What are your thoughts - are there any cards you'd add or subtract? Let me know below! Join our free Discord Community for further discussion: discord.gg/humphrey
Solid video my friend...I'll add that American Express has the best customer service and it's not even close compared to other cards. Both the Platinum and Gold are worth it to me as the Gold is great for groceries and the Platinum is perfect for all my travel and shopping. The perks are definitely worth it, but people should make sure to do the math and see if these cards suit them as well.
Not sure i agree with the premise of credit cards based on income... for example, the Platinum is a travel card so if you make $200k but don't travel much then this card doesn't make sense for you because you won't be able to get the most points on your spend.
@@M1ke_Aeven then the platinum card could still be worth it if the credits save you more than the annual fee if the card itself. If you are going out of your way to use the credits, then it probably isn’t worth it.
I used to think everybody went broke during the Great Depression and other major crashes but they didn’t… Some made millions, I also thought everybody went out of business during these times but they didn’t, some went into business, there's always depression/recession for some people and there's always a good time for others, it's all about perspective.
Inflation has not always been around there was a 15 year period of deflation. Yes as prices went down income went up. Once you go to Fiat currencies with no tangible backing then inflation is an intentional factor. Patience, Cash on hand & Short Term Investments are key
True. I first came across investing in the market in 2019. Already stashed about $480k in savings then, and the free money from the Government was pouring in, increasing inflation rate. I just got an advisor and kept the money there, just because I didn't want to keep the value of the money depreciating in the bank. Tbh, it's the best investment decision I've made since then.
As a new investor it's always great to hear from a person who has gone through all the difficult times and come ahead of it. What are some strategies i can employ to be successful?
Sharon Marissa Wolfe is the licensed advisor I use. Just research the name. You’d find necessary details to work with a correspondence to set up an appointment.
Instead of ranking income brackets, it's more about the amount of travel one does. Someone can be a high earner but if they only travel a couple times per year, many of these cards are not worth it.
That's what I thought. Makes no sense. I make about 130k a year but travel a lot. I have Chase reserve and capital one venture x. A lot of people saying omg you paying 1k every year for your cards but I get about 4k back in value every year.
Agree, i don't travel (hopefully later in life) so none of the annual fee cards make sense for me. I do have a $95 annual fee card from amex, but it's for groceries and streaming.
A lot of people ask me about credit card strategy and what they should get and the answer is usually "depends on what you want to do and what you care about." Some people want luxury travel, some just want free flights/hotels at economy airlines/hotels. Others just want to maximize cash back. You should do a video about how CC strategy is dependent on individual habits, spending, and goals.
This. I feel a lot of these videos make broad brush strokes without a lot of thought into what are priorities for people. I do agree that most of the annual fee cards make no sense until you reach a specific income level, but even within that income they don't always make sense.
@@emilyegan390 I'm in the exact situation. I make mid 6 figure but my spending is quite low so I've been switching back & forth between chase preferred/reserve and amex gold/platinum depending on my personal plans for the upcoming year, then I upgrade/downgrade accordingly based by the benefits that I'd be using/skipping so I don't end up paying more annual fee than I have to.
I got in a trap of “omg you’ll get so many rewards” with Chase Sapphire last year and I have close to 0 spending that is beneficial for this card (travel, Uber, eating out all the time) over last year… even though I make a very good salary… my bad…
@@msheehandubthat’s why you use a different site to search for cheaper flights and then you can book that same flight there. A round trip to Peru ended up being about $20 cheaper than booking directly through the airline or through a different third party website, plus the ticket came with a free checked bag that the other sites didn’t offer. So including the checked bag it was like $70 cheaper.
You forgot the concierge ! I literally told them to make a reservation at a restaurant that is at most $200/head, order wine, prepay for corkage , and deliver flowers to the restaurant for valentine day ! Probably one of the most underrated features of the cards. I also needed pants for a wedding last minute when I was in Japan, and not only did they find pants my size, then also were able to get it delivered all within the hour
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is my HERO travel card. The $550 annual fee is also offset by a $300 annual travel credit (applicable for anything travel related) so out-of-pocket you're paying $250. I travel Intl often and the Priority Pass membership alone pays for itself ten fold. They also cover collision with car rentals in the US. Excellent travel card.
$250 is exactly how I look at it. Lots of things are considered travel: trains, metros, parking garages, toll, plane rides and parking meters! So easy to max that $300 travel reimbursement within a yr.
And no mention of the 1.5x travel value if you use the points through the Chase travel portal? That has saved me $1000s over the years. I love this card so much!!
Great vid making a tier of credit cards by salary! You dont see a whole lot of recommendations like this in the credit card youtube space. All of the "top xxx cards you need" videos make recommendations based off of "value you get from the card" and "spending habits" without taking into account a person's financial situation. These kinds of recommendations can be slippery and can unintentionally convince people to spend more than they should on high annual fee cards because of the supposed "value" they get when they really should be saving in their situation (i.e. the college kids I see carrying around Amex Gold's when they make less than 10k a year working part time).
For anyone watching this, just remember that credit cards is about your income to debt ratio & your overall profile (and thats how the banks actually judge you) Coming from someone who makes 6 figures. Its not exclusively about your salary, If person A has great credit, making 40k a year little to no debt it would make more sense & he would be more eligible for a premium card then someone making 250k a year with student loan debt, credit card debt, car debt, high rent debt. Kids in boarding school, so on. Meaning it’s about ure debt to income ratio & overall credit profile, This example can work both ways. It has very little to do with straight salary. Just a heads up......
Underrated comment. Once you hit a decent credit score (750+) it's only about income to debt ratio. Thats why credit cards only ask you about you income and your monthly cost of living payment (mostly mortgage/rent).
I feel like a lot of these would make me subconsciously want to spend more money than I’d normally spend in order to meet the reward benefits 🤔 I am definitely going to try timing one of them with any potential big purchase I make this year though
It all comes down to perspective. Personally, I don't consider credit card usage as "debt" if I intend to spend the money regardless and can promptly pay off the full amount. Plus, using a credit card offers rewards, unlike spending with a debit card, and provides additional consumer protections in some cases
U.S. Bank’s shopper rewards card gets you 6% at grocery stores (on up to $1500 in purchases/quarter) and 3% at gas (on up to $1500 in purchases/quarter). Annual fee of $95 but I easily hit the limits so I’ll be netting over $400/year. Plus - it’s on groceries and gas so it’s easier to not splurge.
@@carloshidalgo3298most credit card companies don’t consider stores like Walmart to be a grocery store since they sell non grocery items. Also wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam’s club are usually their own category. As for gasoline, if it’s a pump at like Walmart or Costco I believe that counts as shopping at those places. AAA makes a 5% cash back credit card for gas, and the Citi customer cash has cash as a category so you can get 5% back on gas through that. Combining that with T-mobile offers you could get like 35 or 40 cents off per gallon back when gas was obscenely expensive.
When i was 23 and single making 50k i discovered the chase trifecta and I reaped the hell out of those points i got going to the bars 2x per week and eating out everyday lol
I feel like my favorite perk of the AMEX gold is never mentioned in any of these videos.... you can have an additional card member added at no additional cost! This is great for a couple combining finances or if you want to provide a card to an adult child. It prevents fragmenting points on separate accounts and allows for easy management.
I feel stupid for leaving the comment now, but this was extremely helpful, thank you. It seems like it was just always on a smaller menu elsewhere on my other cards.@@chewie94116
If you want to add family members you should definitely go for the ritz Carlton card. It’s discontinued, but last I heard people have still been able to upgrade to it. You can add an unlimited number of authorized users for free and they all get priority pass (the one that comes with the $28 meal credit) among other benefits.
Grouping credit cards into salary buckets doesn’t quite make sense. Realistically, this is just a group of cards if you travel vs ones if you don’t. I’m in your upper salary tier but I enjoy the heck out of my Citi DoubleCash card.
even as my income increases, it looks like those higher tier cards wouldn’t be worth it unless i was going to travel/dine out often anyways, which i don’t already do! kinda sucks haha
'@@iantaz Don't cancel credit cards if you can, that can negatively affect your credit. Instead, downgrade to a non annual fee card, which most companies offer to do.
get married. Once that happens, annual vacations and eating out cost balloons quickly. Becoming two income household means your income doubles while your expenses don't, so the amount of disposable income more than doubles (until you have kids, then it shrinks).
I used to always avoid the monthly fee cards until I got the AMEX Gold which became really eye opening for me! Just make sure you do not carry a balance EVER.
What grocery stores do you use the card at? I’ve been thinking about getting it but I heard that not all supermarkets counts. Like for example Walmart doesn’t, but Walmart neighborhoods does
I like the American Express Blue Cash card. I've had it for like 7-8 years and it's a no annual fee, and it gives pretty decent cash back on everyday spend categories
One often overlooked detail about the rate of earning cash back/points is the difference between the nominal earnings rate and the marginal rate. For example, the Amex Gold card earns 4x points on groceries and restaurants. However, you can get cards with no annual fee that earn 3x in those categories (or even 5 with the Citi Custom Cash or a quarterly rotating card). Therefore, you're only getting 1x on those categories as a result of paying the annual fee. That can still be worth it for some people, but it does substantially increase how much spend it takes to make up the annual fee.
In regards to the Amex Gold card, there is also an annual $120 Uber credit as well as a $120 dining credit at select locations. Those two things themselves nearly pay the $250 annual fee. But again, they're only beneficial if you use them.
@@gentry5656 Yeah, I probably could have used a better example. The point about nominal vs marginal still stands irrespective of the effective annual fee, though.
Hey Humphrey, the rundown of each card is great! But I think this video makes a fundamental error - it assumes lifestyle inflation as income increases. Your viewers might want to consider not spending more and more just because they technically could. High earners can still be frugal spenders!
Damn, I really like my Gold AMEX … for some reason I’m not seeing the polarizing benefits for the platinum versus the gold … your recommendation makes sense but I’ll stick with he gold for now although your salary matrix puts me at platinum; Awesome video as always.
I feel dirty using my AMEX card. Actually cancelled it. The problem with AMEX is it passes along higher fee’s to the restaurant or business owner. Having several friends own small businesses in the restaurant industry, the last thing I want to do is stick it to them.
I'd take this with a grain of salt because has nothing to do with income but how you manage your money and what you want to get out of the card that being travel rewards or cash back. You can offset the Venture X fee by going on a weekend trip even within your own city. You don't have to go on an elaborate vacation to some exotic place, save that for the future when you have enough points to go for free. Getting the TSA Precheck is the best thing you can do it's basically free and it's good for 5 years. Lounge access is also another great perk especially if you have an early flight they are usually not crowded at that time and you can have breakfast at the lounge saving money on the first meal of the day on your trip to wherever.
This had less to do with income bracket and more to do with spending bracket. Many of the cards recommended for 50-150 required consistent extravagant or unlikely spending.
Salary is a poor metric to use, there’s plenty of cases where one can have access to these cards far below what salary you’re placing them in. A better metric would be credit worthiness/experience. High annual fees are a big commitment to someone new to credit, and it’d be far more optimal to learn to use credit without a yearly fee attached or its use, rather than assigning a salary metric that doesn’t say anything about your experience using credit.
I think the idea is that people with different levels of income have wildly different spending habits. Since annual fees can range from 0 to 1000 a year , someone making less than 50k should be mindful of that. It’s not to say they couldn’t but credit worthiness doesn’t mean much if you are not maximizing the credits to offset the annual fee. Someone in a higher income bracket is likely to be in stable career, family, etc. This video is not meant to apply to every situation but to educate people on the right credit card to use
Chase Sapphire Reserve is my primary card due to the full Priority Pass membership. Since I travel 2-3/month, I eat at qualifying airport restaurants & lounges at $28 per visit, pays for the card in just a few months
I'm not sure this list is so much for different salaries, but for how much you spend on travel, restaurants, and stupid BS. My spouse and I make well over 150k but wouldn't see a ton of value from these higher end cards. We got $2400 back on just a straight cash back credit card thru my credit union last year.
Used to be in the credit card churn phase but since buying a house, I dropped from 9 accounts down to 3 for simplicity. With a mortgage I also can’t justify a bunch of spending so the double cash, venture X, and Amazon cards my go-tos moving forward.
This is thought as well I recently got a house and probably won’t travel as much anymore. I was think canceling all my Amex cards(trifecta) and get get capital one savor and venture x. I don’t really care about lounge anymore plus I’m saving more money.
@@rolewis13 I thought about that setup but I don’t really bother with transferring miles so a simple cash back card works better for me. I still like the venture X as a standalone card since it basically pays for itself if you take at least one trip a year.
COVX for the win! Definitely better overall than the CSR, in my opinion. The Capital One lounges are legit! It's a no brainer if you live in Dallas, Denver or Washington, DC.
Chase Freedom Unlimited was my first card and still the one I use the most! It's a great all around card for everyone until they want to move up to the higher end cards. 😁
Now this is a well made and innovative way to market credit cards. It's such a good idea I can't believe I haven't seen financial products advertised in this way. It's a horizonal comparison based on Salary as the segments. Principles of marketing mastered.
I don't think I would ever get the amex gold or platinum for that matter. Just not enough benefits that I would be able to use without going out of my way to spend for them. amex blue cash preferred and citi double cash is where its at for me.
Its like a double edged sword, but when you get in debt using them you didnt see the handle in the middle. Just dont think of credit as “extra money” but “your money” with an extra step
The issue is don't spend money you don't have. Credit cards are meant to be used to build credit. If you use it as future money to spend. Then you would be in a rude awakening.
Stay away from credit cards, period. They are only designed to get you into debt and keep you there!!! There is NO such thing as a GOOD credit card! THEY ARE ALL BAD!!!
Forgot to mention the US Bank Altitude Reserve. I think this is the OP card. I have a Gold and this card replaced it. It has 4.5% on travel and dining if you use apple pay or Google pay....no brainer.
This is completely different for everyone depending on your habits and the cost of living where you are. You definitely don't need to make 6 figures to have the Venture X. You just need to travel at least once a year... most people who make around 50k range could use this easily. Debt to income also matters, this video is too surface level.
Yeah i was between SR and SP, SR is really only Travel and if your more of normal Joe like me SP splits the difference better between travel and everyday. This is better if you already have Chase unlimited freedom, aside from 1.5% on everything the other points have become unbeatable, SR will get you similar travel perks + 1.25 point conversion and 3× streaming and 2x on travel ( paying for parking counts too)
Also the Bank of America equivalent that gives up to 2.65% back on everything. For the top income bracket, it’s a pretty good chance people have enough money to get the juicy cash back amount.
IDK with high annual fee cards you have to do so much work to make aure youre getting the full value. One of the nice things about having a higher income is not having to "clip coupons". Lounge access (if you are or travel single) is nice though.
Second credit card video ive seen from him.... No mention of Discover ever... Must not have an incentive to promote it. lol. That being said. Love all of the videos! Amazing job!
Dear Humphrey. Thank you for your excellent channel. I have Amex Gold and Bilt card. I would like to include a new car, which one would u recommend? Amex platinum, saphire reserve or venture X?
@@GCXpertsit just depends on your utility company, doesn’t matter which card you use. The utility company I use lets me put 4-5k of credit into it. Some companies won’t allow that much.
I make $170k per year, but I only need CSP only. My company paid for my TSA, travel food and lounges, and hotel. So I don’t see any reason to pay for all of that with CSR. Having said that, I only need CSP for my extra vacation points which normally transfer to Hyatt any way. Live is good as long as company pays for everything.
2% apple cash back on everything Apple Pay Apple Card works overseas w/no foreign T fees where my other unlimited 2% back-up cards have foreign transaction fees so I don’t bring them to Europe. I have other travel cards that were higher rewards on flight, hotel, rail & restaurants but I use Apple Card A LOT as my catch-all for everything else in Europe.
I was just watching 2024 credit card videos yesterday wishing Humphrey had an updated recommendation. Perfect timing! Question as someone new to credit cards, how difficult is it to apply and get accepted to cards with high annual payments?
its not hard as long as you have good-excellent credit score, but remember, if you cant handle that annual fee - do not apply! And I'm glad this video came at a timely moment
i do like the blue cash, although I think having the citi doublecash in the video already made me rethink having too many cash back cards. Also, the blue cash gets you 1% on all other purchases besides gas/groceries - if you are just using it for gas/groceries then i think BCP is the best then
What do you think of Bilt for mid-tier, especially for those who live in higher cost of living areas, but don’t quite make enough to own, so they rent.
i like using citi custom and double cash together, only if you pay up front, say 500$ on cc only groceries monthly, that's 25 dollars in thank you points, then the rest of things you can pay off instantly, use double cash to buy things you need and sometimes utilities( lol cash back on utilities) but if you a have a family, amex blue is pretty good if you don't want to juggle, drive a lot and buy groceries.
No wonder most Americans can't pay for a $600 emergency. What a ridiculous system of paying off your expensive credit card fee by buying things you shouldn't be buying. Crazy.
Mostly about travel frequency v.s. salary. CSR and Platinum don’t really have great rewards rate. 2% flat cash back is going to beat out both. A nice spread can get that raised to closer to 5%+ across categories.
What about high income earners who don't travel or eat out much? We've got the Citi double cash (it's not bad) and the Amazon card (which has been great). is there a better card for that situation.
Apple card is very underrated credit card - tap to pay is everywhere and in places were you would get 1x with your other credit cards, the apple card is 2%. The card itself has zero numbers on the card front and back. This makes ths card amazing to put away in a place of emergency locations plus it can be locked through the phone.
Can you make a visoe or go into more details about the Priority Pass and meal reimbursement? I could not find that information and Chase/ Priority pass didn't have anything on it.
now officially dividing people rank by Salary 😂 what happen to person who inherited millions but with low minimum salary? Like I don’t have to work but I just do something part time to full time b/c everyone asks me lol what do you do? And stuff 😁
Wish I discovered this info a few years ago, got myself into a ton of debt because I didn’t know and wasn’t wise enough to research something I wasn’t knowledgeable on
$395 on venture X is nothing. I looked at my year end summary and put $50,000 on it. I am thinking about doing the capital one duo but honestly one extra point on grocery and dining isn’t going to move the needle. Happily in the 800 club with $300K in credit lines. Think I’m done with cards
Not all the math is mathing here. You can't add up all the discount offers and deduct it from the annual fee. It's only like that if you always would have spent that money in each specific place even without the offer. This is like reading though your junk mail and counting every offer you see towards your net worth.
Like everything in life I want to control what I buy instead of get roped into companies over priced “services”. Cash is king. I will take the cash every time since we don’t travel or eat out. So all their rewards are not rewards for us.
What are your thoughts - are there any cards you'd add or subtract? Let me know below! Join our free Discord Community for further discussion: discord.gg/humphrey
Dave Ramsey does NOT approve this message 😂
Solid video my friend...I'll add that American Express has the best customer service and it's not even close compared to other cards. Both the Platinum and Gold are worth it to me as the Gold is great for groceries and the Platinum is perfect for all my travel and shopping. The perks are definitely worth it, but people should make sure to do the math and see if these cards suit them as well.
I would subtract them all, LOL! 🤣
Not sure i agree with the premise of credit cards based on income... for example, the Platinum is a travel card so if you make $200k but don't travel much then this card doesn't make sense for you because you won't be able to get the most points on your spend.
@@M1ke_Aeven then the platinum card could still be worth it if the credits save you more than the annual fee if the card itself. If you are going out of your way to use the credits, then it probably isn’t worth it.
I used to think everybody went broke during the Great Depression and other major crashes but they didn’t… Some made millions, I also thought everybody went out of business during these times but they didn’t, some went into business, there's always depression/recession for some people and there's always a good time for others, it's all about perspective.
Inflation has not always been around there was a 15 year period of deflation. Yes as prices went down income went up. Once you go to Fiat currencies with no tangible backing then inflation is an intentional factor. Patience, Cash on hand & Short Term Investments are key
True. I first came across investing in the market in 2019. Already stashed about $480k in savings then, and the free money from the Government was pouring in, increasing inflation rate. I just got an advisor and kept the money there, just because I didn't want to keep the value of the money depreciating in the bank. Tbh, it's the best investment decision I've made since then.
As a new investor it's always great to hear from a person who has gone through all the difficult times and come ahead of it. What are some strategies i can employ to be successful?
Sharon Marissa Wolfe is the licensed advisor I use. Just research the name. You’d find necessary details to work with a correspondence to set up an appointment.
I looked her up, and I have sent her an email. I hope she gets back to me soon. Thank you
Instead of ranking income brackets, it's more about the amount of travel one does. Someone can be a high earner but if they only travel a couple times per year, many of these cards are not worth it.
that"s me. income over 200k but I don't travel or stay at hotels or eat out much.
That's what I thought. Makes no sense. I make about 130k a year but travel a lot. I have Chase reserve and capital one venture x. A lot of people saying omg you paying 1k every year for your cards but I get about 4k back in value every year.
Agree, i don't travel (hopefully later in life) so none of the annual fee cards make sense for me. I do have a $95 annual fee card from amex, but it's for groceries and streaming.
@@thomas1942- That Blue Cash Preferred card is great for almost anyone.
Income over $200K but as an airline employee.. I fly for free.. so a lot of miles cards don’t make sense
A lot of people ask me about credit card strategy and what they should get and the answer is usually "depends on what you want to do and what you care about."
Some people want luxury travel, some just want free flights/hotels at economy airlines/hotels. Others just want to maximize cash back.
You should do a video about how CC strategy is dependent on individual habits, spending, and goals.
thanks Steve - yep exactly
This. I feel a lot of these videos make broad brush strokes without a lot of thought into what are priorities for people. I do agree that most of the annual fee cards make no sense until you reach a specific income level, but even within that income they don't always make sense.
@@emilyegan390 I'm in the exact situation. I make mid 6 figure but my spending is quite low so I've been switching back & forth between chase preferred/reserve and amex gold/platinum depending on my personal plans for the upcoming year, then I upgrade/downgrade accordingly based by the benefits that I'd be using/skipping so I don't end up paying more annual fee than I have to.
I got in a trap of “omg you’ll get so many rewards” with Chase Sapphire last year and I have close to 0 spending that is beneficial for this card (travel, Uber, eating out all the time) over last year… even though I make a very good salary… my bad…
Let’s talk about how chase travel portal is hoooooorrrrilble.
I agree. Capital one is way better
Haha, that's fair. Not gonna stop using it but yes.
I use google flight to look up the flight, then search for that in Chase travel.
100%. The chase portal is horrendous and you can barely find any value on there. In fact, things usually cost more.
@@msheehandubthat’s why you use a different site to search for cheaper flights and then you can book that same flight there. A round trip to Peru ended up being about $20 cheaper than booking directly through the airline or through a different third party website, plus the ticket came with a free checked bag that the other sites didn’t offer. So including the checked bag it was like $70 cheaper.
You forgot the concierge ! I literally told them to make a reservation at a restaurant that is at most $200/head, order wine, prepay for corkage , and deliver flowers to the restaurant for valentine day ! Probably one of the most underrated features of the cards.
I also needed pants for a wedding last minute when I was in Japan, and not only did they find pants my size, then also were able to get it delivered all within the hour
Which card are you talking about?
@@capyberaAmex Platinum 😊
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is my HERO travel card. The $550 annual fee is also offset by a $300 annual travel credit (applicable for anything travel related) so out-of-pocket you're paying $250. I travel Intl often and the Priority Pass membership alone pays for itself ten fold. They also cover collision with car rentals in the US. Excellent travel card.
$250 is exactly how I look at it. Lots of things are considered travel: trains, metros, parking garages, toll, plane rides and parking meters! So easy to max that $300 travel reimbursement within a yr.
And no mention of the 1.5x travel value if you use the points through the Chase travel portal? That has saved me $1000s over the years. I love this card so much!!
Great vid making a tier of credit cards by salary! You dont see a whole lot of recommendations like this in the credit card youtube space. All of the "top xxx cards you need" videos make recommendations based off of "value you get from the card" and "spending habits" without taking into account a person's financial situation. These kinds of recommendations can be slippery and can unintentionally convince people to spend more than they should on high annual fee cards because of the supposed "value" they get when they really should be saving in their situation (i.e. the college kids I see carrying around Amex Gold's when they make less than 10k a year working part time).
For anyone watching this, just remember that credit cards is about your income to debt ratio & your overall profile (and thats how the banks actually judge you) Coming from someone who makes 6 figures. Its not exclusively about your salary, If person A has great credit, making 40k a year little to no debt it would make more sense & he would be more eligible for a premium card then someone making 250k a year with student loan debt, credit card debt, car debt, high rent debt. Kids in boarding school, so on. Meaning it’s about ure debt to income ratio & overall credit profile, This example can work both ways. It has very little to do with straight salary. Just a heads up......
Underrated comment. Once you hit a decent credit score (750+) it's only about income to debt ratio. Thats why credit cards only ask you about you income and your monthly cost of living payment (mostly mortgage/rent).
I feel like a lot of these would make me subconsciously want to spend more money than I’d normally spend in order to meet the reward benefits 🤔 I am definitely going to try timing one of them with any potential big purchase I make this year though
It all comes down to perspective. Personally, I don't consider credit card usage as "debt" if I intend to spend the money regardless and can promptly pay off the full amount. Plus, using a credit card offers rewards, unlike spending with a debit card, and provides additional consumer protections in some cases
U.S. Bank’s shopper rewards card gets you 6% at grocery stores (on up to $1500 in purchases/quarter) and 3% at gas (on up to $1500 in purchases/quarter). Annual fee of $95 but I easily hit the limits so I’ll be netting over $400/year. Plus - it’s on groceries and gas so it’s easier to not splurge.
Does that count Sam’s, Costco or Walmart for groceries?
@@carloshidalgo3298most credit card companies don’t consider stores like Walmart to be a grocery store since they sell non grocery items. Also wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam’s club are usually their own category. As for gasoline, if it’s a pump at like Walmart or Costco I believe that counts as shopping at those places. AAA makes a 5% cash back credit card for gas, and the Citi customer cash has cash as a category so you can get 5% back on gas through that. Combining that with T-mobile offers you could get like 35 or 40 cents off per gallon back when gas was obscenely expensive.
When i was 23 and single making 50k i discovered the chase trifecta and I reaped the hell out of those points i got going to the bars 2x per week and eating out everyday lol
I feel like my favorite perk of the AMEX gold is never mentioned in any of these videos.... you can have an additional card member added at no additional cost! This is great for a couple combining finances or if you want to provide a card to an adult child. It prevents fragmenting points on separate accounts and allows for easy management.
You can do this with almost any credit card (VISA and MC and Discover)
I feel stupid for leaving the comment now, but this was extremely helpful, thank you. It seems like it was just always on a smaller menu elsewhere on my other cards.@@chewie94116
Unfortunately not CSR as an example. $75 or so for each additional authorized user.
@@JRBison23 But you can with other chase cards- IHG, Hyatt, United, Freedom, etc.
If you want to add family members you should definitely go for the ritz Carlton card. It’s discontinued, but last I heard people have still been able to upgrade to it. You can add an unlimited number of authorized users for free and they all get priority pass (the one that comes with the $28 meal credit) among other benefits.
Grouping credit cards into salary buckets doesn’t quite make sense. Realistically, this is just a group of cards if you travel vs ones if you don’t. I’m in your upper salary tier but I enjoy the heck out of my Citi DoubleCash card.
even as my income increases, it looks like those higher tier cards wouldn’t be worth it unless i was going to travel/dine out often anyways, which i don’t already do! kinda sucks haha
They'd still be worth doing for the first year bonus reward points. Cancel them at 10 months or so in and you'd get the most bang for your buck.
'@@iantaz Don't cancel credit cards if you can, that can negatively affect your credit. Instead, downgrade to a non annual fee card, which most companies offer to do.
get married. Once that happens, annual vacations and eating out cost balloons quickly. Becoming two income household means your income doubles while your expenses don't, so the amount of disposable income more than doubles (until you have kids, then it shrinks).
I used to always avoid the monthly fee cards until I got the AMEX Gold which became really eye opening for me! Just make sure you do not carry a balance EVER.
What grocery stores do you use the card at? I’ve been thinking about getting it but I heard that not all supermarkets counts. Like for example Walmart doesn’t, but Walmart neighborhoods does
I mean that's pretty basic with any credit card
@@andrewg5416absolutely
Same for me. Once I got the gold and started to understand transfer partners; I no longer care for cash back no annual fee cards.
I like the American Express Blue Cash card. I've had it for like 7-8 years and it's a no annual fee, and it gives pretty decent cash back on everyday spend categories
I went to a Chase branch nearby, and I got an extra 10K branch bonus. So 70K bonus total.
Wow, that's awesome I had no idea they offered a branch bonus.
The Chase branch is always the best way to get a boost.
One often overlooked detail about the rate of earning cash back/points is the difference between the nominal earnings rate and the marginal rate. For example, the Amex Gold card earns 4x points on groceries and restaurants. However, you can get cards with no annual fee that earn 3x in those categories (or even 5 with the Citi Custom Cash or a quarterly rotating card). Therefore, you're only getting 1x on those categories as a result of paying the annual fee. That can still be worth it for some people, but it does substantially increase how much spend it takes to make up the annual fee.
In regards to the Amex Gold card, there is also an annual $120 Uber credit as well as a $120 dining credit at select locations. Those two things themselves nearly pay the $250 annual fee. But again, they're only beneficial if you use them.
@@gentry5656 Yeah, I probably could have used a better example. The point about nominal vs marginal still stands irrespective of the effective annual fee, though.
Hey Humphrey, the rundown of each card is great! But I think this video makes a fundamental error - it assumes lifestyle inflation as income increases. Your viewers might want to consider not spending more and more just because they technically could. High earners can still be frugal spenders!
Damn, I really like my Gold AMEX … for some reason I’m not seeing the polarizing benefits for the platinum versus the gold … your recommendation makes sense but I’ll stick with he gold for now although your salary matrix puts me at platinum; Awesome video as always.
The Chase Amazon Prime card is a no brainer if you have Prime and spend at Amazon and/or Whole Foods.
Agree. For Prime… 5x pts on Amazon and Whole Foods purchases. 2x on gas and restaurants is a winner for me.
I have the reserved and travel probably only 2-3x a year. Still worth it. You don’t have to travel monthly
I feel dirty using my AMEX card. Actually cancelled it. The problem with AMEX is it passes along higher fee’s to the restaurant or business owner. Having several friends own small businesses in the restaurant industry, the last thing I want to do is stick it to them.
I’ve had a couple different businesses in the US and Europe practically beg me to use a different card, ended up canceling all of my Amex’s
I'd take this with a grain of salt because has nothing to do with income but how you manage your money and what you want to get out of the card that being travel rewards or cash back. You can offset the Venture X fee by going on a weekend trip even within your own city. You don't have to go on an elaborate vacation to some exotic place, save that for the future when you have enough points to go for free. Getting the TSA Precheck is the best thing you can do it's basically free and it's good for 5 years. Lounge access is also another great perk especially if you have an early flight they are usually not crowded at that time and you can have breakfast at the lounge saving money on the first meal of the day on your trip to wherever.
Have two credit cards currently, and my score is at its max currently 😮 Thankful for the mistakes made in the journey 😊
This had less to do with income bracket and more to do with spending bracket. Many of the cards recommended for 50-150 required consistent extravagant or unlikely spending.
Salary is a poor metric to use, there’s plenty of cases where one can have access to these cards far below what salary you’re placing them in. A better metric would be credit worthiness/experience. High annual fees are a big commitment to someone new to credit, and it’d be far more optimal to learn to use credit without a yearly fee attached or its use, rather than assigning a salary metric that doesn’t say anything about your experience using credit.
You sound poor
I think the idea is that people with different levels of income have wildly different spending habits. Since annual fees can range from 0 to 1000 a year , someone making less than 50k should be mindful of that. It’s not to say they couldn’t but credit worthiness doesn’t mean much if you are not maximizing the credits to offset the annual fee. Someone in a higher income bracket is likely to be in stable career, family, etc. This video is not meant to apply to every situation but to educate people on the right credit card to use
Chase Sapphire Reserve is my primary card due to the full Priority Pass membership. Since I travel 2-3/month, I eat at qualifying airport restaurants & lounges at $28 per visit, pays for the card in just a few months
Love citi double cash. Load it up, pay it off, deposit hits, churn.
I'm not sure this list is so much for different salaries, but for how much you spend on travel, restaurants, and stupid BS. My spouse and I make well over 150k but wouldn't see a ton of value from these higher end cards. We got $2400 back on just a straight cash back credit card thru my credit union last year.
Used to be in the credit card churn phase but since buying a house, I dropped from 9 accounts down to 3 for simplicity. With a mortgage I also can’t justify a bunch of spending so the double cash, venture X, and Amazon cards my go-tos moving forward.
Can you pay mortgage with credit card?
@@Yourpolice69 no you can’t
This is thought as well I recently got a house and probably won’t travel as much anymore. I was think canceling all my Amex cards(trifecta) and get get capital one savor and venture x. I don’t really care about lounge anymore plus I’m saving more money.
@@rolewis13 I thought about that setup but I don’t really bother with transferring miles so a simple cash back card works better for me. I still like the venture X as a standalone card since it basically pays for itself if you take at least one trip a year.
@@Yourpolice69 no you can’t.
COVX for the win! Definitely better overall than the CSR, in my opinion. The Capital One lounges are legit! It's a no brainer if you live in Dallas, Denver or Washington, DC.
For sure, thanks for the comment! My friends in DC love that card...
Chase Freedom Unlimited was my first card and still the one I use the most! It's a great all around card for everyone until they want to move up to the higher end cards. 😁
Now this is a well made and innovative way to market credit cards. It's such a good idea I can't believe I haven't seen financial products advertised in this way. It's a horizonal comparison based on Salary as the segments. Principles of marketing mastered.
I think chase freedom unlimited also includes 3% for food. It's personally my reason why it's the only card I use.
I don't think I would ever get the amex gold or platinum for that matter. Just not enough benefits that I would be able to use without going out of my way to spend for them. amex blue cash preferred and citi double cash is where its at for me.
Credit card can get you in massive debt. Use them wisely
yes, to take advantage we must pay in full, strategically
Its like a double edged sword, but when you get in debt using them you didnt see the handle in the middle. Just dont think of credit as “extra money” but “your money” with an extra step
The issue is don't spend money you don't have. Credit cards are meant to be used to build credit. If you use it as future money to spend. Then you would be in a rude awakening.
Stay away from credit cards, period. They are only designed to get you into debt and keep you there!!! There is NO such thing as a GOOD credit card! THEY ARE ALL BAD!!!
No, people who don't know how to use credit cards get themselves in massive debt.
Thank you for your intelligent breakdown of the credit card world! Very very useful!
Forgot to mention the US Bank Altitude Reserve. I think this is the OP card. I have a Gold and this card replaced it. It has 4.5% on travel and dining if you use apple pay or Google pay....no brainer.
Of all these cards I prefer the double cashback card. I just want my cashback without playing a bunch of games.
Thanks man. Been waiting for this 😁😊
Hope you like it!
This is completely different for everyone depending on your habits and the cost of living where you are. You definitely don't need to make 6 figures to have the Venture X. You just need to travel at least once a year... most people who make around 50k range could use this easily. Debt to income also matters, this video is too surface level.
Yeah i was between SR and SP, SR is really only Travel and if your more of normal Joe like me SP splits the difference better between travel and everyday. This is better if you already have Chase unlimited freedom, aside from 1.5% on everything the other points have become unbeatable,
SR will get you similar travel perks + 1.25 point conversion and 3× streaming and 2x on travel ( paying for parking counts too)
Im surprised the fidelity signature rewards card didnt make the cut. 2% cash ack on everything deposited directly into your brokerage account.
Also the Bank of America equivalent that gives up to 2.65% back on everything. For the top income bracket, it’s a pretty good chance people have enough money to get the juicy cash back amount.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Use cards that give you points for travel, etc.
Pay them off immediately, like weekly.
Helpful video, thanks for sharing. Quick note - your timestamp for Chase Sapphire Reserve says Preferred instead.
I’m surprised you didn’t put the Bilt rewards card because it’s free and most people in that bracket are going to be renters
IDK with high annual fee cards you have to do so much work to make aure youre getting the full value. One of the nice things about having a higher income is not having to "clip coupons". Lounge access (if you are or travel single) is nice though.
thanks bro! the amex gold had a 90K points offer for me, no brainer!
NICE!
Sheesh!
Second credit card video ive seen from him.... No mention of Discover ever... Must not have an incentive to promote it. lol. That being said. Love all of the videos! Amazing job!
Dear Humphrey. Thank you for your excellent channel. I have Amex Gold and Bilt card. I would like to include a new car, which one would u recommend? Amex platinum, saphire reserve or venture X?
My way to spend those money and get the sign on bonus is to prepay utilities. Now I don’t have to pay my gas/electricity/gas for another year or so 😂
You don’t mind me asking how do you do it what cc?
@@GCXpertsit just depends on your utility company, doesn’t matter which card you use. The utility company I use lets me put 4-5k of credit into it. Some companies won’t allow that much.
@linsnowx wow, thank you for the info. I'll look into it 😊
I hadn't thought of that. Great tip!
Hi Andrew. Is the cash back on these cards considered income for tax purposes?
No it is not income. You don't get a 1099 at the end of the year using these cards.
Really informative video! Thanks
I make $170k per year, but I only need CSP only. My company paid for my TSA, travel food and lounges, and hotel. So I don’t see any reason to pay for all of that with CSR. Having said that, I only need CSP for my extra vacation points which normally transfer to Hyatt any way. Live is good as long as company pays for everything.
10:24 😂😂😂😂😂 I love Humphrey
The restaurant benefit was taken away from the Chase Sapphire Reserve benefit list on July 1st.
Does it make sense to have an Amex platinum, gold. And delta? Can you do a comparison?
2% apple cash back on everything Apple Pay Apple Card works overseas w/no foreign T fees where my other unlimited 2% back-up cards have foreign transaction fees so I don’t bring them to Europe. I have other travel cards that were higher rewards on flight, hotel, rail & restaurants but I use Apple Card A LOT as my catch-all for everything else in Europe.
I was just watching 2024 credit card videos yesterday wishing Humphrey had an updated recommendation. Perfect timing!
Question as someone new to credit cards, how difficult is it to apply and get accepted to cards with high annual payments?
its not hard as long as you have good-excellent credit score, but remember, if you cant handle that annual fee - do not apply! And I'm glad this video came at a timely moment
I’m surprised he didn’t put in the blue cash preferred in the mid tier but it is a cash back and not a points card
i do like the blue cash, although I think having the citi doublecash in the video already made me rethink having too many cash back cards. Also, the blue cash gets you 1% on all other purchases besides gas/groceries - if you are just using it for gas/groceries then i think BCP is the best then
It’s easy to get 1.5-2c per point value for
Sapphire preferred when transferring
What do you think of Bilt for mid-tier, especially for those who live in higher cost of living areas, but don’t quite make enough to own, so they rent.
owned by wells Fargo. so pass..
If you rent bilt is high tier. Would be better if it had a SUB
Does all your advices apply for Europe too? Thanks !
Highest ends cards have never been for me, simply because I don’t travel much. (Well, I do weekend travel by vehicle…but nothing crazy.)
What are the best credit cards if you live paycheck to paycheck check to pay check and juggling balances?😅
i like using citi custom and double cash together, only if you pay up front, say 500$ on cc only groceries monthly, that's 25 dollars in thank you points, then the rest of things you can pay off instantly, use double cash to buy things you need and sometimes utilities( lol cash back on utilities) but if you a have a family, amex blue is pretty good if you don't want to juggle, drive a lot and buy groceries.
Hey Humphrey. Which of these cards also have no foreign transaction fees ?
Venture X or Saphire Prefferred
@@PandaC-fp6ht without annual fee ?
This is dope especially the capital venture x
He doesn’t even mention the 10x on hotels/rental cars 5x on flights. The card goes crazy. I’ve got no regrets.
once i paid off my house and had no debt, my credit score went through the roof, just when i didn't need money from anyone.
No wonder most Americans can't pay for a $600 emergency. What a ridiculous system of paying off your expensive credit card fee by buying things you shouldn't be buying. Crazy.
Capital One SavorOne card was left out 🙂
Capital One’s SavorOne deserves to be here ngl
Mostly about travel frequency v.s. salary. CSR and Platinum don’t really have great rewards rate.
2% flat cash back is going to beat out both. A nice spread can get that raised to closer to 5%+ across categories.
Although I understand the hustle of adding a ranking and tier things to drive engagement. Keep on spreading great financial knowledge!
Good point!
Based on the wording, it looks like the 5% on Gas and Groceries for the Chase Freedom Unlimited will reduce after the first year.
I think the Amex Hilton is pretty good as well. It got nerfed for airline credit per quarter recently tho 😢
What about high income earners who don't travel or eat out much? We've got the Citi double cash (it's not bad) and the Amazon card (which has been great). is there a better card for that situation.
So if I don't travel, I try not to eat out, and don't use Walmart+ insta cart and other services, I don't need any of the fee based cards
Apple card is very underrated credit card - tap to pay is everywhere and in places were you would get 1x with your other credit cards, the apple card is 2%. The card itself has zero numbers on the card front and back. This makes ths card amazing to put away in a place of emergency locations plus it can be locked through the phone.
Amex platinum isn’t a credit card, it’s a charge card. Needs to be paid in full every month.
There is actually a combo set of cards that is better than all of these but you need to be a platinum honors tier member at Bank of America
I sure wish I had seen this video before I renewed my TSA precheck 3 days ago 🙃
😮
You made a mistake in the video. When you are taking about the chase sapphire reserve you labeled it as the chase sapphire preferred in the time line.
What if I don't travel that much but am in the 150+ range?
Your watch looks great, can you share the link?
Can you make a visoe or go into more details about the Priority Pass and meal reimbursement? I could not find that information and Chase/ Priority pass didn't have anything on it.
For $150k I’d recommend the Morgan Stanley Platinum card and the Ritz Carlton credit card.
I make less than half that, and I plan on getting the ritz card. 150k is for the Morgan Stanley platinum maybe.
Is the hotel collection credit every year or a one time? For the gold amex
now officially dividing people rank by Salary 😂 what happen to person who inherited millions but with low minimum salary? Like I don’t have to work but I just do something part time to full time b/c everyone asks me lol what do you do? And stuff 😁
Do you have a Canadian version of this video?
Thanks :)
That platinum is very nice.
Wish I discovered this info a few years ago, got myself into a ton of debt because I didn’t know and wasn’t wise enough to research something I wasn’t knowledgeable on
I messed up by getting the platinum AND the sapphire preferred. So now I try to balance all the perks. Wish I could combine their points.
$395 on venture X is nothing. I looked at my year end summary and put $50,000 on it. I am thinking about doing the capital one duo but honestly one extra point on grocery and dining isn’t going to move the needle. Happily in the 800 club with $300K in credit lines. Think I’m done with cards
Not all the math is mathing here. You can't add up all the discount offers and deduct it from the annual fee. It's only like that if you always would have spent that money in each specific place even without the offer. This is like reading though your junk mail and counting every offer you see towards your net worth.
50,000-150,000 is a pretty wide gap
My credit is 630 and I make about 105k a year the only card I could get was an Amex Platinum for some odd reason.
Is it bad if I opened a macys card and JC penny card but never use them?? Just the day I opened them 😅 Will they close and hurt my credit score?
Like everything in life I want to control what I buy instead of get roped into companies over priced “services”.
Cash is king. I will take the cash every time since we don’t travel or eat out. So all their rewards are not rewards for us.