ILikeStarTrek
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2017
- Messages
- 107
I retired last year, and now that I'm traveling more often, I'm intrigued by those credit card offers of thousands of frequent flier miles and so forth, aka credit card / travel hacking. I was on a plane last week and the flight attendants offered a great deal on a credit card with no annual fee for the first year, and I figured what the heck, so I got an application and went for it.
I hesitated when I got to a question on the application about my income. Technically, my income is currently about zero since I'm mostly living off money I'm pulling from my after-tax investments. I did have an income during the first half of 2018 (i.e. before I retired), so if the credit card company from last week scrutinized my (non-zero) income answer on my application, I could show them my latest income tax return - I wasn't lying if I interpret the income question as being for the latest tax year. But if I apply for any credit cards next year, I won't be able to get by with that for my 2019 income.
The one exception to my low income in the next few years is, I expect to do Roth conversions starting this year, and I know that is taxable. But I'm not sure if I can consider the amount of a Roth conversion as income for purposes of filling out credit card applications.
Even if I have income on my tax return (e.g. from Roth conversions for now, or eventually from 401k withdrawals in a few years), I think some credit cards ask for the name of one's employer (fortunately this one did not). If I leave such a question blank, they may scrutinize the income answer more. I could envision the card company being more concerned with current income than what was true on one's income tax form from last year. E.g., they may ask for something like pay stubs to verify income stated on their application form.
I'm supposing that some of you who do credit card travel hacking will have regular, verifiable income from Social Security, pensions, etc. But for anyone who has been closer to my situation, what should I expect in this regard if I start to do more credit card / travel hacking? What did you put down on credit card applications if you didn't have what I will call a "real" income? Have you been scrutinized about your stated income if you were retired? Anyone been turned down for credit cards due to lack of income? Should I abandon the idea of credit card hacking? Or am I overthinking all this - do the card companies not care much about income if one has a good credit history?
I hesitated when I got to a question on the application about my income. Technically, my income is currently about zero since I'm mostly living off money I'm pulling from my after-tax investments. I did have an income during the first half of 2018 (i.e. before I retired), so if the credit card company from last week scrutinized my (non-zero) income answer on my application, I could show them my latest income tax return - I wasn't lying if I interpret the income question as being for the latest tax year. But if I apply for any credit cards next year, I won't be able to get by with that for my 2019 income.
The one exception to my low income in the next few years is, I expect to do Roth conversions starting this year, and I know that is taxable. But I'm not sure if I can consider the amount of a Roth conversion as income for purposes of filling out credit card applications.
Even if I have income on my tax return (e.g. from Roth conversions for now, or eventually from 401k withdrawals in a few years), I think some credit cards ask for the name of one's employer (fortunately this one did not). If I leave such a question blank, they may scrutinize the income answer more. I could envision the card company being more concerned with current income than what was true on one's income tax form from last year. E.g., they may ask for something like pay stubs to verify income stated on their application form.
I'm supposing that some of you who do credit card travel hacking will have regular, verifiable income from Social Security, pensions, etc. But for anyone who has been closer to my situation, what should I expect in this regard if I start to do more credit card / travel hacking? What did you put down on credit card applications if you didn't have what I will call a "real" income? Have you been scrutinized about your stated income if you were retired? Anyone been turned down for credit cards due to lack of income? Should I abandon the idea of credit card hacking? Or am I overthinking all this - do the card companies not care much about income if one has a good credit history?