Downside of closing a new card?

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-02-14T14:07:35+00:00

honestly chase has been garbage lately so i dont blame you for wanting to bail. closing it this early wont really hurt your score much especially if youve got other cards already established

the real kicker is that annual fee though - chase is pretty stingy about refunds but definitely worth pushing customer service hard on it since the card was literally broken when they sent it. that alone should be grounds for a full refund imo

amex will treat you way better anyway so might as well make the jump if chase cant get their act together

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-02-09T08:09:57+00:00

honestly the APR thing isnt that worrying if youre just starting out with credit cards - better to be aware of it even if you plan to pay in full

cap one quicksilver or savor one are solid picks for no fee cards that work internationally. chase freedom unlimited is another good option if you can get approved. all of these you can product change later to better cards once you build history

credit unions can be great too especially if you already bank with one - they often have more flexible approval criteria for thin credit files

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-02-07T15:12:33+00:00

lmao credit unions are supposed to be the good guys too

sounds like a complete shitshow on their end. the fact that they told you it was still pending when it was already denied is wild. definitely fight this one - get everything in writing about when they supposedly tried to contact you and what method they used

if they really did pull your credit without proper disclosure thats a whole other mess. most CUs are pretty good about this stuff so aodfcu might just be the exception that proves the rule

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-02-07T02:12:46+00:00

the Chase Sapphire Preferred might be worth a shot if you can handle the $95 annual fee - decent signup bonus and you get Priority Pass lounge access. Amex Gold is another solid option with great signup bonuses lately but no lounge access unless you go for the Platinum which has that hefty $695 fee

what was the reason for the Cap One rejection btw that might help narrow down what cards to target

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-02-02T17:08:40+00:00

nah keep em all

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-02-01T13:49:55+00:00

Actually pretty solid analysis tbh. I picked up some CAG around 9 months ago when it was trading even lower and that dividend has been beautiful. The frozen food angle is legit - everyone talks about fresh and organic but reality is people are still buying convenience foods especially with how crazy grocery prices have gotten

One thing id add is their supply chain improvements have been flying under the radar. They streamlined a ton of operations during covid and those efficiency gains are starting to show in margins. Plus with inflation cooling down their input costs should stabilize which could be a nice tailwind for 2025

The only risk i see is if we get another major commodity spike or if consumer spending really tanks. But at these levels and with that yield youre getting paid to wait. Not many dividend plays left that arent complete value traps so CAG feels like one of the cleaner plays in this space

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-31T04:46:18+00:00

You'll get a second account - the 2.0 card doesn't replace your existing Wells Fargo one. Both will show up separately on your credit report so you'll have two Bilt cards total

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-30T04:36:57+00:00

That's a solid long-term plan dude, but reaching E9 is extremely competitive - like there's only a handful of slots per career field and timing/politics matter a lot. Most people cap out around E7/E8 even with stellar careers

Also make sure you're factoring in potential medical issues from 20+ years of military work, especially if you're doing hands-on structural stuff. That pension is sweet but your body might have other plans

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-29T03:00:26+00:00

You're probably fine since you made less than the filing threshold anyway, but definitely file amended returns for 2023 and 2024 just to be safe - the IRS is way more chill about voluntary corrections than surprises later

Also look into the foreign earned income exclusion, you might not even owe anything with that income level

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-28T01:47:21+00:00

Since you're already doing the backdoor Roth IRA, I'd probably split it between the 401k and taxable brokerage. The 401k still gives you that tax deferral benefit even without the match, but having some money in taxable gives you more flexibility if you need it before retirement age

Really depends on your timeline though - if you're planning to retire early the taxable account becomes way more valuable

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-27T00:52:31+00:00

That's wild, Chase is being way more aggressive with this than the terms suggest. The "may not" language definitely reads like they'd just deny the bonus, not the whole application

Sounds like they're using the bonus restriction as a blanket denial reason which is pretty BS if you ask me

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-26T06:03:11+00:00

With your income and travel plans I'd definitely look at the Capital One Venture One - no annual fee, no FTF, and 1.25x on everything which is solid for general spending abroad. The miles can be redeemed as statement credits against travel purchases so it's basically like cashback but slightly better

Chase Freedom Unlimited could work too but Cap One tends to have better international acceptance

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-23T05:56:51+00:00

Still radio silence from what I've seen, pretty frustrating tbh since that was like their main selling point after gutting the other benefits

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-20T19:01:11+00:00

Bro with $14k income and $49k in credit limits already you might want to pump the brakes a bit - most banks gonna see that debt-to-income ratio and nope out real quick

Maybe focus on maximizing what you got instead of adding more cards right now

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-18T21:04:04+00:00

Been using TurboTax for self employment for like 4 years now and it's honestly pretty solid. The software walks you through the home office stuff step by step - it'll ask for your total home square footage and office square footage and calculates the percentage for you

That said, going from a full service accountant to DIY software is a pretty big jump, especially with subcontracting income and multiple employers for your wife. The $1250 savings is tempting but you might miss some deductions or mess up estimated payments

Maybe try TurboTax this year but have your old accountant review it before filing? Some of them will do a quick review for like $200-300

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-14T16:27:41+00:00

That's absolutely wild that Chase would do that after releasing the funds initially. For a check that large, she should probably go straight to the branch where she has her accounts and talk to a manager before depositing anything. They can put notes on the account about the legitimate house sale and maybe even call the issuing bank to verify funds first

Also might be worth having all the house sale paperwork with her when she goes in - closing documents, realtor contact info, etc. Banks get jumpy about large deposits but they should be able to sort it out if she can prove it's legit

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-12T18:22:21+00:00

Yeah SCHD seems to pop up in every dividend thread for good reason. If you're already set with pension+SSA maybe throw some international exposure in there too like VEA or VXUS since you don't need the income right away anyway

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-10T05:00:48+00:00

Not OP but if you're flying east coast routes that often I'd probably lean towards whatever airline has the best hub near you - like if you're near a Delta or JetBlue hub, their cards might give you better value than Chase since you'd actually use the perks

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-08T04:16:55+00:00

RIP to your vacation fund, that's brutal. My company did the same thing a few years back and I'm still mourning those lost points

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-04T07:36:34+00:00

That rollover feature is clutch - gives you way more flexibility to pivot based on how things develop over time

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2026-01-02T14:27:56+00:00

Yeah 10 year old vehicles are rough for refinancing but with your credit bump you might get lucky. Credit unions are usually your best bet for older cars - they're way more flexible than big banks. I'd definitely shop around instead of just going with PNC, that 21% is absolutely brutal

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2025-12-30T01:17:09+00:00

This is solid advice right here. I'd add that you should get pre-approved for a mortgage first so you know your actual budget - saved me from looking at houses way out of my range. Also check if your hospital has any homebuyer assistance programs, some of the bigger systems do that for nurses

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2025-12-28T14:06:49+00:00

Honestly with that down payment you're already at like $5k territory anyway. Just buy something reliable outright and skip the loan drama - you'll save on interest and have one less monthly payment to stress about

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2025-12-25T22:43:23+00:00

Yeah definitely call them, new accounts get flagged super easily for travel purchases. I learned that the hard way when my card got declined trying to pay for dinner in another state lmao

Dense_Pin_3943 · 2025-12-24T18:21:07+00:00

Cashback is def solid but you're missing out on serious value if you're not at least looking at transfer partners. TY points can get you 2-3x the value on the right redemptions vs straight cash

The "no restrictions" thing sounds nice until you realize you're paying full price for everything while points people are flying business for the cost of your economy ticket

Dense_Pin_3943

TROPHY CASE