There are tons of banking options out there, from small, local banks to huge multinational banks to credit unions. How to choose the best option for you.
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At some stage in your investing journey, you may experience a situation where your investment returns surpass your active income (non-investment income). The first time this happens, you may feel excited as you imagine the possibilities. But you likely won’t quit your job just in case it was a fluke. However, after several years of
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And just like that, my two-month sabbatical is over. Did you miss me? Of course not! I continued to publish three posts a week and send out one newsletter a week like an addict. There was only a one-week period where I felt like I truly took things down a notch. Our family went up
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The down payment is the hardest financial obstacle to overcome for most potential home buyers. How much of a down payment is really necessary?
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We’ve researched the best airline miles credit cards of 2018 and narrowed the list down to the top five. Here they are, including welcome offer details.
Table of Contents
If you’re a frequent traveler–for pleasure or business–a great travel rewards credit card is a must-have. If you prefer to fly with a certain airline, a card that offers miles for that airline is essential. Airline miles credit cards can boost the miles you receive through your preferred airline’s mileage program. You can rack up miles by the millions. (Don’t believe me? Just check out the movie Up in the Air.) Note that the cards listed below are airline specific, rather than generic travel rewards cards that let you use your points on just about any airline. We’ve focused on great cards from some of the nation’s top airlines. We’ll look at just how much the average family could earn with these cards. “Average” is, of course, a bit of a broad term for anything personal finance related. So we’re using the Bureau of Labor Statistics data on consumer expenditures for 2016 as a proxy. We added up the food, gasoline, entertainment, and apparel categories to come up with an average of about $14,000 in spending per year. We’ll say the family in question spends another $2,000 with their airline of choice. These are the expenses you’re most likely to put through a credit card, so that’s how we’ll calculate potential rewards. Keep in mind that the value of points varies from month to month and depending on what type of travel you’re booking. We’ll use this chart from The Points Guy to estimate the most recent value for each credit card’s points.
1. Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card
There’s a reason the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card is so popular. It offers 2 points per $1 spent with Southwest Airlines® (direct purchases only) and 2 points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners–including Best Western, Marriott, Hyatt, and more. You’ll get 1 point per $1 spend on all other purchases and 6,000 bonus points per year on your card member anniversary.
- Bonus: Right now, new card holders can get 40,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first three months of account opening. Then, another 20,000 bonus points are available after spending $12,000 in the first year. That’s up to 60,000 bonus points for new cardmembers.
- Fees: The Premier card comes with a $99 annual fee. If you spend enough on this card, though, you can easily outweigh that fee. The card doesn’t have foreign transaction fees, though, which could spell big savings for frequent international fliers (though Southwest only flies to Mexico and the Caribbean).
- Other Benefits: You can redeem your miles for any seat on any Southwest or AirTran flight, and there are no blackout dates.
- Membership Levels: Your credit card points can help boost your membership level in the overall Rapid Rewards program. A-List members get a 25% point bonus on top of base flights earned from each flight, priority boarding, and expedited security. Companion Pass–the highest status–earns you the ability to bring a companion for free whenever you purchase a ticket for yourself. You can change you receives the companion benefits up to three times per year.
2. Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express
With this card, you’ll earn 2 miles per $1 spent on purchases made directly with Delta.
- Welcome Offer: Right now, when you are a new cardholder, you’ll earn 30,000 bonus miles when you spend $1,000 in purchases within the first three months of card ownership. You’ll also get a $50 statement credit after you make a Delta purchase within your first three months of card membership.
- Fees: This card comes with a $0 introductory fee for the first year, and then a $95 fee per year after that. The card has no foreign transaction fees.
3. British Airways Visa Signature Card
Without a doubt the British Airways Visa Signature Card is the card to carry for those that fly British Airways. The bonus rewards for new card members are astounding, as you can see below. The rewards for everyday purchases are also excellent.
- Rewards: You’ll earn three Avios per $1 spent on British Airways purchases, and one Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Bonus: New Cardmembers can earn 50,000 bonus Avois after spending $3,000 in the first three months. Then earn another 50,000 bonus Avios after spending $20,000 in the first year of account opening. That’s a total of 100,000 bonus Avios . Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your British Airways Visa card, you’ll also earn a Travel Together Ticket good for two years.
- Annual Fee: $95
4. Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer
If United is your airline of choice, you can get some great bonus perks from this card right now. It lets you earn miles for both United purchases and everyday spending, and gives you the first checked bag for free for each person whose ticket you purchase on the card.
- Rewards: You’ll earn two miles per $1 spent on tickets from United. And you’ll get an additional one mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Bonuses: Right now, new cardholders can earn 40,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 in the first three months of opening their accounts.
- Annual Fee: This card has a $95 annual fee, which is waived in the first year.
- Other Benefits: With the Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer card, you’ll get priority boarding and two United Club one-time passes on your card anniversary.
5. Blue Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express
With this card, you’ll earn 2 miles per $1 spent on purchases made directly with Delta or at US restaurants. 1 mile per dollar spent on everything else.
- Bonus: New cardholders will earn a 10,000 mile bonus after spending $500 in the first three months. Yes that’s watered down from the Gold version above, but the big benefit of the Blue vs. the Gold is in it’s fee structure.
- Fees: No annual fee, no foreign transaction fees. You give up a little bit in up front bonus and perks, but you are not saddled with an annual fee of up to $100 like other cards on this list.
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The Tax Policy Center recently calculated most working Americans didn’t pay federal income taxes in 2020. According to the chart below, supposedly 106.8 million out of 176.2 million total income tax filers did not pay federal income taxes. That amounts to 60.6%. Given there are roughly 332 million Americans, what happened to the other 156
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