The theory of ros (return on spend)

When you invest your hard earned money you expect a good return. The standard benchmark is the return of the s&p 500 which for the last 50 years is about 10.9% annually. The fact is if you invest 10% of your earnings in a year, assuming this return, it would be a little more than 1/2 of what you can get by earning 2% back on the  other 90% (of course this doesn't have the compound effect that investing has). 2% is without any effort if you simply do some research it can be 10% if you play your cards right (pardon the pun). The fact is your spending is an asset that banks will pay to service, you should sell it the highest bidder.

American express blue business card

 Click here for the application

In my opinion this is a must have. It gives 2 points per dollar on all purchases up to $50,000. It is a business card so it doesn't go on your 5/24 for chase. It is a perfect card to keep open if you want to accumulate Amex  points. That involves opening expensive cards that for many are only worth it the first year. This is a perfect no annual fee card that you can keep opens. It also has a great referral rate of 10,000-15,000 points for the referrer. This card usually doesn't have a public opening bonus but does have one through a referral link.

Amex Limited time offers (marriot)

 Amex has released some great limited time offers. I advise you to click here to see if any appeal to you. This post is about the Marriott cards. The Marriott portfolio is split between amex and chase. Amex issues a "luxury" consumer card with an annual fee of $450 and a business card with a $125 annual fee. 

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^™ American Express^® Card

The opening bonus on this card is currently 125,000 Marriott points if you spend $5,000 in eligible purchase in the 1st 3 months and $200 back at us restaurants. This offer can end at any time. This card comes with a $300 credit at participating Marriott hotels. If my referral link doesn't  show this offer then I advise you to apply through amex straight. (usually referral links show better offers with amex. Occasional this is not the case) The card earns 2 points per dollar and earns 3 points for the categories of dining and flights booked directly with airlines. It earns 6 points for spending with Marriot. We don't suggest using this card for everyday spend (or any Marriott card). Valuing points is completely suggestive but as far as I know buying Marriott points at the time of this posts from a broker cost at the most $.007 per point sock for everyday spending you will be getting 1.4% back that you can only use at Marriott obviously not very good. Unless you have a specific goal in mind that will give you a better valuation. I think you could probably get a cent in high season. For this you could spend with a freedom unlimited and instantly get 1.5% back. If transferred to a sapphire it can be worth up to 2.25 and even more if transferred to an airline or hotel.For the opening bonus it depends if you have a good redemption in mind. Keep in mind that for Marriott cards you can only get one bonus per 24 months across all cards and for Amex you (unofficially) cant have more than 4 credit cards. This card also counts for 5/24 for chase.

Amex Marriot Business card

This card has a limited time offer of 100,000 points for spending $5000 in the 1st  3 months also it includes a $150 credit which offsets the first year annual fee.
This card earns 2 points per dollar ,4 points for us gas stations shipping and wireless service providers and 6 points for spending at Marriott. Like I said before it is generally not worth doing your everyday spending on.

Other considerations

These cards also have certain bonuses for threshold for spend and  status for just having the card. From what I understand status at Marriott doesn't  guarantee you anything. The free night for spending on the business card is caped at 35,000 points. The free nights you get for just having the consumer or business card for more than a year are capped at 50,000 points and 35,000 points respectively. If you can find good hotels at that rate then you may find it worthwhile to open these cards. Just keep in mind that Marriott is notorious  for making their desirable hotels cost more points every year. Also keep in mind that chase and amex points can be transferred to Marriott so if you earn 2 amex points for spending with the blue business cash you could always transfer  it if its worth it. There are other benefits like tsa credits and insurance that you should do your won research to see if it adds value to you. 

 

 

Look out for future posts

 I hope to start reviewing individual cards in blog post in the near future.

Welcome

 Welcome to the Kollel finance blog. I am a Kollel guy who has a hobby of opening, using and studying credit cards. In addition, I love taking advantage of offers designed to attract customers to banks and brokerage accounts. Many people are perplexed on how Kollel families function with low incomes. Taking advantage of banks and credit card opening bonuses can help with finances.  Since customers of these institutions are generally sticky it pays for the banks to pay nice amounts of money to get them to use their services. It has become a situation in the United States where the question for the consumer is, "how much should I get paid for you to forward cash on my behalf, hold my money, and ensure that is it insured". Taking advantage of these facts can leave you thousands of dollars richer. Though there is an assumption that "points" are for "yeshivish" people who don't have incomes. The truth is the more spending you do the more you can take advantage of these offers. For example, a business or household spending $1,000,000 a year should be able to easily get at least 2 percent "payment" from the banks they use to pay. This would be at least  $20,000 at the end of the year without any effort.