[jaza]

Various studies have shown that, for the investment needed to "maximise your rewards" (ie time needed to research the different cards on the market / read the fine print of your chosen product / put through payments on a high rewards card; money on signup fees, recurring fees, transaction fees, etc), you'll achieve a much better ROI just investing the equivalent time and money into an index fund.

[toast0]

Getting a 2% discount on everything doesn't take a lot of time, or cost me anything directly. I did have to call the issuer once to get it changed from 1.5% to 2%, but there was a pretty good ROI on that ten minute phone call.

I also have a 4% card, which took a good amount of effort, and needs regular attention as the issuer has realized it wasn't a good idea and is changing the deal. Now it has a limit and then falls back to 2%. Probably still worth the effort.

Miles/points seems like a lot of work though. I could see a study showing that's not worth the effort for most people... but I think the thing there is to find a card with points that are valuable for you and then maximize that, so there's not a one size fits all there.

[Izkata]

> Getting a 2% discount on everything

Some years ago I looked what my bank offered and there were a lot of exceptions, it was very far from "everything". I think the math came out to saving like $100 total a year, not really worth it.

[BobaFloutist]

Basic, mindless, catchall 2% cashback cards exist. I keep a Fidelity, since you can set it to automatically points every time you earn 50$, which can immediately go into a brokerage account and be held in a moneymarket fund earning ~4% annual interest. Which is not a huge deal, but it's a very hands off approach.

[mercutio2]

Can you point to these studies?

Anyone who gives a 3% discount for cash will get cash from me, but I already have all my money in index funds. The effort to maximize points is “use this credit card, get the cash back”.

It’s really not that much effort, for rich people with excellent credit. It is of course a hugely regressive system, but that wasn’t the argument you made.

[jaza]

Alright alright, maybe not "various studies", but I read this article a few months ago: https://www.aureusfinancial.com.au/blog/title-are-credit-car...

[JustExAWS]

If you have a 2x points card and not cash back, you can still come out ahead with using a credit card over 3% cash back.

[moduspol]

Perhaps, although there are multiple “2% on everything uncapped” that are pretty easy to get with no annual fee. Set up automatic payments and you’re golden.

Still wouldn’t recommend them for anyone who’s not particularly good with money, but 2% back for almost no effort is a pretty good trade-off. Keeping track of rotating quarterly bonuses? Yeah—-then it’s worth thinking about ROI of your time.

[arealaccount]

Got a link or two?

[JustExAWS]

How much time do you really think it takes to subscribe to the RSS feed for “The Points Guy”?