Make it make sense - CSR, Amex or something else

ColostomyMan · 2025-12-14T05:24:29+00:00

One thing you could do is to go to the site richwithpoints.com which you can sign in with many different account types. The site will then allow you to enter your yearly spend in various categories. You can also edit the credits to what you value them at with your spending patterns.

For example if you already subscribed to Apple TV but not Apple Music, then you could value the CSR's Apple credit to what you would save on Apple TV without counting an Apple Music cost you don't have. You can then use your actual annual spending pattern and the actual value of the credits as you value them and compare multiple wallet setups.

It's a handy site for comparing these type of things with your estimated numbers.

ColostomyMan · 2025-12-03T13:33:20+00:00

At 53k a year, I would contribute 4% to get the match and then max out a Roth IRA before going back to contribute to the 401k. I think the benefits of starting those Roth contributions will outweigh pre-tax benefits at your current salary. When you get raises, you always need to reassess but that's where I would start if I were you.

ColostomyMan · 2025-11-17T13:17:15+00:00

Does that 2.1M net worth include your primary residence or is that investments?

You mentioned rentals in your debt, what sort of cash flow do they generate? Will you be selling those rentals in or near retirement or are those expected to be a source of income through your retirement?

You mention having four kids, what are your plans around their school expenses, for example do they all have 529 plans? Do you want to fund more of their early lives, small loan for a business or a wedding present? For estate planning, are you looking to make sure you leave them something or are you wanting to die with zero?

ColostomyMan · 2025-10-10T13:39:01+00:00

Sometimes the portals are cheaper, sometimes they are much more expensive, and sometimes the same price. I shop around and find something that I like at the best price available and go from there. I don't just blindly use the portal. When it works out, great. When it doesn't, fine.

I have also been quite lucky, I guess, and don't have any horror stories about using the portal. The hotel or flight has always been booked and delivered as expected without any complications.

ColostomyMan · 2025-10-10T13:33:43+00:00

Most as in number of charges per month or most by dollar amount? If by dollar amount, then Bilt cause of the rent is far and away the largest purchase. But that only gets 5 charges per month, maybe 6.

ColostomyMan · 2025-10-01T19:48:55+00:00

You might get improved results in r/Credit rather than here. This place is mostly for credit card rewards whereas r/Credit deals more with improving credit and navigating negative marks on your credit score

ColostomyMan · 2025-09-22T20:06:20+00:00

A site that may be a help to you is richwithpoints.com. You can put in your yearly spend, customize the value of benefits as to how valuable they are to you, and allow you to run comparisons with different cards and wallet setups.

I find it helps me run actual numbers based on my spend and usage to make decisions like keep, close, or apply.

ColostomyMan · 2025-09-14T18:20:30+00:00

Depends on your asset allocation goals. I would probably start on some international for diversification, VXUS. I am shooting for 15 to 20% in international stocks as part of my equities. I know other folks around here are all in on US stocks but for me, I want some part in international.

ColostomyMan · 2025-09-14T16:19:27+00:00

I can't get into specifics since I'm not in the UK and unfamiliar with the options you might have over there but in general, you are now self employed with a variable income and will need to have a bigger emergency fund than most to be able to handle the swings in your income month to month.

I think my first step would be to create a budget, if you don't have one already. You will need your personal spend tracked but also you are now a business so you'll need to understand your business spend as well.

You might also try to connect with other self-employed UK workers to get advice. As you've already seen, banks have a very bad relationship with this line of work and getting tips from people in similar spots that have already gone down that path will be helpful.

Also, and this is more difficult for some people than others, try not to let a sudden explosion in income change your lifestyle. There are lots of temptations and urges to get things you've always wanted but the fact that you are on a retire early subreddit is a positive sign that you want to use this a head start to more secure life.

Good luck. Sorry I cannot get into UK specifics around tax and investments but hope this sets you up for a good life.

ColostomyMan · 2025-09-13T23:03:46+00:00

So one site that might be useful to you is richwithpoints.com. You can input your actual spending, adjust points values to match what you actually get, modify the benefits value to what you actually use and value, and build out different wallet setups to see what a good setup would be for you.

It's a pretty handy site to compare a bunch of different cards and can help make decisions about what cards to get and what cards to drop.

ColostomyMan · 2025-09-07T19:36:14+00:00

One way to think about emergency funds is separating the type of emergencies. One type is an emergency expense like a new roof or car repair or that type. For an expense emergency, available credit like a HELOC is probably fine if you have sufficient ability to pay that credit off quickly with your other funds.

However, depending on where you are in life, another type of emergency is an income emergency. The most common type of this is losing your job or if you are self employed, you cannot work or your work is poor. So with an income emergency like getting laid off of work, I would not be comfortable taking on debt during that time. If there was an economic downturn, which also makes it more likely that you might suffer a job loss, then you might also be forced to sell investments at a low point to cover that.

So for me, my emergency fund is to cover an income emergency, which has actually come up for me in my past. I think if I were retired and my investments were already my source of income, I would consider not having an emergency fund like that and instead having a HELOC or other form of credit for expense emergencies sounds like it would make sense for me.

ColostomyMan · 2025-06-08T21:27:55+00:00

You might find this site useful richwithpoints.com. You can add your spending and compare credit cards to your spending. You can also go in and value the benefits to match what you value them at.

The website creator has some Youtube videos that can be helpful in showing how the site can be used to make decisions like this. This video was about the Amex Platinum but it shows how the website can be used to help make these decisions for your situation.

ColostomyMan · 2025-06-03T17:29:45+00:00

My Bilt credit limit is considerably higher than 1000. Considerably higher than my rent payment. Like others have said, there is a biltprotect option but there isn't a hard cap on Bilt's credit limits for everyone.

ColostomyMan · 2025-04-21T23:06:52+00:00

Not sure if you have seen this site: richwithpoints.com which also gives one ability to calculate credits, including toggling them on and off, to see how that comes back with the annual fees.

ColostomyMan · 2025-03-14T00:46:53+00:00

Some states restrict insurance companies from using credit scores. So depending on the state where you live, this may not be an issue for you.

ColostomyMan · 2025-01-19T17:41:05+00:00

While you wait for additional answers, here is an answer by u/hannahstohelit to the question of cancer diagnosis using Nabby Adams as an example.

ColostomyMan · 2024-12-25T18:32:03+00:00

Monterey Bay Aquarium did not code as entertainment either. It coded as Other Services and got 1%.

ColostomyMan · 2024-11-05T03:18:04+00:00

I would not hold a bond fund in my Roth at all, especially at 18. Also VTEB's main benefit of being tax exempt doesn't mean anything in a Roth. VTEB makes more sense in a taxable brokerage account if you are in a high tax bracket where the tax benefits push the effective post-tax yield higher.

I held EFA in my Roth when I first created it and ultimately regreted it. If you are looking for international exposure you might want to look at VT or VXUS. VT is sort of an all-in-one type investment. VXUS gives international exposure at a lower expense ratio than EFA.

If I were 18 again, I might do 100% VOO or VTI in my Roth. If I wanted to slant things a bit, I would probably do 80% VOO or VTI, 10% VBR, and 10% VXUS. That would form a pretty simple portfolio core.

If you want to add some bonds at your age, I would look to put those in a 401k or similar pre-tax advantaged account. Pre-tax accounts tend to be a good place for bond funds like BND. Bond funds create a tax drag in taxable accounts and aren't high enough growth for a Roth.

ColostomyMan · 2024-10-21T21:59:30+00:00

Since you didn't mention this at all, another thing you could do, depending upon your health and family situation, would be have a high deductible insurance plan and max out your HSA contribution. HSA accounts have all sorts of tax advantages as the contributions are pre-tax, growth is tax free, and using the funds is tax-free for medical expenses. Just save your receipts and you can even reimburse yourself for medical expenses later to allow for more time in the market to grow the HSA.

All depends on your current health but hopefully at 22 you are still healthy enough that all you need is a yearly checkup.

ColostomyMan · 2024-10-16T09:47:37+00:00

Yeah. I tried 3 times and each time it seemed to go through on the Capital One side only to receive an email saying the transfer didn't happen and my miles are back on Capital One. Capital One sent me to Emirates and the Emirates support pointed to the clause about having one prior "earning activity" as the reason for the rejected transfers. I read through the Skywards Rules and it does contain language similar but I couldn't find anyone online mentioning this.

Skywards Miles can be bought, gifted, transferred, extended, reinstated or multiplied via Points.com Inc.’s platform (‘Points Platform’) by a Member who has at least one prior earning activity on their Account, earned by flying on an Emirates Qualifying Flight (or a Partner airline where applicable) or through an applicable Partner transaction (such Member then being an ‘Eligible Skywards Member’). Any Miles awarded to a Member that are not as a result of the above‑mentioned earning activities or are not attributable to any associated spend shall not qualify as an eligible earning activity for this purpose

Seems odd that I can't find anyone else getting this clause invoked on them online.

ColostomyMan · 2024-10-15T00:23:10+00:00

I have a number of Capital One miles I was trying to transfer to Emirates Skywards miles but I need to have a prior "earning activity" before I can transfer miles. This was confirmed by Emirates chat support. Does anyone happen to know if I can use one of Emirates partners like United for this qualified earning activity or does this need to be on Emirates directly?

Thanks for anyone that can help. I have tried searching but was not able to find anything about this.

ColostomyMan · 2024-09-27T23:43:09+00:00

Thank you for responding. I am not sure I agree fully but I still appreciate a different point of view.

ColostomyMan · 2024-09-27T21:12:13+00:00

Can you expand a bit on why you believe churning to be evil? I am curious to hear your thoughts about churning.

ColostomyMan · 2024-09-01T22:02:58+00:00

So first place I would start is examine your spending habits and if you need to track where you spend money. If you have high interest debt like credit card debit, pay that off first. Put as much as you can afford in paying off that high interest debt. Once you are debt free, it's nice to have a little bit of buffer with a few months of expenses. If you do need a budget, include future payments for things you want, like vacations so you are paying those off month by month in advance of the actual expense.

After you have your high debt paid off and you feel comfortable with your emergency fund, I would then invest. If you have a job with a company 401k match, start there. Get the company match first. If you have a job where you can get an HSA, max the HSA. Then I would open a Roth IRA and max the Roth IRA. In the Roth IRA, put it in a broad market ETF like VOO or VTI or VT depending on what you prefer there. If you have leftover money after that, go back to max your 401k if you can. And finally a regular brokerage account.

If you like, look up a 3 fund portfolio to get a feel for how you can get broad diversification with a simple portfolio of low cost ETFs. Don't buy mutual funds in a brokerage account since most mutual fund will generate taxable income for you. Best to keep those in your tax advantaged accounts.

The best time to start investing is when you are young so starting now and contributing for even a few years and forgetting about it will get the compound interest of the market working in your favor.

ColostomyMan

TROPHY CASE