I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

If you don't mind tying your money up for at least a year, I would buy an I Bond for $10K. If you buy an I Bond before Oct. 31 (to be safe I would buy by Oct. 28), you get 9.62% interest for 6 months. The rate starting on November 1 will probably be around 6.47% for the next 6 months (it will be announced on November 1).

I can pull it after a year? I may just need to do that with her money and "borrow" $10k from "her money" for her brother. Or are you only allowed to do 1?

I second the I Series Bond suggestion, but if you do not want your money locked up for a minimum of 12 months (cannot withdraw within that time frame), perhaps consider Lake Michigan Credit Union's Max Checking account, which gives 3% on up to $15,000. The requirements are very light: direct deposit, 4 logins per month, and 10 debit card transactions. The rate has not changed in several years, which is key for high yield checking/savings accounts.

Otherwise, here's a few lists of high yield savings accounts: https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/banking/high-yield-online-savings-accounts, https://www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/best-high-yield-interests-savings-accounts/

Do you know what shows as a DD? I'm guessing I could have my daughter's soccer ref payments count. Hmmm.

yeah, I think it was 1k when I did it I wanna say it's 500 with a recurring deposit also. It's 2.55 now I just logged in to check.

Amex accounts? They were 1.1% when I looked last week and pulled my money!

 

[reliev]

Amex accounts? They were 1.1% when I looked last week and pulled my money!

no not amex wealthfront .
amex is 2.15% i dont think there was a minimum. I still have a little just in case I have no problems moving to another account(s) for .25% call me cheap.

 

[platamama]

I can pull it after a year? I may just need to do that with her money and "borrow" $10k from "her money" for her brother. Or are you only allowed to do 1?



Do you know what shows as a DD? I'm guessing I could have my daughter's soccer ref payments count. Hmmm.

I bonds have a 12 month minimum holding period. If you withdraw before they're 5 years old, there will be a 3 months worth of interest penalty. It's $10K per SSN per year. Interest is state and local tax free. If interest is used for higher education AND you make less than $83,200 MAGI (see IRS Form 8815; that's the number from 2021 for a single filer) then the interest is federal tax free too. If you make over $98,200 MAGI (single filer in 2021) then the interest is fully taxed at the federal level; the interest exclusion gets phased out between $83,200 and $98,200.

You'd think that a student could buy these to fund higher education, and get the interest exclusion, but no. If a person is under 24 years of age when the bonds are issued, then the interest is always taxable at the federal level...however if your kid files for themself and makes less than $12,550/yr (standard deduction for single filer in 2021) then they pay $0 federal taxes anyway, so functionally, it's not being taxed.

I bonds must be purchased from TreasuryDirect.gov

There is also the Ally bonus going on right now. See https://www.disboards.com/threads/anyone-have-a-high-interest-savings-account.3898923/post-64365709

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Thank you for the I Bond suggestion! I think it's exactly what I'm looking for!

no not amex wealthfront .
amex is 2.15% i dont think there was a minimum. I still have a little just in case I have no problems moving to another account(s) for .25% call me cheap.

I'm locked at 1.1% and 1.3% w/ my 2 amex accounts. So off to Discover that money goes, LOL. I've got a bank bonus in the works w/ Citizen's right now too for the account I created to hold my dad's money. So bring on the free money, LOL.

I bonds have a 12 month minimum holding period. If you withdraw before they're 5 years old, there will be a 3 months worth of interest penalty. It's $10K per SSN per year. Interest is state and local tax free. If interest is used for higher education AND you make less than $83,200 MAGI (see IRS Form 8815; that's the number from 2021 for a single filer) then the interest is federal tax free too. If you make over $98,200 MAGI (single filer in 2021) then the interest is fully taxed at the federal level; the interest exclusion gets phased out between $83,200 and $98,200.

You'd think that a student could buy these to fund higher education, and get the interest exclusion, but no. If a person is under 24 years of age when the bonds are issued, then the interest is always taxable at the federal level...however if your kid files for themself and makes less than $12,550/yr (standard deduction for single filer in 2021) then they pay $0 federal taxes anyway, so functionally, it's not being taxed.

I bonds must be purchased from TreasuryDirect.gov

There is also the Ally bonus going on right now. See https://www.disboards.com/threads/anyone-have-a-high-interest-savings-account.3898923/post-64365709

Thank you! I file HOH so normally my limits are higher than just single. But I think the i bond is exactly what I want. And since you can buy in increments, I'll buy my 17yo's in $1k chunks and only "cash in" as needed. My 13yo I can let ride for the 5 years! And it looks like I can do one for myself and 1 for my business. So I might look into that too! It'll earn way more than any bank interest and isn't as risky as stocks (which I know nothing about). And since I can cash them in, I'm not as "scared" my money is "untouchable". And with the other money I have, I can work on HYSA and bank bonuses, LOL.

TBH, the ibond works perfect for my 17yo. I don't want her thinking she just has $23k sitting there she can waste. The ibond ties it up, and earns her better interest. We were going to set up an account that required dual signatures to withdraw, but this would work.

 

[reliev]

I bonds have a 12 month minimum holding period. If you withdraw before they're 5 years old, there will be a 3 months worth of interest penalty. It's $10K per SSN per year. Interest is state and local tax free. If interest is used for higher education AND you make less than $83,200 MAGI (see IRS Form 8815; that's the number from 2021 for a single filer) then the interest is federal tax free too. If you make over $98,200 MAGI (single filer in 2021) then the interest is fully taxed at the federal level; the interest exclusion gets phased out between $83,200 and $98,200.

You'd think that a student could buy these to fund higher education, and get the interest exclusion, but no. If a person is under 24 years of age when the bonds are issued, then the interest is always taxable at the federal level...however if your kid files for themself and makes less than $12,550/yr (standard deduction for single filer in 2021) then they pay $0 federal taxes anyway, so functionally, it's not being taxed.

I bonds must be purchased from TreasuryDirect.gov

There is also the Ally bonus going on right now. See https://www.disboards.com/threads/anyone-have-a-high-interest-savings-account.3898923/post-64365709

yotta has a partnership where you dont have to use treasury direct its great instead of messing with that terrible website

 

[ambgoph]

Thank you for the I Bond suggestion! I think it's exactly what I'm looking for!


I'm locked at 1.1% and 1.3% w/ my 2 amex accounts. So off to Discover that money goes, LOL. I've got a bank bonus in the works w/ Citizen's right now too for the account I created to hold my dad's money. So bring on the free money, LOL.



Thank you! I file HOH so normally my limits are higher than just single. But I think the i bond is exactly what I want. And since you can buy in increments, I'll buy my 17yo's in $1k chunks and only "cash in" as needed. My 13yo I can let ride for the 5 years! And it looks like I can do one for myself and 1 for my business. So I might look into that too! It'll earn way more than any bank interest and isn't as risky as stocks (which I know nothing about). And since I can cash them in, I'm not as "scared" my money is "untouchable". And with the other money I have, I can work on HYSA and bank bonuses, LOL.

TBH, the ibond works perfect for my 17yo. I don't want her thinking she just has $23k sitting there she can waste. The ibond ties it up, and earns her better interest. We were going to set up an account that required dual signatures to withdraw, but this would work.

If you can, try to buy the I Bonds by October 28 to max out the $10K and receive the 9.62% interest for the next 6 months. Setting up an account(s) with Treasury Direct can sometimes be a PITA, so I would try to get that done ASAP. I Bonds take 1 business day to process, so buy by October 28.

If you want to buy in increments, buy towards the end of each month, you get the interest for the entire month so you can leave the money earning a little longer in the original account.

 

[platamama]

what to do with paperwork

Good luck with your endeavors! In a pinch, there are apps that work as scanners - I have desktop scanners, but my teen uses apps like ScannerPro (I use my app when I have nothing else I can use). I hate losing information that's impossible to recover, so I scan a lot of things before shredding.

 

[chattadisser]

Sharing a data point - Delta Plat AF posted, AmEx gave a retention offer of 30K Delta for no spend. I took it.

Question - I was just approved for another CIC, don't see any other apps in the future for the next 2-3 months and I thought now might be a good time to reduce credit limits and close a few cards that aren't being utilized. If I do this now, it will allow for time for the credit score recover by the next application right? I know it won't make much of a hit to my score but I figure why not do it when it was the most advantageous.

 

[elgerber]

Sharing a data point - Delta Plat AF posted, AmEx gave 30K Delta for no spend.

Question - I was just approved for another CIC, don't see any other apps in the future for the next 2-3 months and I thought now might be a good time to reduce credit limits and close a few cards that aren't being utilized. If I do this now, it will allow for time for the credit score recover by the next application right? I know it won't make much of a hit to my score but I figure why not do it when it was the most advantageous.

Was that a retention offer? via chat or phone?

 

[wanderlust7]

yotta has a partnership where you dont have to use treasury direct its great instead of messing with that terrible website

Just looked into this since my brother ran into the verification issue on Treasury Direct where he needs to get a Medallion stamp (very hard to find!). But looks like this won't get around that since they're just opening the account for you.

@LilSweetPeaPhoto You may want to read through this before deciding to go direct or with Yotta. Link

 

[chattadisser]

Was that a retention offer? via chat or phone?

Sorry, yes a retention offer via chat.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I opened my acct and finally figured out how to open them for my kidlets too! Now to just get the money, LOL. I'll make my 17yo withdraw from her account this week and I'll buy the bonds. I'm debating if I want to do $30k or $40k.

 

[wanderlust7]

Saw a couple of new Amex Offers:

- Uber/UberEats spend $15 get 500 MRs up to 5x. I tried an Uber reload, which showed up as Uber Cash. No e-mail so I think it didn't work.

- split charge $15 get $5 up to 3x.

 

[reliev]

Saw a couple of new Amex Offers:

- Uber/UberEats spend $15 get 500 MRs up to 5x. I tried an Uber reload, which showed up as Uber Cash. No e-mail so I think it didn't work.

- split charge $15 get $5 up to 3x.

what card(s)?

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

what card(s)?

I had these on both mine and DH's Hilton Amex.

 

[wanderlust7]

what card(s)?

Only found the Uber one on an AU EDP. The split charge was on a bunch of cards, ended up saving it to Schwab and Brilliant.

 

[afan]

So tired so sorry if I'm repeating what someone else has posted.

$25 back on 100 purchase at Staples offer on amex. Pretty sure it's just biz cards like previous offers. Had it on my Hilton biz. DoC posted about it earlier.

 

[ambgoph]

I opened my acct and finally figured out how to open them for my kidlets too! Now to just get the money, LOL. I'll make my 17yo withdraw from her account this week and I'll buy the bonds. I'm debating if I want to do $30k or $40k.

If you can buy through your business, I would do that as well. Might as well get the great rate while you can.

 

[newski_mom]

Saw a couple of new Amex Offers:

- Uber/UberEats spend $15 get 500 MRs up to 5x. I tried an Uber reload, which showed up as Uber Cash. No e-mail so I think it didn't work.

- split charge $15 get $5 up to 3x.

what card(s)?

I had the Uber offer on the gold AU card from my platinum card and the split charge on my plat card.

So tired so sorry if I'm repeating what someone else has posted.

$25 back on 100 purchase at Staples offer on amex. Pretty sure it's just biz cards like previous offers. Had it on my Hilton biz. DoC posted about it earlier.

I also had this on my hilton biz card!

I also had a quill 20% back up to $50 on an older CIC card that I have.

 

[reliev]

i know its a little off-topic but my d+ for 3 years is finally coming to an end do i do the bundle? do I do the disney 5% and pay the year? anyone have any thoughts?