Does my Credit Card company care about me?

[rescueme]

Only 'catch' to get the 2% is you need to set it up to deposit to a Fidelity account, and that 'ties up' $2,000. I use a cash account so I don't create any cap gains issues with a bunch of small deposits, so by some calculations, I guess you could say I'm missing out on an average long term 7% gain each year (based on 3% inflation, 4% SWR SWAG), ~ $140/year. Since it is 'cash' but not really liquid, it's a 'waste' of cash.

No need to deposit it to a Fidelity account in that manner. I deposit mine directly to my Fidelity Income Management account, which acts just like a MM account, with no minimum. CC cash rebates have nothing to do with cap gains. They are neither earnings nor income.

I don't know if they still offer the IMA, since they came out with the mySmartCash account. I've had the IMA for many years before mySmartCash was created, but I'm sure you can deposit your CC earnings to the new account with no problem.

BTW, FIDO (through FIA) offers two cards - the AMEX which is a 2% cash back on all purchases and the VISA, which gives you 1% back on the first $15k charged annually, and 2% for all purchases thereafter.

The two cards work for me, with AMEX as my primary with the VISA as the backup.

BTW, you should never give up/cancel a CC. Just put it in a drawer and just don't use it - or better yet use it once a year for a minor charge, which will keep it active. If you cancel it, it will affect your FICO score since FICO uses the ratio of total outstanding credit used vs. the combined limit of all your cards (regardless if you pay them off monthly - as I/DW do).

Additionally, it will affect the term that you have had the card active (longer is better).

Here's some info on what to consider if you are thinking about closing a CC account/card:

The Dos and Donts of Closing Old Accounts

 

[Sarah in SC]

Question everything is my personal mantra.........

Shocking, right? That's what I figured.

 

[ERD50]

Originally Posted by ERD50
Only 'catch' to get the 2% is you need to set it up to deposit to a Fidelity account, and that 'ties up' $2,000.

No need to deposit it to a Fidelity account in that manner. I deposit mine directly to my Fidelity Income Management account, which acts just like a MM account, with no minimum.

Well, when I looked over the requirements to get 2%, you need to have it transfered to a fund that supports these kinds of transfers. The lowest minimum I saw was $2,000.

I'll look into the 'management account'. I don't do any trading with Fido, I'm guessing this is going to cost me something along the lines of what I'm doing now. They must have some minimums for the accounts? I'll look later.

CC cash rebates have nothing to do with cap gains. They are neither earnings nor income.

Yes, but if I have to transfer to a fund, that is a 'purchase', and then taking it out is a 'sale'. So that will trigger a cap gains/loss/wash transaction if it is in a non-cash-type account. I just prefer to avoid that extra tax entry.

I think moving it to the Roth is the best option for me (I need to check if those funds/Roths are eligible for rewards transfers). Since I would fund it by with $X fewer dollars in that year (the amount of the rebate submissions), it would continue to reduce my cash flow by that amount. If I put it in savings and don't withdraw it, it doesn't reduce my cash flow.

-ERD50

 

[FUEGO]

I have the fidelity Amex card with the 2% being dumped into my "cash" account at fidelity. May be called "Cash Reserve" account. The cash account is the holding account for any dividends paid out on the ETFs I hold at fidelity in my taxable account. I typically never have more than a couple hundred bucks in there (coming from divs I haven't reinvested or the fidelity CC cashback transfers). If they make you keep a certain level of assets at fidelity to have a "Cash Reserve" account, just transfer a couple hundred shares of an ETF or mutual fund and let it sit there.

 

[FinanceDude]

Shocking, right? That's what I figured.

Well you met me, so it was self-evident..........