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From: -hh <recscuba_google@huntzinger.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: Translation: Tommy's bored, so he's trolling again
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2025 18:47:24 -0500
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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After nearly two weeks of silence, on 2/15/25 10:36, Tom Elam wrote:
> On 2/2/2025 1:41 PM, -hh wrote:
>> On 2/2/25 6:46 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>> On 12/23/2024 7:13 PM, -hh wrote:
>>>> On 12/23/24 9:20 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>> On 12/20/2024 9:58 PM, -hh wrote:
>>>>>> On 12/20/24 7:05 PM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>>> On 12/20/2024 4:26 PM, -hh wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 12/19/24 1:57 PM, -hh wrote:
>>>>>>>>> On 12/19/24 12:30 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> On 2024-12-19 07:33, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> On 12/18/2024 1:11 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2025. Its a bit earlier than what we normally do to do 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> this, but airfares were favorable. Plus I discovered that a 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> FFM account that we'd not been paying attention to had 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> built up a healthy balance, so with just ~20% of its 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total for two).
>>>>>>>>>>>> So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in 
>>>>>>>>>>>> suspense?
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> :-)
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Alan once again deflects attention away from the issue.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Alan chose to ignore your bullshit.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Well, it did make me briefly wonder just how many tickets to 
>>>>>>>>> Hawaii I could buy from my main FFM account, if I were so 
>>>>>>>>> inclined...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> ...although since his claim was retrospective, retconning here 
>>>>>>>>> needs to include FFMs already spent on destinations far further 
>>>>>>>>> afield, such as 120K dropped for a BusinessFirst upgrade on 
>>>>>>>>> EWR- HKG:  that amount was probably worth 3 FFM coach tickets 
>>>>>>>>> to HNL just on its own.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Well, while waiting for my Windows VM to update to version 24H2, 
>>>>>>>> I found this:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> <https://awardwallet.com/blog/new-unpublished-united-partner- 
>>>>>>>> award- chart/>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Seems that routes to Hawaii used to be as cheap as just 10K/pp, 
>>>>>>>> so 9 coach RT's for two could have cost as little as just 360K 
>>>>>>>> FFM's.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Overall, the devaluation of FFMs since that era illustrates that 
>>>>>>>> all other factors being equal, it makes more sense to use them 
>>>>>>>> up fairly proactively instead of hoarding them.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> -hh
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I think I paid 15-20k pp. 
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I figured 20K/pp for round trip, so 15K would've needed even less.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Not to mention about 10 trips to Europe on points too, more than 
>>>>>>> 1 first class. Plus quite a few family ski trips. 
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Probably ~50K for business to EU.  Domestic used to be very cheap, 
>>>>>> like 5K cheap, but no longer: I ran into a quite unreasonably high 
>>>>>> fare on a domestic itinerary last year, such that I chose to use 
>>>>>> FFMs instead of paying north of $1K cash and it was 69,600: an 
>>>>>> illustration of limited competition in some markets as well as the 
>>>>>> systematic FFM devaluation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> This is why I take cash rebates instead of points.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Cashback is certainly more fungible and it doesn't depreciate as 
>>>>>> fast, but once again, the benefit is from using accumulated 
>>>>>> balances.  I'm modestly humored that I'd rediscovered up this 
>>>>>> forgotten FFM account; it will probably net somewhere around five 
>>>>>> free(ish) flights on its own.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm not a fan of leaving money in an account that does not earn 
>>>>> anything. There is the phenomenon called price inflation. That is a 
>>>>> tax of sorts on cash balances. 
>>>>
>>>> There's invariably a price to be paid to maintain some ready 
>>>> liquidity for an emergency fund, or even just for fiscal management 
>>>> convenience.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> So, my rebates go reduce current card balances a bit, freeing up 
>>>>> cash flow elsewhere. At 0.65% of total income not a major factor, 
>>>>> but in retirement every little bit helps. 
>>>>
>>>> I've never even thought about bothering to track cashback balances 
>>>> as a percentage of total Net Worth.  And since 0.65% of a ~$2M Net 
>>>> Worth is $13K - - a pretty high balance for retained cashbacks - - 
>>>> this suggests some other interpretation of what you're saying.
>>>>
>>>>> The only cash balances we own other than currency in our pockets 
>>>>> earns something.  The main savings account is 4.5% APR.
>>>>
>>>> Sure, but HYSA rates have been declining over the past few months in 
>>>> particular; one that we have which was close to 5.5% earlier this 
>>>> year is already down to 4.4% and I expect it to drop further.  If 
>>>> one really wants inflation protection without Market risks, you're 
>>>> looking more at TIPS and/or I-Bonds, both of which have their own 
>>>> pros/cons.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -hh
>>>>
>>>
>>> You go off the rails again. Way off. Rebates are just another 
>>> positive cash flow. 
>>
>> Except that they're not a net positive when you paid more than cash.
>>
>> This is a discussion before we've had before: it revealed that you've 
>> tended to use large chains where credit cards aren't surcharged, 
>> unlike my observation in small businesses where +3% isn't uncommon.
>>
>>
>>> I never mentioned any net worth contribution. 
>>
>> Correct; I mentioned it to note that the accumulated cashbacks are 
>> contextually insignificant vs net worth.
>>
>>> Have you not learned that for retirement you need to build 
>>> diversified positive cash flow streams that give you financial options? 
>>
>> Irrelevant to credit card cash-backs.  Why have you not learned yet to 
>> waste your time chasing ankle-biters?
>>
>>
>>> That means among other options reducing fixed expenses like interest 
>>> obligations buying assets like EOS (look it up) that pay cash 
>>> dividends, and maybe some part-time gig income.
>>
>> Still irrelevant to credit card cash-backs...
>>
>> But insofar as EOS, I assume you're referring to "Eaton Vance Enhance 
>> Equity Income Fund II Common Stock", not the crypto coin of the same 
>> name that's down by -85% over the past 5 years.
>>
>> If one actually has a free cash flow stream tight enough that monthly 
>> dividends are important, then I can see how EOS could be tempting, 
>> particularly with it currently paying a ~7.5% dividend rate, which is 
>> roughly a +3% for its Risk Premia over US10Y, or +5.4% over the 
>> Risk+Inflation Premia of US10YTIP.
>>
>> Of course, there's also other questions too, such as its tax 
>> implications, for a MUTF, they're likely categorized as Ordinary 
>> Dividends instead of Qualified, plus who knows how much the MUTF 
>> throws on at the end of the year in STCG, LTCG, etc, which may not 
>> even show up as real cash.  It may be fine in a tax-advantaged 
>> account, but I'd dig a bit further before contemplating it for a 
>> brokerage ... plus for upper marginal income tax brackets, another 
>> contender could be the likes of VWAHX.  It also pays out monthly, and 
>> its lower return is offset by being Federal Income Tax exempt, which 
>> can provide an effective returns boost of 24%-32%/etc.
>>
>>
>> -hh
> 
> And you ignore that you might be paying higher prices at those small 
> local places, even with a negotiated cash discount, than you might pay 
> at national chains. 

Nah, I'm aware that there can be a cost to supporting local small 
businesses; the Walmart family already has more than enough money.
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