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Credit Card Rewards - Beaker - 09-01-2018
You always hear the term "put your money to work". It means using your money to make money. Examples being putting your money into mutual funds rather than a savings account and such. I wanted to share info on something that I have done that may benefit those of you with young children.
When my daughter was born, I started putting $200 a month into a 529 plan for her college. Around age 7 or so, I ran into some financial difficulties and had to stop the monthly pays. But as some time passed, I hated doing that and it continued to bug me. So in looking into other options I came across a Fidelity Investments 529 Plan Rewards Visa card.
With this card, you open a Fidelity 529 plan and then direct the rewards points to go into the 529 account. The reward is 2% back on any purchase. Additionally, you can have other cards feed into the same account. For example your spouse, or grandparents can get the card and direct their points to feed into the same 529 account.
So my wife and I both have cards, and both cards feed their points into my only daughter's 529 college savings account. We got the cards when she was 9 years old. We used the cards for everything that we could pay cash for...gas, groceries, etc. We also paid all our utility bills using the cards. We even put all our large purchases like airline tickets and hotels on the cards. I always had the money already saved up for the utilities, vacations, etc, so we never carried a balance on either card. We simply used them in lieu of cash, and paid them off every month. I also looked at the cards as if we were getting a 2% discount on all purchases, and were buying everything for 98% of its cost to us...which we were.
Bottom line is this. My daughter has now just started her sophomore year at college. So far, we have not touched the money in the Fidelity credit card 529 account. We paid for her freshman year and this first semester of sophomore year out of the other 529 account I opened when she was born and put the $200 per month in. So in the mean time, we have still been accumulating money in the credit card 529 account.
In the ten years since we got the cards (she's 19 now) the credit card 529 account has accumulated over $20,000! And that's without a single extra dollar invested by us.....just using the cards for spending on things we would purchase anyway. That total is nearly enough to pay for 1 full year of her college.
So it has been a windfall of found money that we did not have to set aside. I wanted to share the info on here so maybe some of our community could do the same. Again the card is the Fidelity 529 Visa if any of you want to look into it. Remember, even if your kids are older, it can still add up....I didn't start until she was 9.
I have also found a very good travel rewards credit card. As soon as we get her through college, we are going to do the same strategy for travel rewards and see more of this amazing world. All it takes is utilizing the tools offers like these provide you.
RE: Credit Card Rewards - Benton - 09-02-2018
Thanks for the info, I may heck into that.
I try to diversify but it’s getting riskier. My latest screwup was real estate. Rental property that (in theory)should’ve paid for itself in 10-15 years, which will be about the time my daughter starts college. But one bad renter ended up costing me thousands.
RE: Credit Card Rewards - fredtoast - 09-02-2018
Credit card points add up over time. I've been paying my balance every month and taking advantage of them as much as possible for years. I pay my insurance and everything with my credit card.
But I will still never make back as much as I paid in interest for a few years after college.
RE: Credit Card Rewards - Sabretooth - 09-03-2018
(09-02-2018, 04:06 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Credit card pints add up over time. I've been paying my balalnce every month and taking advantage of them as much as possible for years. I pay my insurance and everything with my credit card.
But I will still never make back as much as I paid in interest for a few years after college.
Worry not counselor, as your stand up comedian career takes off, it will come to you.
RE: Credit Card Rewards - michaelsean - 09-05-2018
However you do it, start a 529 account. I didn't, and I have a lot of loans for my daughter I have to start paying back now, and my son will be going into college in a couple of years.
RE: Credit Card Rewards - WeezyBengal - 09-05-2018
Rewards are awesome.
Two of my favorites:
Hotels.com gives you a night free when you hit ten nights booked with them. The free night is the average of the other ten nights.
My wife and I use the capital one venture card. You get 2x miles on all purchases and like you, I literally use this card for everything. I havent had to pay for an airline flight in years.
RE: Credit Card Rewards - WeezyBengal - 09-05-2018
(09-02-2018, 04:06 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Credit card points add up over time. I've been paying my balance every month and taking advantage of them as much as possible for years. I pay my insurance and everything with my credit card.
But I will still never make back as much as I paid in interest for a few years after college.
Credit card rewards are great but you are right, paying them off each month is key.