👋 Hi Reader,

Happy Saturday! Here's a quick sneak peek of what's included in today's newsletter:

• 🤔 Contrarian takes on money, risk, and retirement
• 🤩 Amex Platinum refresh: 200k offer, perks & more
• 💳 Limited time 50k bonus for Mesa Homeowners Card
• 🏨 Latest IHG promos: up to 100k bonus points & more
• 📱 50% off one of my favorite apps: CardPointers+
• 💸 Get 5% back/5x points with Q4 rotating categories
• 💰 SkyMiles, Atmos, Aeroplan & Choice points on sale
• 💡 Why financial independence is overrated and more!

If you enjoyed reading this, please feel free to forward it to anyone else who might (and if that's you, you can subscribe here). Thank you!

Chris

🤔 Contrarian Takes on Money, Risk, and Retirement

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This week, we explored contrarian takes on budgeting, the 4% rule, retirement planning, and the risks of blindly investing in bonds. We also cover strategies for investing, spending, and rethinking how to use money with purpose.

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📋 My Past Week

Here's a quick recap of what I was up to last week.

1. I already started using some of the credits from the Amex Platinum relaunch (more below). Don't forget to use quarterly lululemon and Resy credits before the end of the month! For the Resy credits, I loved this guide/map that helped find restaurants you could buy gift cards from if you don't have plans to use the credit in the next 10 days.
2. For dinner last Monday, we made Coconut Curry Chickpeas with Pumpkin and Lime and it was really good! Great fall recipe that was easy, quick and healthy!
3. As a technology nerd, it was really cool to see the new Ray-Ban Display Glasses that Meta announced this week. I can't wait to try them after watching MKBHD's review and look forward to seeing the similar products Apple, Google, etc. launch soon.
4. I continue to use the AI coding tool Replit to build software online, but this week I also started playing with Figma Make, which focuses more on the design side and I've been really impressed. You can build fully functional prototypes that look fantastic in a few minutes.
5. On Thursday I hosted a live event for business owners with the team at Gelt on optimizing your taxes in light of the latest tax legislation. There's a great summary of the event here or you can watch the recording here.
6. It's been cool to see our kindergartener make so much progress with Mentava (an accelerated reading program) that she's now reading Bob Books on her own. I'm also excited to check out the Parents App that Mentava launched that lets you track progress and message with their reading coaches anytime.
7. While many young kids' birthdays follow a similar formula, my daughter was invited to one this weekend at Taste Buds Kitchen, which was so fun and unique. The kids all ended up making their own pizzas and cupcakes and my daughter loved it!

🛫 Travel, Points & Miles

🤩 Amex Platinum Refresh: 200k Offer, Perks & More

Amex announced a major refresh to both The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express with some of the biggest changes we’ve seen in years (especially the increased annual fee from $695 to $895).

I wrote up this blog post to share more details about the changes and my thoughts, but the short version is that I think the new credits and benefits on the personal Platinum outweigh the fee increase, while the Business Platinum changes feels less exciting for existing cardholders. That said, they both have some huge welcome offers that can make the first year value from the cards over $5,000 each:

• Platinum: Up to 175,000 Points after spending $8k in 6mo​
• Business Platinum: 200k Points after spending $20k in 3mo​

Note: the links above are referral links from our members because we've found that referral links usually have the best offers.

💺 Latest Biz Class Award Deals

There are a bunch of great business class award deals right now if you want to travel to/via these countries.

• 🇧🇪 Belgium: From 60K Aeroplan points​
• 🇫🇮 Finland: From 55K Atmos or AAdvantage points​
• 🇯🇵 Japan (via ANA First class): From 45K Virgin points​
• 🇲🇦 Morocco: From 55K Atmos or AAdvantage points​
• 🇳🇱 Netherlands: From 48.5K Virgin points​
• 🇵🇱 Poland: From 70K Aeroplan points​
• 🇵🇹 Portugal: From 60K Aeroplan points​
• 🇷🇸 Serbia: From 70K Aeroplan points​

💸 Q4 Rotating Bonus Categories: 5% Back or 5x Points

There are a few select cards that offer 5% cash back/5x points on eligible combined spending in rotating bonus categories every quarter.

• Popular Bank: Old Navy, travel portal, department stores, (and PayPal in December). Activate here.
• Discover It: Amazon.com and drug stores. Activate here.
• Citi Dividend: Citi Travel and restaurants. Activate here.
• US Bank Cash+: 2 categories of your choice including home utilities, electronics stores, sporting goods stores, cell phones, gyms/fitness Centers, movie theaters, etc. Activate here.

🏨 Up to 100k Bonus Points & More IHG Promos

IHG is running a few promos you can stack for upcoming travel.

• ​Earn up to 70K bonus points on stays between 9/16 and 12/31, but you must register here.
• ​Get up to 30K points for stays booked and completed by 9/31. Register here.
• ​Save up to 23.5% via the Book Early and Save rate for stays in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands when you book before 9/23 for travel between 9/20 and 6/30/26.
• ​Earn double elite qualifying nights (up to 10 bonus nights) on stays between 10/1 and 12/31. This is a targeted offer, so check your email to see if you qualify and make sure to register.

🧳 New & Improved Hotel Credit on Popular Travel Cards

Starting 1/1/26, cardholders of two popular premium travel cards will be able to use both of their $250 hotel credits any time of the year. Plus, a new $250 annual hotel credit will be added for prepaid bookings through the travel portal at properties including IHG Hotels & Resorts, Montage Hotels & Resorts, and others.

🔄 Up to 40% Transfer Bonus from Citi → Qatar

Qatar Airways is offering up to a 40% bonus when you convert select bank points to Privilege Club Avios before 10/15. While I don't usually support speculative transfers, this is a great opportunity to convert your Citi ThankYou points into Avios with Qatar Airways, British Airways, etc. Note that the bonus Avios earned from this promo will only be credited to your Privilege Club account by 11/30.

🚗 Rental Car Deals for Fall & Early Winter

• National Car Rental: Up to 20% off rentals booked and completed by 12/28.
• Capital One Travel: Earn 10k bonus miles with your first rental car (or hotel) booking worth $400 via the travel portal.

P.S. Check out the card-linked offers post below for even more savings

🛫 Frontier GoWild! All-You-Can-Fly Pass for $299

You can now buy a Frontier GoWild! all-you-can-fly pass for $299 (usually $599), valid for 20 months. However, make sure to read all the booking limitations and additional fees involved before you purchase.

🤝🏻 Marriott x Lufthansa Partnership Reciprocal Benefits

Lufthansa HON Circle and Senator members can now receive instant Marriott Gold status, while Marriott members can earn Lufthansa status points through hotel stays. Register here to get the reciprocal benefits.

🤑 Latest Deals

📱 50% Off CardPointers+ (v7 Launch 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. They just launched the 7th version of the app and is offering a 50% discount to celebrate.

💰 SkyMiles, Atmos, Aeroplan & Choice Points on Sale

If you’re planning a redemption or know how these programs work, here are some deals to consider. Expiration dates are in parentheses.

• Aeroplan: 1.46¢ with up to an 85% bonus (9/24)
• Choice: 0.57¢ with up to a 45% discount (9/29)
• Atmos Rewards: 1.80¢ with up to a 110% bonus (10/10)
• Delta SkyMiles: 2.41¢ with up to a 50% bonus (11/12)

🔗 Card-Linked Offers: $450+ in Savings

Here are some card-linked offers I found this week, with expiration dates in parentheses.

• Hyatt: $100 off $500 (9/29)
• JetBlue: 5,000 points back on $250 (9/30)
• AT&T Fiber: $50 off $75 (10/8)
• The Infatuation: $75 off $150 at select restaurants (10/16)
• Hertz: $100 off $500 (10/31)
• Enterprise: $60 off $300 (12/31)
• National Car Rental: $50 off $250 (12/31)
• MTA: Up to $10 off, $2 off 5 rides (12/31)

To automate these offers, I highly recommend ​CardPointers Pro and this is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the deal above.

🛒 30-Day Free Sam's Club Trial

You can now try Sam's Club free for 30-days. This offer is valid until 1/31/26 and is not available for current members, members who have lapsed in the previous 6 months, or residents of Washington, D.C.

🎯 Target Car Seat Trade-in Event

From 9/21 to 10/4, you can trade in old, expired, damaged or outgrown car seats and boosters at Target and get a 20% off Target Circle™ Bonus, which is valid towards car seats or select baby gear purchases.

🕵️ Top Finds

💡 Why Financial Independence Is Overrated

I love this article by Nick Maggiulli on why chasing full financial independence might not be the best goal for everyone. He argues that flexibility and balance often matter more than reaching a magic number and I totally agree (and so does Tyler in Ep #246).

📺 Show Recommendation: Fisk

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We've been enjoying this Australian comedy on Netflix, which is about a lawyer who is forced to take a job at a shabby, suburban law firm following a failed marriage.

💬 Parting Thoughts

As always, thanks so much for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s newsletter, and if you enjoyed it, please let me know why! Or if you have suggestions for a future newsletter, please share those as well. I read every reply that comes in from these emails :)

Chris