A native Californian transplanted in southern Illinois.The reason I make an effort to earn credit card rewards is so that I can throw them at my mortgage. Last year, I didn't do a good job of catching them all. Some of them "melted". This year, I want to do much better; I want to catch them ALL.
This morning I logged on to my Capital One Quicksilver account and saw that I had $8.64 in rewards. I applied them to my balance. Next, I logged on to Wells Fargo's site and transferred $8.64 from checking to my mortgage.
I plan to make a habit of doing this once per month.
I am also planning to track my credit card rewards total in 2014. How much can I manage to earn? We will see.
YTD Credit Card Rewards: $8.64
Catching Those Credit Card Reward Snowflakes
January 4th, 2014 at 06:37 pm
January 4th, 2014 at 07:19 pm 1388863150
January 4th, 2014 at 07:36 pm 1388864201
January 4th, 2014 at 07:47 pm 1388864854
Nope, no more melting allowed.
January 5th, 2014 at 10:51 pm 1388962295
I have no idea what you hold in your retirement account or ROTH but identify anticipated returns oh so low? Had you reviewed Dr. Steve's Portfolio Review in SA Investment & Banking? His figures were in the 20's Have you recently assessed your risk tolerance? I'm not suggesting changes, merely review
January 5th, 2014 at 11:21 pm 1388964101
Yes, stock market returns in 2013 were very generous, but I don't expect that to happen each and every year. The long-term compounded growth rate (CAGR) of the US stock market is right around 9%. For bonds, the long-term return is right around 6%. I hold US stocks, US bonds, and a big chunk of foreign stocks too, so I expect that my returns will be some mixture of the three. I am 46, so only 20ish years from retirement. Returns over 20 year periods can deviate from the long-term CAGR by a wide margin.
I figure that if I will be OK if my portfolio returns only 5%, then I am on track. If it returns more, that will be an easy lifestyle adjustment.
Right now, my allocation is 70/30 stock/bond. I plan to stay the course for the next 10 years or so, then shift to 60/40. At retirement, I will shift to 50/50.