This week, we'll cover deep dive strategies for retirement, wealth building, and taxes, new 2-3% brokerage transfer bonus, biz class award deals to 5 destinations (incl. Italy & Japan), 50% off one of my top apps for credit card offers, card-linked savings worth $1,200+, submit questions for an ask me anything, hotel promos from Marriott, Wyndham & more, 42 lessons from 15 years of investing and more!

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💸 Strategies for Retirement, Wealth Building, and Taxes

We’ve all heard the advice to “max out your retirement accounts,” but according to financial planning expert Michael Kitces, that isn’t always the smartest move. Learn how those savings could be better used to grow your career, create flexibility, or avoid future tax headaches, which can have a bigger impact on your long-term wealth and even your ability to retire early.

📺 Watch or 🎧 Listen

📖 Read the Blog Post

🤑 Latest Deals

💰 1-3% Transfer Bonuses for Robinhood HOOD Month

Robinhood's ​HOOD Month​ is running until 9/15 and offering up to a 3% bonus on transfers from external brokerages along with other promos.

• ​Up to a 3% bonus​ for individual or joint investing accounts. 2% unlimited bonus, or 3% if you have a $100k+ margin.
• ​Up to a 2% bonus​ for IRAs with ​Robinhood Gold​.
• ​Up to a 2% bonus​ for managed accounts (capped).
• A chance to ​win one of 5,000 gold bars​—3 worth ~$100K—for every eligible dollar deposited into their Robinhood account.
• A TBD promo that goes live on 9/2.

My take: If you have a big enough brokerage account (and especially if you can add $100k of margin before you transfer), the 3% bonus is incredible. That said, while you get the bonus up front, they will claw it back if you try to withdraw before 5 years. Also, Robinhood doesn't support trust accounts, so if that's important, you're out of luck.

💳 50% off CardPointers+ (Labor Day Sale!)

​CardPointers+​ is my favorite app for getting the most out of my credit cards because it keeps track of all your card benefits and automatically activates offers for all your cards. Right now, you can ​get 50% off​ as part of their Labor Day sale!

🔗 Card-Linked Offers: $1,200+ in Savings

Here are some card-linked offers I found this week. Expiration dates are in parentheses.

• General Spending: ​Up to $600 off​, $150 off $3,000 x 4 (11/25).
• Entertainment Purchases: ​50% off​, up to $100 (9/20).
• EVA Air: ​$180 off $1,200​ (11/23).
• Marriott: ​$150 off $150​ via Bonvoy Bevy cards (12/31). Registration is required.
• SIXT Rentals: ​15% off $500​ (9/30).
• Southwest: ​10% back​, up to $40 (9/12).
• Fontainebleau Las Vegas: ​Up to $200 off​, $100 off $500 x 2 (12/20).

Some of these offers are targeted, so this is a perfect example of why you should take advantage of the Labor Day deal for ​CardPointers Pro​ mentioned above to automate these offers.

🛫 Travel, Points & Miles

🏨 Hotel Promos: Marriott, Wyndham & More

If you have upcoming travel, here are some hotel promos you can take advantage of.

• Marriott Homes & Villas: ​Earn 2x points​ on bookings made by 9/25 for 3+ night stays before 12/31 ​(registration​ required).
• Accor Live Limitless: ​Earn up to 4,000 points​ until 2/27 when you ​register here​. Plus, ​earn 4x points​ on ​new properties​ across the world when you book before 8/31 for stays before 12/28.
• Wyndham Rewards: ​Save up to 20%​ for stays through 12/31.
• Best Western: ​Earn up to 25,000 bonus points​ when you book before 8/31 and complete a stay by 11/30. Plus, ​earn 2x points​ on stays between 9/2 and 11/30 (​registration​ required).

💺 Biz Class Award Deals to 5 Destinations

Check out these business class award flight deals if you're looking to travel to/via these destinations.

• 🇭🇰 Hong Kong: From ​85k Avios​ points.
• 🇮🇹 Italy: From ​55k Atmos Rewards​ points.
• 🇯🇵 Japan: From ​60k American Airlines AAdvantage​ miles.
• 🇲🇦 Morocco: From ​55k Atmos Rewards​​ points.
• 🇹🇼 Taiwan: From ​75k Atmos Rewards​​ points.

🤝 Alaska Airlines Status Match Challenge

​Alaska Airlines is allowing flyers to match their status​ from 7 other airlines. Matched status is valid for 90 days, with the chance to extend. However, it's important to know that Alaska Airlines allows only one status match per account lifetime, so think carefully before you do it.

🛏️ 4th Night Free via Capital One Travel

Capital One Travel is offering a ​4th night free deal​ on select Premier & Lifestyle Collection hotels. The offer is valid for reservations of at least 4 consecutive nights made within specific dates.

🛫 Airline Partnership Updates

• JetBlue x Condor: You can now ​book Condor flights with JetBlue TrueBlue points​. Right now, there are a few dates open for transatlantic business class flights starting at 54k points.
• Southwest x EVA Air: While this ​new partnership​ seems exciting, there haven't been too many ways to benefit from it as someone looking for a deal on flights to asia.

🔄 Latest Transfer Bonuses

Here are 3 transfer bonuses that might help you get a good deal, but I wouldn't speculatively transfer unless you're planning a trip.

• Virgin Atlantic: ​Up to 100% bonus​ only on 9/1 until 11:59pm ET.
• IHG: ​100% bonus​ until 9/4.
• Wyndham: ​25% bonus​ until 9/20.

✈️ Earn Delta MQDs Beyond Flights for a Limited Time

A ​limited-time promo​ is allowing Delta SkyMiles members to earn MQDs on hotels, vacation rentals, and car rentals booked through the ​Delta Travel Extras portal​ and the ​Delta Car Rentals portal​. You must book by 10/24 for travel through 10/31.

🛫 Free Delta SkyMiles for Washington Residents

If you live in Washington, you can register for ​Delta’s 12Status program​ and earn free SkyMiles every Seahawks game day. An easy, no-cost way to earn miles, just make sure to register by 9/7. Note that unless you're currently in Washington State (or using a VPN there), you'll just see a blank page. Looks like Delta's upgraded their IT recently.

🕵️ Top Finds

🏛️ Advanced Tech of the Roman Empire

I'm clearly a nerd, because I loved this video about some of the advanced engineering and technology that fueled the Roman Empire. I can't stop thinking about whether the Industrial Revolution might have been a millennium earlier if some of these things caught on.

📈 42 Lessons from 15 Years of Investing

The Pareto Investor shared ​42 valuable lessons learned from 15 years of investing​ experience, often learned the hard way. He emphasizes the importance of long-term strategies, risk management, and emotional discipline over chasing quick returns. It's a great read for anyone investing at any level.

📋 My Past Week

Let me share a quick recap of what I was up to last week:

• I'm still anxiously awaiting the arrival of my ​Atmos Summit card​​, which should be here in another 3-4 business days. I'm kicking myself for not requested it get expedited when I called to check on the application status.
• I decided our home gym needed a weight bench, so this week I binged at least an hour or two of youtube videos on adjustable weight benches. I'm not a serious lifter, so instead of going for some of the fancier ones, I went with ​this budget pick​ on Amazon and I'm pretty excited to test it out next week.
• With our kids back in school, I've been be using the ​Opal app​ every day to block all the apps on my phone during the short window of time we have with them before school. Highly recommend it if you want some help staying off your phone.
• I've been going to the climbing gym off and on for 25 years and recently joined a local gym. I'm excited to get back into climbing more regularly, especially because my daughters really love it. Also, my wife has been strength training so much that she's really leveled up as a climber, despite not climbing for the past decade, which is equally impressive and annoying.