do this Alaska trip in Sep without CC points, just not even feasible to pay cash for all that we wanted to do even if we wanted to now. So when he just recently brought up that he didn't think it was a good idea to open up another card because he's afraid we're spending money just to get the points, I was floored!

First, because I haven't done that! I can't speak totally for sure for him, but if he did it wasn't anything big that I'm aware of. I pointed out that the only thing I thought we bought that we didn't need to was the refrigerator. I could have bought a few more parts and had it repaired and it'd probably be fine for a few more years. But he's never liked that fridge and I think he used it as an excuse to pick up a new one (which he does like, thank goodness! spent just a little more than I planned on it but he likes it so that little extra was worth not hearing about it again ). But it wasn't outrageous and we had the money to do it In the house maintenance fund, so we did. Second, because I thought knowing that most of this upcoming trip was paid for with points had really turned him! He was much more receptive to the whole game after I showed him some tangibles - like that First Class return flight I paid all of $120 OOP for. He was impressed with that and it was a load off knowing we didn't have to pay cash for that kind of flight. I mean, he opened 5 new cards in one year (and 3 of them were business cards) to make this happen! I really thought this was over since I've been planning this trip for him anyway. This was one of his bucket list destinations, and while I am excited to visit there too, it was really all put together as a "cold" vacation for him as he enjoys that more than sunny beach trips. Ugh.

However, I'm happy to say that logic won out I just got a text from him asking if I had decided on my next card yet. I said no, but asked why? He came back with "Just wondered. As you said it is money we are spending anyway. As much as I hate new cards, it sort of seems logical."

I'm ignoring the "sort of" part right now and declaring a victory... again... for just this battle... I don't think I've yet won the war.

 

[elgerber]

Arghhh, that's so frustrating! I signed up for it on 1/19 on my Biz Plat and the points posted on 1/22. I signed DH for it on 1/20 on his Biz Plat and so far nothing. I do have screenshots if I need to press the issue but I'm going to give it a few more days. (I'm assuming screenshots will help my case if I need to make it.)

BTW congrats on your new job!!

The 20th is the same day I signed DH up for it, sure as heck wish I had screenshots!
Is there a way to confirm if you are signed up for pay over time?

 

[wanderlust7]

Good to hear they will fix it and refund the penalties, phew!

I've read many times that you can do 2 payments per processor per quarter. FrequentMiler has a good write up on this. Are you planning on Amex cards in the short term that you'd want to spread out your Amex spend in order to avoid the pop up?

Thanks! Good to read it from another source. Right, hope to avoid the pop up as long as I can. There are several more cards I hope to get.

 

[elgerber]

Arghhh, that's so frustrating! I signed up for it on 1/19 on my Biz Plat and the points posted on 1/22. I signed DH for it on 1/20 on his Biz Plat and so far nothing. I do have screenshots if I need to press the issue but I'm going to give it a few more days. (I'm assuming screenshots will help my case if I need to make it.)

BTW congrats on your new job!!

Curious, did you get confirmation in the mail that you enrolled? DH has an envelope from AMEX in the mail box right now. I really don't want to go out there though. brrrrrr

 

[Lain]

Downgrade from Lux/Brilliant to SPG/Bonvoy? Yes, it will be an option -Frequent Miler

Per an Amex exec:

Yes, Card Members can continue transfer from the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card to the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card even after the latter is no longer available to new applicants.

This is potentially big news, and I posted some thoughts on r/DISchurners about the implications this may have on second (and subsequent) year AFs.

 

[Lain]

So I logged into P2's Chase account to find that the CIC credit limit is only $3000. I can easily hit that MSR in a month. What should I do?

Cycle your credit. Pay down the balance as soon as a charge posts to open up that credit again. Cycling credit isn’t a big deal with Chase, and may even get Chase to raise your credit limit on its own.

 

[platamama]

The 20th is the same day I signed DH up for it, sure as heck wish I had screenshots!
Is there a way to confirm if you are signed up for pay over time?

Well, I can't find a way now, but when I was enrolling DH in it and was trying to navigate to double check on the signup, I saw a "you're already signed up for pay over time" message during the process. Just now when I tried, I can click on the Account Services tab online, then Payment Options, and go to the Pay Over Time link but then it asks me what card I received the offer on just like when I initially signed up. So that doesn't make sense at all.

Curious, did you get confirmation in the mail that you enrolled? DH has an envelope from AMEX in the mail box right now. I really don't want to go out there though. brrrrrr

No, I haven't gotten anything in the mail except repetitive ads about Pay Over Time. The 10K offer flashed onto my screen when I logged into my account on 1/19 (and DH's on 1/20), but nothing via snail mail. No confirmation via email either for that matter.

 

[wanderlust7]

Downgrade from Lux/Brilliant to SPG/Bonvoy? Yes, it will be an option -Frequent Miler

Per an Amex exec:


This is potentially big news, and I posted some thoughts on r/DISchurners about the implications this may have on second (and subsequent) year AFs.

Planning to get the card formerly known as Lux for P2 once the 100k bonus starts, then follow this strategy. Not going to cancel within 30 days after downgrading though, that's way beyond my risk tolerance!

 

[Calfan]

Curious, did you get confirmation in the mail that you enrolled? DH has an envelope from AMEX in the mail box right now. I really don't want to go out there though. brrrrrr

Well, I can't find a way now, but when I was enrolling DH in it and was trying to navigate to double check on the signup, I saw a "you're already signed up for pay over time" message during the process. Just now when I tried, I can click on the Account Services tab online, then Payment Options, and go to the Pay Over Time link but then it asks me what card I received the offer on just like when I initially signed up. So that doesn't make sense at all.

No, I haven't gotten anything in the mail except repetitive ads about Pay Over Time. The 10K offer flashed onto my screen when I logged into my account on 1/19 (and DH's on 1/20), but nothing via snail mail. No confirmation via email either for that matter.

I did not get any email or snail mail confirmation either. I did get an on-screen confirmation once I had enrolled. The first time I tried I got an error message. That didn't surprise me, because the same thing happened when I had previously enrolled other cards. I just tried again, and then I got the confirmation. With my prior cards, when I tried again, I got a message that I was already enrolled, so I treated that as good. Definitely not a bug-free experience.

 

[elgerber]

Well, I can't find a way now, but when I was enrolling DH in it and was trying to navigate to double check on the signup, I saw a "you're already signed up for pay over time" message during the process. Just now when I tried, I can click on the Account Services tab online, then Payment Options, and go to the Pay Over Time link but then it asks me what card I received the offer on just like when I initially signed up. So that doesn't make sense at all.

Yeah that's what I see too, and I don't want to click on it, in case it's then going to sign up immediately for a zero mile offer.

 

[wendow]

Sorry - I spent summers with my grandparents as a kid and watched a ton of old movies with them! Its really fun watching those same movies with my kids now.

I love old movies too! We own most of the old Disney ones, including Pollyanna, Parent Trap, That Darn Cat, Blackbeard's Ghost, The Ugly Dachshund, The Love Bug, and the list could go on and on lol. My kids have grown up on those movies just like I did. I also love old classics like Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, My Fair Lady, Hitchcock movies, etc. My dh & I both love the same stuff so we weekend binge on old movies and tv shows (twilight zone, Dick VanDyke, Andy Griffith).

 

[Lain]

Planning to get the card formerly known as Lux for P2 once the 100k bonus starts, then follow this strategy. Not going to cancel within 30 days after downgrading though, that's way beyond my risk tolerance!

I think downgrading and not canceling is the better play too. You’ll still be getting more than your money’s worth with the 50k FN cert and double dipping the $300 Marriott credit, and you’ll keep that account open another year to keep Amex happy.

 

[DrFacilier]

Is there a way to use S&S gas points while using Chase Pay at Shell? I like the idea of not having to swipe at gas stations but don’t want to lose the discount.

 

[Chancery8]

A deal has been reached on legislation that will reopen the U.S. government through Feb. 15. I wonder how quickly this will affect TSA...I'm flying out to Orlando tomorrow.

 

[miztressuz]

Downgrade from Lux/Brilliant to SPG/Bonvoy? Yes, it will be an option -Frequent Miler

Per an Amex exec:


This is potentially big news, and I posted some thoughts on r/DISchurners about the implications this may have on second (and subsequent) year AFs.

Well that's a game changer. Not that I'll be opening the Lux card anytime soon, but I didn't plan to open it at all as I don't think we'll get the value out of the AF. However, if you can downgrade later to keep AmEx happy for account age, that might be back on the table. Can you hold more than one card with AmEx? Like if I kept the regular SPG card, could also I downgrade to a 2nd SPG card? (like you can with Chase) I'll have to go read your thoughts now Maybe that's been answered

 

[1st*toright]

I love old movies too! We own most of the old Disney ones, including Pollyanna, Parent Trap, That Darn Cat, Blackbeard's Ghost, The Ugly Dachshund, The Love Bug, and the list could go on and on lol. My kids have grown up on those movies just like I did. I also love old classics like Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, My Fair Lady, Hitchcock movies, etc. My dh & I both love the same stuff so we weekend binge on old movies and tv shows (twilight zone, Dick VanDyke, Andy Griffith).

Need to check out Dick VanDyke - haven't seen that show in years, and I love him (DH hasn't forgiven him yet for the accent in Mary Poppins, but maybe one day...) We've been watching the Waltons lately! I'd love to find "new" TV shows that are good for the whole family - we wind up watching either stuff that is super old or the Great British Baking Show when we are watching something as a family. We had hopes for the new Lost in Space, but while it is really fun, and good for us and the teen, there is way too much peril for the little one to watch it with us. My teen and I love The Good Place, but its too snarky and would be over the little one's head. Its hard to find that sweet spot of entertaining for all yet gentle these days - seems like lots of old movies/TV had that going for them.