2022 Year-End Update. Each year, I have a side goal of earning the equivalent of the maximum annual IRA contribution limit ($6,000 for 2022) using the profits from various finance promotions alone. In 2021, I reached $5,592 in bonuses and $2,500+ in extra interest. If you had put $6,000 into your IRA every year for the recent 10 year period (2013-2022) and invested in a simple Target Date retirement fund, you would have turned small, weekly deals into a $87,000+ nest egg.
That’s worth repeating: An extra 87 grand has been the real-world result of regularly investing $500 a month for 10 years! A couple could double these numbers.
Ground rules: Real-world results for one real person only. Following with My Money Blog tradition, this will track my personal, real-world results. It would be quite easy to list a bunch of random promotions that add up to $6,000, but these will be promotions that I personally sign up for and complete the requirements (even though I’ve already opened so many bank accounts, credit cards, and brokerage accounts over the years). I will track my individual results only, although my partner does also participate on a more selective basis. Nearly all of them have been documented in real-time in the Deals and Offers category, Top 10 credit cards list, and brokerage bonus list.
Note: I am also excluding the $900 bonus from Chase Ink Business Cash card, since it is meant for small businesses.
2022 bonuses and promotions list. The 💵 symbol means I have received and/or cashed out the bonus successfully. The ⌛ symbol means the promo is still in progress.
- SoFi Checking $275 Direct Deposit Bonus (still live) 💵
- Current fintech app $50 Bonus (still live) 💵
- Amazon “Pay With Points” offers from American Express, Discover, Chase, Citibank (check if targeted) 💵
- Schwab Brokerage $101 Starter Kit Promo (still live) 💵
- Lafayette Federal Credit Union $100 Bonus (expired) 💵
- Capital One Venture X $200 AirBnB Credit + $100 Global Entry (offer changed but still $600+ first year value) 💵
- Gemini $150 Bitcoin bonus (expired) 💵
- Chase Aeroplan Credit Card 100k Bonus + $100 Global Entry (offer changed but still $600+ first year value) 💵
- CIT Bank Free Year of Amazon Prime (expired) 💵
- M1 Spend Checking Account $100 bonus (expired) 💵
- Marcus Bank $100 Deposit Bonus (live again until 2/15) 💵
- Citi Premier Credit Card 60,000 points worth $600 in gift cards or travel like airfare booked via their travel portal + $100 Global Entry (offer changed, still $500+ value) 💵
- Axos Invest Brokerage $150 bonus (still live, now $200) 💵
- Axos Bank $100 bonus (still live) 💵
- SoFi Personal Loan $600 bonus (still live, now $300) 💵
- Fidelity Bloom App $86 bonus (still live) 💵
- Target Deal Days 2022: 5% Off $500 in Gift Cards (expired) 💵
- Amazon Prime Day 2022: $10 stampcard, $12.50 gift card promo (expired) 💵
- Plynk brokerage app $50 Learn & Earn bonus (expired) 💵
- CreditUnion 1 $500 checking account promo (expired) 💵
- Amazon “Pay With Points” offers (see above; got another $40 of easy savings during October Prime Day) 💵
- PNC Bank up to $400 bonus (still live) ⌛
- Bank of America 2% More Rewards Day (expired) 💵
- Amazon $10 Venmo, Amazon Black Friday/Cyber Monday GC promos (expired) 💵
- SkyOne FCU $400 Checking bonus (expired) ⌛
- Target $10 off $100 Apple GC (expired) 💵
- Plynk Invest $100 for new/existing users (still live) 💵
- Wings Financial $200 Checking bonus (expired) ⌛
- Equifax Data Breach Settlement $21.06 (expired) 💵
- Capital One Venture X: $300 Travel Portal Credit (still live) 💵
Bonuses that required significant assets to max out (but not necessarily participate)
- Public ACAT transfer bonus (Up to $10k) (still live, lowered bonus tiers) 💵
- SoFi up to $1,000 deposit bonus (expired) 💵
- Ally Bank up to $500 deposit bonus (expired) ⌛
2022 final results. The total tally for bonuses not requiring significant assets was $6,259 total for 2022, which was 104% of the $6,000 annual IRA contribution limit for 2022. This excludes the three bonuses (Public, SoFi, and Ally) that paid out bigger bonuses for larger asset transfers or cash deposits. I acknowledge not everyone has enough assets to max those out, but they were certainly an efficient use of time if you did. If you add in the $3,500 that I received from those bonuses, the total would be $9,759.
Additional background stuff. This is a personal challenge/game that I like to play. I enjoy trying out new apps and services. I look for the best payoff/effort ratio for my situation; your choices won’t look like my choices. In addition, some things I will skip simply because I’ve already done them. For those new to this hobby, I would first grab the low-hanging fruit like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Reserve and build up a nice stash of flexible Ultimate Rewards points. After that, I would recommend looking at the Citi Premier (ThankYou points), Capital Venture X (Capital One Miles), and American Express Gold (AmEX Membership Rewards points) to jumpstart your points stashes.
These numbers included fixed bonuses for short-term asset transfers, but ignore higher interest rates overall from buying US Treasury bonds or savings bonds. They also ignore ongoing credit card purchase rewards like 2% to 2.6% cash back on all credit purchases (or airline miles or hotel points) and 5% cash back on specific categories or 1% or better cash back on rent.
This is an enjoyable and profitable hobby for me, but I don’t like to waste my time either. I look for a solid return based on the time commitment required. I tend to avoid speculative bets, bonuses that are hard to convert to real value, and anything that requires driving to stores where things may or may not be in stock. The deals that I post usually last at least a few days, but it’s a bit like value investing where you have to be ready to get off your butt and take decisive action when an opportunity shows up, because they won’t last forever.
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That’s pretty amazing. If I hit $100/mo, that’s a success; I don’t spend enough for most of the credit card bonuses to be viable. I generally only chase offers over $200 to ensure best use of time, and with a fraud alert on my credit, new bank accounts are generally rejected unless I show up in person. Am doing the BoA rewards card bonus this year.
Yeah credit card bonuses are the way to go because it takes less effort, but they clamp down if u open too many accounts
Johnathan,
That sounds like a fun game; “IRA stacking “ I think I’m going to play even though I’m starting late.
Great stuff, Johnathan. Compare. 90% of the people who put their money in common stocks wind up losing.
Thanks for all your informative articles! Can you address how u manage all the new credit cards or banks? Do you leave them open after you satisfy the promo period? (I hear your credit score goes down if you close them).
I do a lot that is not nearly as passive as just checking/savings account bonuses and credit card bonuses, but did some math myself on my “extra” online earnings this year. Was pleasantly surprised to find out it was ~$3,572.
Checking & Savings Account Bonuses ($900 pre-tax)
– Marcus Savings $100
– SoFi Checking & Savings $475 ($300 from SoFi, expired $175 deal from Swagbucks)
– SoFi Personal Loan Rate Check $20
– SoFi Rewards for Direct Deposit & Logging In ($4.60)
– Chime Checking $300 (via Swagbucks)
Credit Card Bonuses ($1,485)
– $830 AmEx Gold (conservative valuation of Membership Rewards at 1 cents each gives me $900 for the bonus, $180 in dining credits, less $250 in fee, still have time to earn more dining credits, I assume points beyond what I received from the bonus to be comparable to what I otherwise would have gotten another card)
– $75 AmEx Gold Google Fi Offer ($25 off $50 Google Fi purchase, up to 3x)
– $100 AmEx Google Fi Offer (from parents who don’t use the service)
– $500 Bank of America Premium Rewards
– $100 Bank of America Premium Rewards Travel Delay Insurance Payout (I had a flight delay that paid out more than $400, but if I didn’t have the card, I probably would’ve booked a hostel or something instead for less)
Surveys & User Research ($743 pre-tax)
– Forthright $20
– Prolific $195
– UserTesting $60
– dScout $365
– CrowdTap $60 (as a Target credit)
– Fetch Rewards $35
– Swagbucks $8
Games ($444 pre-tax, all via Swagbucks, and most of them such a grind they really weren’t worth it)
– King of Avalon $119 ($130, $11 in costs)
– Rise of Kingdoms $100
– Mafia City $113 ($130, $17 in costs)
– Raid Shadow Legends $63 ($95, $32 in costs)
– Bermuda Adventures $50
I’m hoping to open one more credit card and earn some more via surveys this year. I think that will likely net me another $1,200. Doubt that I’ll get to $6k because I’m going to be traveling or moving for a few months this year, but who knows!
So transferring 100k in assets to get a 2k brokerage bonus counts towards this challenge? Next up airbnb my million dollar home while on vacation! Anyone can do it and a couple can double it too! Imagine yourself reading this ridiculousness at the same age you started this blog.
Straw Man Fallacy: A straw man fallacy occurs when someone takes another person’s argument or point, distorts it or exaggerates it in some kind of extreme way, and then attacks the extreme distortion, as if that is really the claim the first person is making.
https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/logical-fallacies/logical-fallacies-straw-man/
I understand what you are trying to say. I did think about it, but in the end if someone out there has saved up $100,000, I do hope that they read this and realize that it is an option to move assets, make an extra $2,000, and invest that into additional assets. (Note that I am not taking into the account the dividends and capital gains earned from the $100,000 in ETFs, as your straw man argument implies. This is extra money on top.)
Even if one does not have $100k, perhaps by reading the linked post, they may realize that they have $25,000 and make $250, or $5,000 and make $150.
No one implied you were including the dividends and Capital gains from 100k counting towards the 6k threshold. They did point out the absurdity of the higher asset amount you are starting with the relative ease with which you could achieve any larger bonus. They also pointed out that if you were a reader of the same age at which you started this blog you likely wouldn’t have 100k and would find this ridiculous. Etrade will give you $3500 for parking 1.5mil, how far do you want to take this ridiculousness?
Fred, You are the one who is ridiculous. I scored two $2K bonuses for transferring VOO shares from one brokerage to another. Who cares if they are with Bank A or Bank B? And I scored free $4K!
Etrade example you used is a paltry .002% return. I got 2% return on transfers.
I meant etrade deal is .2% return. These ones are 2% return.
Jonathan, do you also deduct the annual fee of the credit cards from your earnings? (I noticed at least one CC that is a $95 per year). Or perhaps you are cancelling the card early? Would love to also see an analysis of time spent versus money earned. Thank you
When talking about first-year value, yes I subtract out any annual fee paid.
Hi Jonathan, thanks for your reply. I actually wasn’t talking about first-year value, …often annual fees paid don’t start until 2nd year, or you get a first-year free option. I’m only asking as I have backed away from some of these promotions because of the ongoing fees that cancel out the advantages, and the additional credit score hits that occur when you churn cards too fast.
Regardless, thank you for highlighting the topic, though, I think it’s an awesome way to gamify what can be a tedious process. I learned new tactics from your blog post which is a big thumbs up!
I currently sit at $3600 for the year, with $250 pending. I’m sure my total would be higher, but I only count CC and Bank signup bonuses. I don’t include the Target/Amazon bonuses, but do account for any annual fees.
JP – This is just my curiosity asking; I find some of the checking bonuses nice, but don’t want to upset my employer.
For the PNC Bank style sign up bonuses, where are you getting your direct deposits? Are you able to repetitively move your pay from blog earnings to one new checking account after another?
Many employers now offer an online payroll interface where the individual employee can switch and/or split direct deposits quite easily and without “bothering” them. I use Gusto for payroll and I can split my paycheck into 6+ different accounts with as little at $1 going to any single account.
Jonathan.
Well done! I probably reach around 4K every year.
How do you keep track of these things? Do you mind sharing your spreadsheet , of course after removing all the data.
Is there a page dedicated to 2023??