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Originally Posted by Shuffle
Ok...what kind of rewards do you get? Not familiar with rewards/points at all, but figure it's +EV. I know I won't be going crazy gaming cards like some people do, but one or two simple options couldn't hurt.
I'm earning 1.75% paid out monthly through a money market deposit account. I don't think it's a good time to invest in anything right now, given asset prices have been inflating for almost 10 years straight.
0% APR that Alpha Fish mentioned sounds great! Wow.
You have an easy decision in regards to paying cash vs taking a loan then. If the loan is less than 1.75%, you should take it. If it's more, you need to decide whether you would like to pay a fee to simply keep more cash in your account and make payments over time. Assuming you have a solid emergency fund, I personally would never recommend taking a loan if the APR is higher than what you're making on your money.
In regards to credit card rewards: I personally churn (open lots of new cards mainly for their signup bonuses), as well as try and maximize category multipliers on keeper cards. Over the past five years I have probably averaged around $5k profit per year from churning, which includes new credit card signup bonuses, bank account bonuses, value of perks (airline lounge visits, uber credits, etc.), ongoing category multipliers, retention bonuses, and the occasional reselling on deals. The majority of this value has come from flights and hotels from signup bonuses. I spend a lot of time researching and reading, but I consider it a hobby. The feeling you get when you book your first trip to an island country and you pay less than $100 for a 7-day vacation that includes flights and a stay at a nice resort is pretty awesome.