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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: Mon, 24 Feb 2025 21:14:59 -0500
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On 2/24/25 17:11, Tom Elam wrote:
> On 2/18/2025 6:25 AM, -hh wrote:
>> On 2/17/25 16:19, Tom Elam wrote:
>>> On 2/15/2025 6:47 PM, -hh wrote:
>>>> 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, 
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