I move my assets to different brokerages and banks to take advantage of the following types of offers. Moving securities is easy. The new broker will do it for you. However, be sure to ask if there is a maintenance fee, or a fee to close the account.

Cautions:

• Many of the brokers, banks, and mutual funds making these offers restrict you to 1 offer in your lifetime. So plan carefully. If you don't have enough money to receive the maximum number of miles now, consider waiting until you have more, taking the risk of the offer disappearing, of course. Your guess is as good as mine whether or not the offers will be increased or decreased or cancelled. (I regret accepting the then maximum 10,000 miles for opening an E*Trade account years ago. Had I waited, I could have received 75,000. However, had I waited even longer, I would have received no miles at all, since E*Trade no longer offers them.)
• Before you accept any offer, be sure to make a copy of the offer and all of its terms and conditions. Mail a copy with the application, along with a note saying that you are accepting that offer. And keep a copy in case anything goes wrong.
• I have made no investigation of the financial stability or performance history of any of the investment companies I list on this page. You are on your own to do appropriate due diligence before giving these companies any of your assets. (Occasionally I will give you some help on how to do that due diligence.)

Stock and Bond Brokers

For most or all offers listed here, you can meet the minimums by funding the account with secures from other brokerage accounts, and sometimes from mutual fund accounts. The receiving broker does all the work for you. Ask if this is permitted and, if so, by what deadline after opening the account, before committing to the deal. And be sure to get it in writing, and do screen shots of the offer and your acceptance of it if you apply on line.

Be sure to find the page on the broker's website (often well hidden) that lists all fees. Beware especially of maintenance fees for low balances, and fees to close the account. You must include these fees in your calculations of how much your miles will cost.

Before accepting any of these offers, you may want to read about the experiences of others on the Epinions page on brokers.

U.S. brokers are supposed to be insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Be sure to read about the limits of that insurance and exactly what it does and does not insure.

The SIPC posts a warning on its website about a brokerage identity theft scam that every investor should read. You can look up a broker on the SIPC's Member Database to see if it is a member. Be sure the address listed is the address of the company with which you are thinking of doing business.

You may also look up useful information about a U.S. broker on the website of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) on its NASD BrokerCheck page.

I have no information on non-U.S. brokers except for what I say about the offers that I list below. I do not know if they are insured. You are very much on your own in doing due diligence for any prospective investment, but especially with one with a foreign company.

• The Fidelity account must remain open with minimum funding for six months. Additional deposits to the eligible account will earn the customer a higher mileage award provided such deposits put the cumulative deposits above the next eligibility tier (up to a maximum of 50,000 miles). Initial and subsequent deposits must be made within 90 days of account opening.
• For comparison, Fidelity offers a cash bonus of up to $2,500 for opening or adding to a Fidelity account. Caution: This bonus may be included on an IRS Form 1099, where, in my experience, the miles are not.
• Be careful. Read all of the terms and conditions. Also, after you register for the offer, but before you transfer assets to Fidelity, call them at 800-544-3719 or the number you use for your account and ask them to verify that you are eligible for and are registered for the offer you want. Once the say yes, ask the rep to write a note in your account saying that he or she did this verification. Then (as happened to me twice), if you get an email saying you are not eligible for the offer for which you registered, call them again, asking them to read the notes on your account. They will probably tell you that the email was automated and was sent in error and that they will hand babysit the funding and resultant miles. They have done this successfully in the past.
• Sometimes you can easily transfer assets online, But occasionally (as in a revocable living trust account, for example) they will require that you give them a lot of paperwork. If you have a local Fidelity office, just bring in everything required and they will copy and mail it for you. Easy.
• Remember that this offer can be repeated annually. So mark your calendar appropriately. The assets must be kept in your account for at least 6 months, or they will claw back your miles.

  Initial Deposit	Miles earned
  $25,000	15,000
  $50,000	25,000
  $100,000	50,000

  • United Airlines offer (Sign up by October 1, 2014.)
  • American Airlines offer (Sign up by September 30, 2014)
  • Delta Airlines offer (Sign up by February 14, 2014)
• You have 30 days after signing up for this offer to open an account, and 90 days to fund it.
• Re: Adding new money to an existing, non retirement brokerage account. A conversation with a Fidelity rep on January 30, 2011, confirmed that the addition may be in assets transferred from another brokerage, not necessarily cash. I also confirmed that the fact that I initially opened my Fidelity account via another miles offer does not preclude me from getting Delta miles by adding assets. I did this successfully. You have 90 days to get the assets transferred after signing up for the offer. I suggest calling (800) 642-6972 to get your own confirmation of this in your own account, with a notation in it that you were told that it qualifies. Note that the account from which you are transferring assets may charge you for this.
• I was under the impression that is illegal for a financial institution to offer incentives for transferring your 401(k) or other retirement savings from your employer plan to the financial institution. Apparently I was wrong. Fidelity now offers commission free trades for making such a transfer. Details.

ShareBuilder offers 2,500 U.S. Airways miles when you open a new ShareBuilder account and purchase your first security. Also the opportunity to earn 500 additional bonus miles each quarter are offered when you are actively subscribed to the Standard or Advantage Investing Program.

ShareBuilder offers 2,000 United Airlines miles when you open a new ShareBuilder account and purchase your first security. Also the opportunity to earn 175 additional bonus miles each quarter are offered when you are actively subscribed to the Advantage Investing Program.

ShareBuilder offers 2,000 Delta Airlines bonus miles are offered when you open a new ShareBuilder account and purchase your first security. If you're a Delta Skymiles Medallion member, you are offered 3,500 bonus miles after your first investment. Also the opportunity to earn 500 additional bonus miles each quarter are offered when you are actively subscribed to the Standard or Advantage Investing Program.

Offers of interest as of July 27, 2006. (Please tell me when they change or disappear.)

• Offer of up to 15,000 miles investing in Deka's fund of the month.
• Offer of 6,666 miles for opening a Trader 6x6 account at Cortal Consors.
• Offer 1,500 award miles for starting a savings plan at DWS Investments.

Banks

Before accepting any of these offers, you may want to see if anyone has written about their experiences with the bank you are considering on the Epinions pages on banks and on internet banks.

Click here to see if a U.S. Bank is indeed F.D.I.C. insured. If you are thinking of depositing more than the $100,000 limit of insurance in a F.D.I.C. insured account, Bankrate has a useful service that rates the financial stability of banks.

I do list offers from some banks outside of the U.S. I do not know if these banks are in any way insured by their governments, and have no knowledge of their financial stability, and I don't intend to research this. You are on your own to do due diligence with any investment you make in any bank or financial institution, but especially with foreign banks.

Caution: Effective with the January 2012 monthly statement cycle, all Mileage Checking with Interest Accounts will be charged a monthly service fee of $12.00, regardless of the balance maintained in your account. This means that this account becomes a good deal only with large balances. Do the math.

Caution: The miles offers for these accounts change for the worse on June 1, 2013. I mention the changes in each category below. Just do a word search on "June" in this BankDirect section.

Caution: There has been a lot of publicity about Citibank sending out a 1099 for their value of AA miles given for opening an account (2.5 cents/mile!) The IRS has made at least one statement that this is correct for bank account bonuses (but not credit card bonuses). BankDirect has not send out 1099's for miles in the past, but I fear they may not be able to continue to avoid doing so. I closed my account with them and explained why. They responded that the understood my concern, with no further comment.

How to earn the miles:

• 100 miles per month for every $1,000.00 maintained in an interest bearing Mileage Checking Account, up to the first $200,000 on deposit. Earn an additional 25 miles per $1,000 for collected balances over $200,000. That $200,000 limit will be reduced to $50,000 on June 1, 2013.
  • Yes, the interest rate on this account is quite low (currently 0.05%). But the highest rate I can find for liquid money (April 2, 2010) is Ally Bank's 1%. The 1% is taxable. But BankDirect has not sent out 1099's for the miles. Let's take a round number example. Be sure to adjust this math for the new numbers effective June 1, 2013.
    • A $10,000 deposit in a BankDirect checking account earns 12,000 American Airlines miles per year and $5 taxable interest per year. That same $10,000 in an Ally Bank account earns $100 per year. But remember that the extra $95 is taxable. You would have to do your own math, but at my combined federal and state tax rates I get to keep only $61.90 of that $95. That's an opportunity cost of 61.90/12,000 = a bit over half a cent/mile. A mile is worth way more than that by anyone's calculation.

      Now I would never consider investing a lot of money in a higher but still very low C.D., because that money is not liquid. But when I am between investments, depositing my cash in this BankDirect account seems like a very good deal, so long as interest rates remain very low.

      Of course, for the first year, the other bonuses make this account very worthwhile for a minimum balance of $2,500.

• 50 miles per month for every $1,000.00 maintained in a Mileage Money Market Account, up to the first $200,000 on deposit. Earn an additional 25 miles per $1,000 for collected balances over $200,000. That $200,000 limit will be reduced to $50,000 on June 1, 2013.
• Earn 1,000 miles for every $1,000 invested in a two-year Mileage CD purchase up to $200,000. Additionally, earn 25 miles per $1,000 invested over $200,000. That $200,000 limit will be reduced to $50,000 on June 1, 2013.
• Earn 500 miles for every $1,000 invested in a one-year Mileage CD purchase up to $200,000. Additionally, earn 25 miles per $1,000 invested over $200,000. That $200,000 limit will be reduced to $50,000 on June 1, 2013.
• Earn 250 miles for every $1,000 invested in a six month Mileage CD purchase up to $200,000. Additionally, earn 25 miles per $1,000 invested over $200,000. That $200,000 limit will be reduced to $50,000 on June 1, 2013.
• Earn 1,000 miles for each new Mileage Checking Account or Mileage Money Market Account opened. Additionally, earn 1,000 miles for every $100,000 in initial deposit, up to $500,000, per household. This bonus will disappear June 1, 2013.
• An additional 1,000 miles if you are referred by someone before you open an account. Try asking for a referral on Flyertalk or Milepoint.
• 1,000 miles for each successful referral you make to the bank. Consider family members, for example.
• Earn 10,000 miles for establishing full payroll direct deposit from your employer into a Mileage Checking Account. You must deposit your payroll directly in to a BankDirect Mileage Checking Account. If you have more than one employer, you must deposit the entire payroll direct deposit from each income source in order to receive the one-time 10,000 mileage credit. Your direct deposit must be deposited for 3 consecutive months in order to earn the one-time 10,000 mileage credit. (On June 1, 2013, this changes to six consecutive statement cycles, totaling a minimum of $2,000.00 per month.) The one-time 10,000 mileage credit is awarded after you have reached the minimum 3 month consecutive deposit requirement. To receive mileage credit, contact BankDirect Client Support to notify us that you have met the minimum qualifications. qualifications. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for the miles to post to your AAdvantage account.
• Earn 5,000 miles for using BankDirect's bill pay service for 12 consecutive months from a Mileage Checking Account. In order to receive these miles, you have to pay at least 3 different merchants per month from a BankDirect Mileage Checking Account through its online bill payment system for 12 consecutive months. (On June 1, 2013, this changes to 6 consucutive months.) The 5,000 miles are paid out at the end of the 12-month period. To receive mileage credit, contact BankDirect Client Support to notify them that you have met the minimum qualifications. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for the miles to post to your AAdvantage account.
• Earn 5,000 miles for Visa® CheckCard usage. Use the Visa® CheckCard on 12 transactions per statement cycle for 3 consecutive months. (After June 1, 2013, the transactions must total at least $500/month.) To receive mileage credit, contact BankDirect Client Support to notify them that you have met the minimum qualifications. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for the miles to post to your AAdvantage account.
• Limit 2 Mileage transaction accounts per household; one Mileage Checking Account and one Money Market Account.

• You get a free ATM debit card with your checking account. BankDirect charges no fees for using that card at any ATM anywhere in the world (thought the owner of the ATM might charge a fee). Very nice for foreign travel.
• They say to wait 6 - 8 weeks for miles to post after you earn them. But it took only 2 days for my initial opening miles to post.
• There are fees for not maintaining minimum balances on these accounts. For example, the minimum balance to avoid a monthly fee on the mileage checking account is $2,500, and $10,000 for a mileage money market account.

The interest rates and on Mileage CD's are substantially lower that those you can get from regular CD's from BankDirect, and lower still that CD's you can find elsewhere. And the miles received from mileage CD's are lower than those from the checking account. So investing in Mileage C.D's for the purpose of acquiring miles is not particularly attractive.

UFB Direct offers

• An Airline Rewards Checking Account with
  • A debit card that earns 1 airline mile/$2 spent on the card. Currently American Airlines is the only airline offered, but that could change.
  • A one-time additional 1,000 Miles/Points after having a direct deposit totaling $1,000 or more in one calendar month.
  • The minimum deposit to open an account is $100, but thereafter there is no minimum balance requirement and no monthly maintenance fee. However, if you bring your account to a $0 balance, your account will be closed and miles not yet credited to your American Airlines accouint will be lost.
  • Unlimited ATM reimbursements (excludes international transactions) - if you aren't near an ATM, you can get cash back when you shop at most grocery stores, gas stations and super stores and pay no fees.
  • Free online banking with free bill-pay, mobile banking, email and text messaging alerts.
  • Free online transfers between your UFB Direct accounts (for example, from your Airline Rewards Checking to your Airline Rewards Savings), and free external transfers from your Airline Rewards Checking.
  • First Order of Personal (50-pack) Checks Free (If ordered at account opening).
  • Free postage-paid envelopes.
• An Airline Rewards Savings Account
  • A competitive interest rate.
  • 500 airline miles/points 90-days after you open your Airline Rewards Savings Account.
  • additional 500 miles/points after the account has been open for one year.
  • Currently American Airlines is the only airline offered, but that could change.
  • Other features Airline Rewards Checking Account.
• A Money Market Account.
  • No miles, but a very competitive interest rate.

Caution: There has been a lot of publicity about Citibank sending out a 1099 for their value of Aamerican Airlines miles given for opening an account (2.5 cents/mile!) The IRS has made at least one statement that this is correct for bank account bonuses (but not credit card bonuses). I don't know if SunTrust will send out a 1099, and if they do, how they will value the miles.

SunTrust Bank offers

• 5,000 Delta Airlines miles for opening a checking account and purchasing ($75/year) and using its Check (debit) card. (Plus between May 1 and June 30, 2013, earn another 5,000 miles after $1,000 in qualified purchases within the first 90 days after opening the account.
• 1 mile per $1 in PIN Point of Sale and signature-based purchases and 2 miles per $1 in direct Delta purchases.
• The offer used to require that you walk in to branch office only, with a possible exception described in post #20 on this this flyertalk thread. The offer used to be available to residents of AL, AR, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, WV, VA and Washington D.C. only, with that possible exception. But on January 18, 2014, I was able to access an account application online whose pulldown menue for states included all of them.

There is a similar offer for a business account.

• Effective from and after May 1, 2013, miles are earned on the first $5000 in qualifying purchases each month and are capped at 2,500 miles.

The bank offers a business check (debit) card that seems the same as the personal card, except it costs $25/year and offers free primary rental car insurance.

Offers of interest as of July 27, 2006. (Please tell me when they change or disappear.)

• Offer of up to 30,000 miles from Deutsch Bank.

For the following banks

• All of the offers are for money market accounts. The interest rate varies, but all offer some of the highest rates available nationwide. You can confirm this at BankRate.com. Select CD's and Investments in the pull down menu in the Compare Rates box, then click on MMAs, then MMAs/Savings Accounts, then Search by 100 highest yields. Note that this page is usually out of date. But it gives you a point of comparison to the rate you would get from the bank you are investigating.
• All use the ACH system to allow you to make deposits and withdrawals electronically. You link the account to one or more of your other checking accounts, then go online transfer money between accounts. The transfer usually is completed within 2 business days, sometimes 3.
• You may do an unlimited number of deposits to each account. All allow a maximum of 6 withdrawals per statement cycle. If checks are offered with the account, no more than 3 can clear the account per statement cycle.
• All have good telephone customer service.
• I have maintained personal accounts with all of these banks for at least two years, and usually much longer. I am very satisfied with all of them. The websites of all of them work quite well.
• You can check to be sure the accounts are insured by the FDIC at FDIC web site. Click on "Bank Find" in the left menu, enter the name of the bank.
• All of these banks think (rightly, in my opinion) that once you see what they have to offer, you will keep the account you open. The bonuses and referral fees they pay is are very inexpensive ways for them to acquire new accounts.
• Be sure you fully understand the terms, conditions, and fees for each type of account before opening one.

• ING Bank offers $50 for opening an Electric Orange account. activating your Electric Orange Debit MasterCard®, and using it to make at least 3 signature-based purchases within 45 days of account opening. It offers $25 for opening an Orange Savings account if you are referred to them by a current account holder. They give the referrer $10. Please You must open the account for at least $250 to get the $25 bonus, but there is no minimum to maintain the account. The account has no fees.

  Please allow me to refer you to the Orange Savings account. I need your first name, your last name, and the email address to which you would like the bank to send you the information you need to open the account. First check my What's New page to see if I am traveling, so you will have an expected response time. (Thanks.) You must use the link in the email the bank sends to you to open the account to receive your $25. Please add a sentence saying that you have actually decided to open an account, since you would waste my time and one of my limited number of referrals if you were to ask for one and not open an account. (Thanks.)

  I can obtain only one referral per email address, so if you want referrals for family members and friends, I will need separate information for each.

  • All deposits and withdrawals must be done online or via telephone via the link to your checking account. You may connect up to 3 personal checking accounts to your ING Bank account.
  • The minimum to open an account is $250, and this is done completely electronically. No postage, no deposit slip, super easy.
  • There are no fees for this account. This bank does things the old fashioned way. They have your money. That's enough.
  • The $25 posts to your account about 30 days after you open it and fund it with at least $250. You must keep the account open until the $25 posts.
  • The choice of Orange Savings or Electric Orange depends on the balance you intend to maintain. Higher balances earn higher interest in the Electric Orange account.

   

Mutual Funds

Offer of 1.5 award miles/euro invested in selected funds from DWS Investments.

Home Buying

These miles do cost the lender or broker money. So be sure to compare their rates to those who don't offer miles - the latter may offer better deals. Note also that you may be able to negotiate a lower commission or a lower loan rate by offering to give up the miles.

SmarterTravel has a good article on these offers.

A reader describes how he earned 170,000 United Airlines Miles for $100 in this thread on FlyerTalk. Note that the deal is via Awards for Mortgage, which apparently no longer exists. I have no knowledge of whether or not there are extra fees on these offers that were not found on the United offer. Ask. I suggest you closely follow the discussion. Some good questions and expert advice appear there.

Please tell me about any programs you come across. I will add them here after I check them out. You can often find them through the web site of your favorite airline. Look for the partners of its frequent flyer program. Here are the ones I know about:

• Alaska Airlines
  • Miles4RealEstate offers 10,000 airline miles/$100,000 of real estate transaction value for brokerage, Mortgage and title insurance, moving and relocation, and other unspecified home services.

• United Airlines.
  • Loan, real estate agent, and relocation programs are listed here.
  • Chase Bank is offering up to 50,000 United Airlines miles for a mortgage.
  • AirMiles for Moving offers United Airlines miles for mortgages, real estate agents, and moving.
  • I understand that North American Mortgage is offering United miles for borrowing money from them. Call (800) 500-6262 for details.

• American Airlines.
  • American Airlines lists its real estate offer on its Financial Services page.

• Delta Airlines.
  • Some real estate and loan programs are listed on Delta's Real Estate & Financial Partners page.
  • AirMiles for Moving offers for brokers, mortgages, and moving.
  • Miles4RealEstate offers 10,000 airline miles/$100,000 of real estate transaction value for brokerage, Mortgage and title insurance, moving and relocation, and other unspecified home services.

• Southwest Airlines
  • Chase Bank offers up to 50,000 Southwest Airlines points for a mortgage.

• Hawaiian Airlines
  • Miles4RealEstate offers 10,000 airline miles/$100,000 of real estate transaction value for brokerage, Mortgage and title insurance, moving and relocation, and other unspecified home services.

• Marriott Rewards.
  • Chase Bank offers up to 75,000 Marriott Rewards points for a mortgage.

• Qantas
  • Mortgage program.
  • Real Estate agent program within Australia.

• Air Canada
  • Mortgage program.
  • Moving program

   

Other Loans

It appears that banks are just beginning to experiment with the idea of awarding miles for loans other than those for the home. Please tell me about any other of these types of offers you find. Thanks.

If you are looking for a smaller short term loan (less than a year), I may have 0% balance transfer offers listed for certain credit cards. For some, you can get a check for your full credit limit, and then make minimum payments until the 0% offer ends. You can often get another check for that minimum amount you pay once the payment posts. The best way to find these offers is to look on my Free Money page.

Student Finance

Here I list miles producing and cash back offers for savings plans and loans for tuition and other student expenses.

If you or your parents are saving for your college education, it appears to me that it would be a very worthwhile hour of time spent studying this program. Most of your questions are found on the Frequently Asked Questions page (which I found by clicking on the Help link at the top of the front page of the website. However, there are still two questions the answer to which I was unable to find:

• Minimums for transfer to a 529 are alluded to, but never stated. What are they?
• Which 529 plans are on your list for eligibility? (And specifically is yours on it?)

The reader who told me about this program says

"...most 529 plans have annual fees exceeding average consumer's Upromise earnings, so people should decide if it's worth it for them to participate, based on their shopping habits. It doesn't mean they shouldn't join Upromise, of course. There is a way to request a check from Upromise, not subject to any 529 penalties, and something they obviously do not advertise."

Insurance

Most insurance companies accept credit cards (mileage producing, of course) for payment of premiums. Ask.

Investment Advice

Taxes

TurboTax, and possibly other tax preperation software, can be purchased via many miles and cash back shopping portals. For example, Big Crumbs offers 10.5% cash back for TurboTax as of January 4, 2013.

1,000 Southwest Airlines points for filing your federal return with TurboTax.

First Hawaiian Tax offers 5 Hawaiian Airlines miles per $1 for tax preparation. It is located in Wailuku, HI.

RewardsDB maintains pages of miles and other offers for purchase of TurboTax, TaxCut, and Complete Tax tax preparation products. It was way out of date on January 4, 2013. FreeTaxUSA
"Online tax preparation, e-filing, and printing of your federal income return are FREE if you live in one of the following states: AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NE, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, UT, VA, or WV and if your adjusted gross income (AGI) is $52,000 or less."
I know nothing about this outfit.

Below are some of the offers I know about. Please tell me about others you find. Thanks.

• The IRS has a nifty page showing numerous methods for obtaining e-filing for free. Most require that your Adjusted Gross Income be $50,000 or less.
• Often the payment agencies arrange special offers for payment of taxes:
  • Official Payments Corporation
• Mastercard has a nifty list of which states accept its card, and via which agents. Presumably those states also accept other cards.
• Redeem American Express Membership Rewards points to credit your Card account for the cost of the convenience fee (200 Membership Rewards points = $1).