Tax Arbitrage, Credit Card Rewards & DIY Investing from a Finance Professor
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Still not dead yet. Sorry for the dearth of publishing. This blog is officially 10 years old!!! My first post was on May 23, 2016 at the time, I was wrapping up my phd. We moved exactly a week after that post. A decade 3,652.5 ... Read more
My brother-in-law and sister-in-law promised each of their four kids a trip to anywhere in the world when they graduated high school (no siblings). We vaguely liked the idea, so vaguely promised our kids that we d do something similar (but with siblings included). When I made this vague promise many years ago, it did not ... Read more
Lack of Disclosure I don t make a penny from credit card referrals. I write about credit cards because I find it fun. There are no affiliate links in this post. Review I m a long-time fan of BoA credit cards for much of the past decade, I have earned 5.25% cash back on most of ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches I saw Project Hail Mary. It was fine. Reminded me of Flight of the Navigator meets Castaway. 3.5/5 stars. I find YouTube so much more entertaining than movies these days. I watched the first episode of Adolescence with Mrs FP and thought it was well ... Read more
Not dead yet. Sorry for the delay it was a pretty weird month. Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Dan Cycles the world traverses Ecuador. Easily the best (though only) thing I watched all month (link). Mr 1500 on the fine line between frugal and cheap (link). Life I discovered ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. A Brief Departure from Regularly Scheduled Programming At the end of my recent state of the blog post, I asked you random internet weirdos four questions: what you find useful what you find un-useful what you’d like to see more of who are you (not in the ... Read more
Another lap around the sun weren t we here just a few days ago? First, a 40,000 ft overview of 2025: I dragged my family 2,220 miles through Europe over three weeks. We discovered our love of via ferratas. Miraculously, we didn t get too sick of each other. FC1 and I backpacked 40 miles in ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches I stumbled across this 21-year-old quote from Charlie Munger on inflation: Most people are going to get a very small real return from investment after considering inflation and taxes. I think that’s an iron law of the world and if, for a brief period, some ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Not much. Life For various reasons, my group of college buddies broke our approximately decade-long tradition of backpacking this summer. These trips including adventures in link and Peru are some of my favorite memories. Nonetheless, we managed to salvage a weekend climbing trip ... Read more
I m not dead (yet) just late. Not much new to report, so my apologies for the lack of mind-blowing, life-altering content you are accustomed to seeing. Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Not much. Life I had surgery on my nose (deviated septum sinuses). While the recovery was a ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Bikepacker Dan Cycles the World kayaks the Darien Gap (link). His channel is probably the most inspiring/entertaining thing I ve watched in a long time. Life FC1 seems to be enjoying college. While it was a weird adjustment period, we re adjusting to the new normal of ... Read more
Disclaimer If you use my link, both you and I get a $25 referral credit. I didn’t include this link at first, but a reader emailed asking for it. Since it seemed silly to withhold a $25 benefit from readers, I’ve added it — you’ll just have to take my word that my opinions are ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Not much. Life FC1 started college. On our drive West, FC1 and I stopped for a 4-day, 45-mile backpacking adventure in WY. She seems to be enjoying college so far. I was in denial (and probably still am) that she is gone. The night before ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Scottie Scheffler, the world s best golfer by a decent margin (reminiscent of Tiger Woods), talks frankly about the triviality of the sport and how unfulfilling fame/success is (link). A week after the interview, he won the British Open (one of the four majors) in convincing ... Read more
On September 4, 2024, US Bank made big news with their announcement of an industry-leading card purported to earn 4% on all purchases (screenshot below). The card started accepting applications on November 14, 2024. In the ensuing 8.5 months, it has been almost comical to behold the meteoric (and inevitable) implosion of this card. US ... Read more
Last month, I received an email from a reader (shared anonymously with permission): My wife and I are 53, living in Texas with our two kids. We’ve built up about $1 million in stocks and retirement accounts (we got a late start!). I’m a small business owner, with pre-tax and pre-expense income around $500,000, netting ... Read more
My brother-in-law and his wife promised each of their kids a vacation to anywhere in the world upon graduating high school. My wife and I thought that was a cool idea and vaguely promised something similar to our children. The cheapskate in me secretly hoped that each of my graduating seniors would choose a tour ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Nothing comes to mind. Life We took a three-week trip to Europe. It was great. The all-in cost for the seven of us was ~$20k. I ll elaborate in another post. A teenager in our climbing gym was working on muscle-ups. After a few days of ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches We are enjoying Season 4 of Welcome to Wrexam (link). Ben Rector dropped a new album. It is great (link). Some new favorite YouTube channels: An Italian bikepacker (link). His current plans of a human powered voyage across the globe (link). Dan Cycles the World, ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches NYT Podcast on how the much anticipated reduction in real estate agent fees has yet to materialize (link). Older Bogleheads on advice they d give their 45-year old selves (link). WSJ on how to easily delete personal info (address, phone number, etc) from the internet (wsj ... Read more
I ve used Fidelity s Cash Management Account (CMA) as my primary checking, savings, and cash management account for over six years. I recommend this setup to my students. I recommend it to my children. I recommend it to you. The default CMA setup is already strong. However, I’ve spent years refining it — optimizing for tax ... Read more
I wrote the majority of this post before markets went to hell on April 3–4. Since then, our portfolio dropped another $250k. We ll see how this plays out, but I can t say I m terribly optimistic about the fallout from what the WSJ called the dumbest trade war in history. I wouldn t be surprised if equities ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches The Finance Buff on protecting investment accounts from ACATS transfer theft (link). If I were not currently chasing $7k/year of brokerage bonuses, I d have 100% of our brokerage accounts at Fidelity with lockdown enabled. Hopefully other brokerages follow suit and enable this functionality. Life FC1 ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches I found this YouTube documentary on Malaysian Flight 370 (the Boeing 777 that seemingly disappeared without a trace in 2014) to be fascinating/horrifying (link). Vanguard lowers expense ratios on 87 funds (link). Bogleheads discussion (link). WSJ article (link). Tesla is offering a 10% insurance discount ... Read more
Another lap around the sun. First, a 40,000 ft overview of 2024: I lost my mom (64) after an excruciatingly long and difficult sickness spanning almost a decade. I rediscovered running after a 25-year hiatus. I dragged the family to Seattle/Whistler where we hiked, kayaked, and four of us competed in a triathlon (Me, Mrs ... Read more
I ve been a member of the BoA cult for the better part of a decade now, happily earning 5.25% on category purchases with the Customized Cash Rewards card and 2.625% on non-category purchases with my BoA Premium Rewards card. (BoA also sells a premium, lounge-access version of this card — see my Premium Rewards Elite ... Read more
Today, I helped my 17-year-old daughter file her taxes. Since she doesn t earn much income as a teenager, we opted to use TurboTax for its free federal and state e-filings. While I don t love TurboTax, I’ll grudgingly use it when it’s truly free—which is the case for my teens. After submitting her return, we were ... Read more
Our oldest kid came back from school with a terrible earache today. Given the time of day, it was too late to get into our primary care physician. My wife scheduled an appointment at our local CVS Minute Clinic for this evening, but I explored telehealth options first. A few Google queries were rather unsuccessful, ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Ben Rector dropped three new songs, which made my month (link). I particularly like the song The Richest Man in the World. Life I took a climbing trip to Vegas where a friend and did a ~1,500 ft classic climb called Solar Slab. When we ... Read more
*** Edit 7/30/25 *** The following post is now obsolete. An updated post is here: https://frugalprofessor.com/us-bank-smartly-credit-card-bait-and-switch-smartlier-solutions-from-a-finance-professor/ Update 4/14/25: On 4/14/25, U.S. Bank essentially neutered this card for new applicants. The $100k balance must now be held in a checking account rather than a brokerage account (and thus incurring a…
I drafted most of this post before my mom s passing. I ll keep it brief this month. Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches I found this photography project to be profoundly moving and sad (link). Coincidentally, I wrote the above before my mom s passing. Reader Adrian writes about finding joy in running by ... Read more
64 years old. Gone too soon. She was a wonderful mother and grandmother.
The 2024 version of FreeTaxUSA is now live: https://www.freetaxusa.com/ Usual disclaimer: the name makes it sounds like a horrible scam. But it is my favorite tax filing site, found through my favorite resource on the planet for all things personal finance: the Bogleheads forum. If you need to adjust your W4, now is the time ... Read more
(Lack of) Disclaimer I don t make a penny from credit card recommendations. There are no affiliate links in this post. Background I’ve been a long-time user of Bank of America credit cards, particularly the Customized Cash Rewards and Premium Rewards cards, though it’s been several years since my last update (see previous posts: link1, link2, ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches National Geographic put out a new Honnold/Caldwell bromance on their bike/climbing journey from Colorado to Alaska (DisneyPlus link). Relatedly, Honnold was on Rich Roll s podcast and provides a bit more context on their adventure (link). Life I discovered how to universally set all websites to ... Read more
I loathe Robinhood for a multitude of reasons, but I transferred the entirety of our ~$200k Roth IRA balances to them six months ago because they offered us a 3% bonus (~$6k). The bonus was paid in full, tax-free, directly into the Roth IRA, with the condition that the money remains there for five years ... Read more
Buffett s Folly I was fortunate enough to see Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger in person at the Berkshire meetings several times. Their wit and common-sense wisdom never ceased to amaze me. One of the many lessons I ve internalized from Buffett over the years is the reality of opportunity costs. Here s how Buffett thought about them ... Read more
If you ve followed this blog, you will know that I find tracking personal finances both fascinating and insightful. With the recent bull market, our cumulative (nominal) investment gains since the birth of the blog 8 years ago surpassed $1M last month. Some Backstory A little over eight years ago, I completed my twelfth year of ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches I enjoyed this Costco Connection article on their operations (link). Life For years, I would bike our unfrugal dog about 4 miles a day to give her some exercise. However, in preparation for the triathlon this past summer, I started running her the ~4 mi/day ... Read more
Edit November 11, 2024 The card appears to have been nerfed with the introduction of the new Smartly 4% card on Nov 11, 2024. Existing users can still use the card, but it seems to be closed to new users. RIP. I asked ChatGPT to eulogize it. Here s what it came up with: Farewell to ... Read more
For the past seven summers, I have gone backpacking with a group of undergrad friends (who I met in 1999). We ve gone to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Peru. 25 years after meeting each other, we decided to backpack Alaska. Ironically, it was a Bogleheads post that inspired that decision. We eventually converged on this packrafting ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Zooming into iPhone chip kind of blew my mind (link). Beau Miles completes his Seinfeld recycling arbitrage (part 1, part 2). Another month, another massive data breach in which our personal info is permanently exposed to the world. If you aren t already operating under the ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Neurosurgeon becomes disillusioned with job, quits, and now spends his time hiking in the mountains with his dog (link). The video has gone quite viral, hitting 10M views in a month. A lot of it resonated with me, including how broken the medical system is ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches I didn t read/listen/watch too much this month, but on vacation we binged the first season of Welcome to Wrexham with the kids, which is basically a real-life Ted Lasso. It is a fantastic show if you aren t offended by language. Such a beautiful and well-done ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Podcast interview with Die With Zero author, Bill Perkins (link). Perkins book, along with the above podcast, has certainly given me a lot of food for thought. The podcast made me reflect once again on whether I m irrationally hoarding/counting/collecting/obsessing about Chuck E Cheese tokens. I ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches An interesting Bogleheads thread about life lessons (link). The collective wisdom of this particular group of internet strangers never ceases to amaze me. Rick Ferri interviews Larry Swedroe (link). Larry came to visit my campus seven years ago. About five of us finance faculty met ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches NYT podcast on the collapse of the National Association of Realtors, along with the 6% commission for selling homes (link). A fascinating David vs Goliath story. I had always thought that the downfall would come organically through competitors such as link or link. I was ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches Andre Agassi s autobiography/memoir, Open (link). I heard about the book in the comment section of the WSJ this past month. I checked out the audiobook from the library and devoured it in about 3 days. For those who don t care about tennis, you could probably ... Read more
Another month, another update. A few random comments. Good Reads/Listens/Watches PBS documentary of The Boys in the Boat (link). We took the family to see the movie in the theater. I thought the book and above documentary are better. 12-minute documentary about a man who has spent 50 years as Yellowstone s winterkeeper (link). Rich Roll ... Read more
First, a 40,000 ft overview of 2023: Life flew by, as always. Increasingly so as the years go on. I played many rounds of disc golf and climbed a bunch. I love the competitive, outdoor, social, and physical aspects of disc golf. I like the physical, mental, and social aspects of climbing (mostly indoors, unfortunately). ... Read more