Each year, I have a side goal of earning the equivalent of the maximum annual IRA contribution limit of $6,000 using the profits from various promotions alone. In 2021, I reached . If you had put $6,000 into your IRA every year for the recent 10 year period (2011-2020) and invested in a simple Target Date retirement fund, you would have turned . An extra hundred grand can be the real-world result of regularly investing $500 a month into productive assets! 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 , , and :
2022 bonuses and promotions (so far)
- (still live)
- (still live)
- Amazon “Pay With Points” offers from , , , (check if targeted again, I’ve done it multiple times)
- (still live)
- (still live)
- (offer changed, still $800 total first-year value)
- (expired)
- (offer changed)
- (still live)
- (expired)
- (expired)
- (still live)
- (still live) (in progress)
- (still live) (in progress)
- (offer changed, now only $300)
- (still live) (partially received)
- (expired)
- (expired)
The total tally is currently $3,687, which is 61% of the $6,000 annual IRA contribution limit. I am leaving out any bonuses that are in progress but haven’t posted yet. 55% of the year has passed, which means I am a tiny bit ahead of pace to reach my goal by the end of the year.
I don’t do every deal, and it has been harder to find credit cards for which I am eligible that offer points that I can use in the foreseeable future. I’m sure there are many opportunities that might be valuable to you, that wouldn’t work for my travel patterns or personal preferences. For those new to this hobby, I would first grab the low-hanging fruit like the .
These numbers ignore higher bank interest APYs from switching banks or buying 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 .
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 on , bonuses that are hard to convert to real money and/or things I already buy otherwise, 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 take decisive action when an opportunity shows up, because they won’t last forever. The big deals this quarter were the (still live, but a limited-time offer) and (only lasted less than a week).
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