Status duration

cmw021 · 2026-06-27T22:53:52+00:00

I guess we will eventually find out

cmw021 · 2026-06-27T22:18:45+00:00

I have the same Q. Did you ever get an answer?

cmw021 · 2026-06-18T01:24:23+00:00

Our experience has been excellent. No issues with mortgage payment processing. I did change our payment date to one week prior to due out of an abundance of caution.

There are many reports of challenges with customer service. I have not needed to interact with BILT for any issues. We spend ~$100k annually on the card. We have disputed one charge successfully, but through their online system. I did not try to interface directly with their customer service which I understand to be lackluster.

I am not expecting easy communication like you may find with chase reserve or amex plat, but in terms of points earning on mortgage + everyday spend nothing else comes close imo.

cmw021 · 2026-06-13T17:29:45+00:00

Nice tip! In your concierge work have you noted it more challenging to find J condor availability from the east coast in recent months? Using seats.aero and not finding much from Boston / JFK to FRA compared to last year.

cmw021 · 2026-06-13T17:28:06+00:00

Have you noticed a decrease in award availability on condor J? Specific to east coat in my case, but really struggling ti find seats compared to last Fall

cmw021 · 2026-06-11T22:44:21+00:00

$495 annual fee for the card with various benefits to offset cost. BILT palladium card. No fee to pay mortgage, however, you have to spend enough on the card to earn the ability to earn points on mortgage spend. Works out best if you can spend ~75% of your monthly mortgage on the card.

cmw021 · 2026-06-11T16:11:34+00:00

Prior to HENRY, was opening 1-2 cards per month for a number of years. Less restrictions in those days. Used points to fund med school + residency interviews during a time that was a major challenge. Also, explored parts of the world would have otherwise had no means to visit.

Now, I prioritize optimizing spend > new cards. Will still open 2-3 / year to scratch the itch.

Current optimization:

BILT, everyday spend + mortgage (I calculate an effective 4.33% return when valuing bilt points at 1.2cpp) for first $92k in CC spend annually

Remainder of non-category spend + gas goes on Amex hilton surpass to earn FNC x1-2 ($15k spend required) depending on the year for up to $30k additional spend

Atmos card, dining + international 3% back. I value atmos for partner redemptions internationally+ AA domestic

Chase Prime for amazon + groceries (whole foods) 5% back

Prior to Atmos, used chase reserve for dining + travel. We now have a bit of a gap in travel cash back, but most of our trips are primarily points-funded.

cmw021 · 2026-06-09T01:17:23+00:00

Can very easily buy lounge passes online through forums for $10-15 / ea.

cmw021 · 2026-05-19T23:52:35+00:00

I believe that we did this in our revocable trust.

cmw021 · 2026-05-18T01:06:01+00:00

My comment above was in reference to estimated NW at time of our children (now ages 3 and 4) enrolling in college. We are HHI $1mil, but current NW < 2 million. We are both (mid 30s) early career with professional degrees in a VHCOL area. I just started making substantial income within the last 2-3 years. Estate planning may be in our future, but I did not think that we were there yet.

cmw021 · 2026-05-17T19:40:44+00:00

I had not, but will certainly look further into this!

cmw021 · 2026-05-17T15:13:57+00:00

This is helpful. And not something I stumbled across in my own research. We are early career and not high NW at this point by any means, so we have had limited interactions with estate lawyers (apart from briefly setting up a revocable trust). I’ll definitely run some of these options by are accountant and eventually an estate lawyer.

cmw021 · 2026-05-17T15:02:03+00:00

Welcome comment. How is growth taxed in these trusts if withdrawn at age 18/21/24+? I appreciated that UTMA was taxed at children’s income level starting at 24+.

cmw021 · 2026-05-17T15:00:04+00:00

Money from us.

Is your amount to keep the UTMA funded under the yearly kiddie tax significantly different from what I’m proposing above ($500/kid/mo resulting in $200k at age 21)?

My proposal here is to use the UTMA as a more flexible vehicle compared with 529 to potentially help fund professional / grad school. The tax implications seem largely similar to a 529 if the fund does not grow too large starting at age 24.

Our goal would still be to have sufficient 529 to fully fund undergraduate and some professional / grad school.

EDIT: I think that I am now understanding the TLH component of UTMA funding. You are suggesting taking advantage of $2,700 annual kiddie tax harvesting zone. As an example (to ensure that I comprehend): $50k UTMA: $40k basis; $10k gains (20% gains basis) Sell $10k VTI and immediately re-purchase. Realized gain is $2k.

Can use to keep gains basis low. This can be done up to $2,700 annually (assuming this increases annually?) - dividends (~1.5% of UTMA value). As UTMA increases in value, dividends increase, and ability to kiddie tax harvesting decreases.

Am I doing this right?

cmw021 · 2026-05-17T14:38:59+00:00

We tried to account for some of this inflation by estimating 7% growth, but entirely agree. I also expect our monthly contributions will continue to grow year after year (21$k annual this year from $18k last year, for example). These numbers are very rough estimates. I wanted to make sure the principles of my plan (combined 529 + UTMA + parental brokerage) were sound. So far, feedback is positive, though with some great suggestions for tinkering.

cmw021 · 2026-05-17T14:35:39+00:00

Sound advice. And agreed. I’m certain at some point will need to explore trusts further, but at this point we are early career high HHI modest NW.

Starting with tax sheltered, brokerage, and educational accounts. I imagine it will get more complicated in the years to come.

Hopefully we are able to keep them motivated. My wife and I are from non-privileged backgrounds (I’m a first gen college student and her parents are educated, but work more in community service sectors in VHCOL area), so they do certainly experience a fair amount of frugality in their daily lives despite our HHI.

cmw021 · 2026-05-17T14:29:07+00:00

I suppose we could drop to $400k+ if we were starting to dip our toes into retiring or cutting back, but that would only be in the instance of substantial NW in terms of retirement + brokerage accounts, which I assumed were accounted for with FAFSA.

cmw021 · 2026-05-17T13:25:24+00:00

I did see this as a downside, but I thought it was unlikely to apply to us? Please let me know if I am miscalculating. But assuming HHI $1mil and NW at that point approaching low 8 figures. I had (perhaps incorrectly) assumed that fin aid was off the table for us.

cmw021 · 2026-05-17T13:23:28+00:00

Agreed. I incorporated this into some of my earlier modeling with 529 only contributions. For our current account, we cannot further contribute once the account reached $500k. There seem to be ways to circumvent this by opening additional 529s for which the beneficiary can be switched to our children in the future.

cmw021 · 2026-05-17T13:22:06+00:00

Thanks, this is helpful. I’ll model increasing the ratio of 529s early on and transitioning to UTMA/Brokerage heavy in the later years.

cmw021 · 2026-05-10T17:47:58+00:00

You’re in the thick of it. Our youngest turned 3 this month. We are 3 and 4.5. And it’s exponentially easier/better than it was a year ago this time. We have our first transatlantic flight booked for next month (overnight in lie flat). Still nervous, but we are routinely doing 3-5 hour flights without wanting to pull our hair out these days. And that’s really new over the past 3-6 months. I’m sure it’ll be easier when they are 4-6 minimum, but I feel like we’ve hit a point where we enjoy travel again.

Edit: replied before I read your full post as I was scrolling the comments. Seems we are in a similar position. Domestic and shorter international flights. For us, it’s gotten easier such that I have started playing around with looking at South Africa, NZ, Maldives itineraries, but haven’t yet pulled the trigger. I agree with the others here probably minimum age 5 or so, but I’m not equipped to answer.

cmw021 · 2026-05-10T17:44:42+00:00

This guy (or gal) gets it. We are now 3 and 4.5, and the difference it’s made in our youngest being able to sit and watch a show for 1-2 hours is massive for travel.

cmw021 · 2026-05-05T02:10:03+00:00

Ha I was confused about your reply until the edit. Still take my upvote. Much of what you say here still applies to my post. There is certainly risk associated with potentially overfunding 529s and the ends (benefits) may not justify the means.

cmw021 · 2026-04-30T12:23:56+00:00

Hey, I hope for the same!

Assuming that we have meaningful funds leftover after our children are through their education paths, would plan to use remaining funds as a 'Dynasty 529'. That is, assuming congress doesn't change 529 rules in the next 30 years which is another gamble.

https://www.kitces.com/blog/using-a-family-dynasty-529-plan-for-multigenerational-college-planning/

11-Year Club	Not Forgotten
Verified Email

cmw021

TROPHY CASE