By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com

Updated September 3, 2021 – Below we list the very best credit cards on the market, including cash back and travel rewards cards. See the cards’ applications pages for further details as well as information on introductory bonus offers and any exclusions on rewards & perks.

Best Cash Back Credit Cards

“Flat” Cash Back (Same Rebate Percentage on All Purchases):

• Wells Fargo Active Cash Visa – You get 2% “flat” cash back, meaning you get the same 2% cash back on every purchase with the card. Plus, you can earn a bonus as a new cardholder, something most other 2% cards do not offer. (Right now that bonus is $200 if you spend $1000 or more with the card in the first three months after account opening.
• Citi Double Cash – 2% “flat” cash back, meaning you get the same 2% cash back on every purchase with the card. No annual fee.
• SoFi Credit Card – Earn 2% cash back on all purchases, but only if you deposit your earnings into a SoFi account. No annual fee & no foreign transaction fees.
• Other 2% “flat” cash back credit cards: Fidelity Visa, PayPal Cashback Mastercard

Cash Back Cards with Enhanced Purchasing Categories:

• Citi Custom Cash – Get 5% cash back in the category where you spend the most each billing cycle (on up to $500 in purchases in that category); 1% cash back elsewhere. No annual fee.
• Capital One SavorOne Card – 3% cash back on dining, groceries, entertainment purchases, and most streaming services, 1% elsewhere. No annual fee.
• Blue Cash Preferred from American Express – 6% cash back on groceries & streaming services, 3% on gas & transit, 1% elsewhere. No annual fee first year, $95 per year after that.
• Blue Cash Everyday from American Express – 3% cash back on groceries, 2% on gas and at certain department stores, 1% elsewhere. No annual fee.
• US Bank Altitude Go – 4% cash back on dining purchases, 2% on groceries, gas, and streaming services, and then 1% anywhere else. No annual fee.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited – 3% cash back on dining purchases, 3% at drugstores, 5% at Chase’s own travel booking site, and 1.5% on all other purchases. No annual fee.
• Chase Freedom Flex – Get 5% cash back on purchases in certain categories that change every calendar quarter. Also get 3% on dining, 3% at drugstores, 5% at Chase’s own travel booking site, and 1% elsewhere. No annual fee.
• Navy Federal Credit Union More Rewards American Express Card – 3% cash back at grocery stores, restaurants, and gas stations, 1% elsewhere. No annual fee. Must qualify as member of the credit union.
• Navy Federal Flagship Rewards – Earn 3% cash back on travel, 2% everywhere else. There is a $49 annual fee. Must qualify as member of the credit union.
• US Bank Cash+ – Get 5% cash back in your choice of two purchasing categories from a list that US Bank provides, then 2% cash back on your choice of gas, groceries or dining. 1% back everywhere else. No annual fee.
• Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards – Get 3% cash back in a purchasing category of your choice, 2% at grocery/wholesale stores, 1% elsewhere. No annual fee.
• Discover it – Get 5% cash back on purchases in certain categories that change every calendar quarter. All other purchases earn 1%. No annual fee.
• Also worth mentioning: Verizon Visa, Apple Card, Venmo Credit Card

By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com

Updated September 15, 2021 – Cashback Monitor is a site that allows you to compare the cash back or other rewards you can get if you use certain shopping portals or credit card reward malls when you shop at specific stores. If you’re not aware of how these portals and malls work, it generally goes like this:

1. You sign in to the portal/mall before you shop online.
2. Once signed in, you get a selection of retailers that have agreed to provide certain discounts (or reward points) to users of that portal/mall. For example, last we looked, the Shop Through Chase portal was offering an extra 3% cash back if we used our Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card at Ulta Beauty.
3. You choose the retailer where you want to shop, and then hit the “Shop Now” button or whatever means the “mall” has to transport you to the retailer’s site.
4. Your purchases at the retailer site are tracked and you get the extra cash back or reward points.

These shopping portals are kind of a no-brainer if you’re planning on shopping with certain retailers anyway, so you should take advantage.

By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com

One of the more satisfying possibilities for working at home is becoming a virtual assistant. While there is no single definition of what a “virtual assistant” is, most people think of it as doing general office work, which might include:

• Making phone calls or writing emails on a company’s behalf (or for an individual within a company), including scheduling appointments.
• Data entry, anything from tracking sales calls to entering figures in a database.
• Writing & editing basic marketing materials or letters.
• Bookkeeping
• Internet researching
• Blog management
• Social media management
• Graphic design
• Technical support

Your virtual assistant journey might include any or all of those tasks, depending on your skills and the needs of potential clients. You undoubtedly will be asked to do other things specific to whatever industry your clients are in.

(This is a regularly updated post; last update 9/10/21.) If you’ve ever been pitched on opening a new credit card at a retail store while making a purchase, you know that some stores are more than happy to give you instant credit — you apply on the spot, get approved, and you can use the card immediately. Below we offer a list of such cards, including regular bank credit cards as well as retail credit cards. Apply online and get shopping today. (Note that instant approval is not guaranteed.)

• American Express Cards – Most American Express credit cards and charge cards now offer the possibility of an “Instant Card Number” upon approval. Your “eligibility is based on our ability to instantly validate your identity.” If you are eligible, you’ll get an Instant Card Number that you can use even before you have the physical card in hand. Note, however, that you may not be able to access your card’s complete credit line instantly.
• PayPal Cashback Mastercard – One of our very favorite credit cards on the market also lets you use your card today if you are approved instantly. Here’s the language they use to describe the process: “If you’re approved, in most cases, a temporary credit line will instantly be added to your PayPal account and you can start using it on PayPal right away – – even before you receive your card.” Beyond the instant approval, this card gives you a 2% rebate on everything you buy with it — which is the top of the market for cash-back cards with a flat rate on all purchases.

No credit card offers a 0% interest rate forever, but many cards will start you out at 0% and let you carry a balance with no interest for a good long time. (Just make sure you have it paid off before the zero percent period ends.) Here are the best no-annual-fee credit cards that offer a 0% introductory interest rate on your new purchases:

0% for 20 months/billing cycles

• US Bank Visa Platinum Card – 0% interest rate on new purchases for the first 20 billing cycles. Note that the card does not offer any rewards program.

0% for 18 months/billing cycles

• BankAmericard – 0% interest rate on new purchases for the first 18 billing cycles. While that is a strong offer, note that the card does not have any sort of rewards program.
• Citi Simplicity Card – 0% interest rate on new purchases for the first 18 months. Does not offer rewards.
• Citi Diamond Preferred Card – 0% interest rate on new purchases for the first 18 months. Does not offer rewards.
• Wells Fargo Platinum Visa – 0% interest rate on new purchases for the first 18 months. No rewards.

By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com

The Amazon Rewards Visa is a popular credit card for rewards seekers, thanks to its 5 points per dollar on Amazon.com and Whole Foods purchases for Amazon Prime credit card customers (3 points for cardholders without Amazon Prime), plus 2 points at restaurants, gas stations, and drug stores, and 1 point per dollar everywhere else.

But is your credit score good enough to qualify? What credit score do you need to get the Amazon Visa?

There is no guaranteed answer to this question. But, using a combination of our own knowledge of Amazon and Chase practices (Chase issues the Amazon Visa), plus a bunch of data points we’ve hunted down from around the Web, we can make an educated declaration:

• In general, customers with a 650 or better credit score will be approved for the Amazon Visa. However, we have seen reports of approvals as low as 600, and some denials at scores between 650 and 725. Obviously your odds increase with a higher score. However, remember that your credit score is not the only factor in approving or denying your application. Many credit card companies will pay special attention to the length of your credit history, your current debt, your current income, and how many other credit cards or loans you’ve recently opened. That’s why there is no guarantee when it comes to a minimum credit score for approval.

By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com

Consumer Reports has long been a respected name when it comes to reviewing consumer products and choosing the best of the options in the marketplace. Its coverage of cars & trucks is especially well respected, because it offers reviews of new vehicles as well as used vehicles, including information on which cars have the most problems (and fewest problems) and how long you can expect a certain make and model to last.

To us, it is established that Consumer Reports provides value. But the question is: how much value? Is it worth it to be a paid subscriber?

How much is a subscription?

Let’s talk first about what Consumer Reports actually costs. You can get an online subscription for $39 per year, or you can choose to get that online subscription at $12 per month if you want to test it out for a shorter term. (But note that it will automatically renew each month unless you stop it.)

Below is a quick chart of capital gains tax rates for tax year 2021. You will find further explanations below the charts.

Short-Term Capital Gains Tax Rate

Short-term capital gains (on assets bought and sold in less than one year) are treated the same as any other regular income you make. So you simply add those short-term gains to the other income you make during the year and you’ll get taxed on all of that short-term income using the Federal Tax Brackets found here.

So, for example, if you made $60,000 at your job and had $13,000 in short-term capital gains, the IRS tells you to simply add those amounts together, and you’d get the same tax treatment on all $73,000 of “regular income.”

Long-Term Capital Gains Tax Rate (Assets Sold Beyond One Year):

By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com

Chase has added a new sentence to the Terms & Conditions of its credit card applications that gives Chase the right to check any of your bank accounts or other financial accounts it may have access to when making a decision on your credit card application — even information from other banks:

“We may obtain and use information about your accounts with us and others such as Checking, Deposit, Investment, and Utility accounts from credit bureaus and other entities.”

Back in May of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that an agency of the U.S. government had encouraged the largest banks to work harder at approving new-to-credit consumers for their first credit cards. Chase as well as a number of other banks (including Wells Fargo and US Bank) had agreed to participate in a pilot program that would see these banks share information with each other about their customers’ bank accounts, with the idea that this would provide a starting place to assess the credit risk of applicants who had little to no information on file with the major credit bureaus.

Chase took the lead in this process earlier this week by introducing the Chase Slate Edge Visa, a no-annual-fee credit card with modest features but presumably an easier path to approval for those with no credit history (and maybe those with lower credit scores than Chase would normally accept). Within the Terms & Conditions of this new card’s application was the sentence referenced above that allows Chase to check bank, investment, and utility accounts as part of the approval process.

However, this new sentence giving Chase greater latitude to check a wider array of financial accounts is not exclusive to the Chase Slate Edge card. It has been added to the Terms & Conditions of all online Chase credit card applications, with no ability to “opt out.” If you want Chase to consider your application, you must agree that they may look at financial sources beyond your credit reports.

By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com

There is no set definition of bad credit, but if your credit score is lower than 600, most credit card issuers will consider that bad credit (though they’ll call it by the nicer name of “subprime”). If you’re trying to rebuild your credit score with a new credit card or cards, here are our suggestions on the path you should consider:

Step 1: Will Capital One or Discover approve you?

Capital One and Discover are the two major credit card issuers that are most open to accepting people with bad credit scores. You might not qualify for their best cards, and you might get a very low credit limit if you are approved, but your chances are best with these two banks, so our advice is to try them first.

Do a Pre-Approval

If you’re unsure about being approved, do a pre-approval or pre-qualification with Capital One or Discover. You fill out a form and they do a “soft inquiry” on your credit report to see what cards you’re likely to qualify for. While a pre-approval is not a guarantee that you’ll be approved, it should give you a solid idea of your chances. Use the links below to get started:

• Capital One Credit Card Pre-Approval Page
• Discover Card Pre-Approval Page

Cards You Might Get Approved For:

• Capital One Quicksilver or Capital One QuicksilverOne – If your credit isn’t too bad, Capital One might approve you for one of these cards that offers 1.5% cash back on all of your purchases. However, if you are approved for the QuicksilverOne version of the card, note that it will have a $39 annual fee.
• Capital One Platinum – This is Capital One’s most basic unsecured card for those with lower credit scores. No rewards and a fairly high interest rate, but no annual fee. It may be the place to start if you can’t get unsecured credit anywhere else.
• Discover it – If your credit isn’t too bad, you might qualify for this no-annual-fee rewards card that gives 5% cash back in certain rotating categories and 1% cash back everywhere else.
• Discover it Chrome – If your credit score is low, Discover still might accept for this no-annual-fee credit card that gives 2% cash back on dining and gas purchases, and 1% back everywhere else.
• Discover Secured Card or Capital One Secured Card – If you get offered one of these cards, it means your credit score was too bad to offer you an unsecured credit card. Choosing to get a secured credit card is often a very smart choice for people with bad credit, but unlike “regular” credit cards, a secured credit card requires you to put down a refundable security deposit to get the card. We will come back to the idea of getting a secured card further down in this article, but if a secured card is the only thing that Capital One or Discover is offering you, there are still other options to consider before going the secured card route.