@ flu: I used to hop money around different banks and start new ccs for the bonuses. But I decided finally that the ongoing time cost of keeping track of all these account AFTER the bonus needed to be amortized into what the bonus was. For example, a CD generates income that you only need to check twice: upon closing the CD and when you do your taxes. But these “you must do 10 transactions a month to get 4%” checking accounts suck, even with me using automatic transfers to achieve that high transaction level, became too troublesome to me because I also insisted on balancing the accounts every month. I realized I don’t enjoy balancing 6 accounts every month.
Also, the banks are counting on you to screw something up and nail you with fees. I decided I needed to spend more time trying to figure out what a diversified portfolio means these days when so many previously orthogonal asset classes have become correlated. This is part of why I won’t do business with Chase ever again, because I had a horrific experience with customer service both through their bank and cc. Long story short: I discovered I needed to report them to the Comptroller of the Currency (their regulatory agency) and send a letter directly to the CEO to get any useful action after 8 attempts to engage them.
Just one person’s thoughts; I love the stories, though!
