Originally Posted by
bdschobel
The $25,000 AMEX threshold is easy for me to reach, even in retirement. I charge my $10,000 annual property taxes, something like $10,000 in Delta plane tickets, throw in another $5,000 or so at restaurants, and I'm there. No problem at all. I also charge gasoline on AMEX, and that's a couple thousand a year.
Bruce
I'll have no trouble qualifying with my spend flying, as I am really a frequent flyer. Nonetheless, it is a condescending to hauntingly claim it's easy to spend $25k annually.
Fortunately, I live somewhere that doesn't soak us on real estate taxes, so my taxes are under $2k. Plus, anyone who refinanced a mortgage in the past couple of years is not only paying well under 4% interest, but is also likely to have taxes escrowed.
Many of us who must use corporate credit cards for business travel just do not spend that much a year outside business expenses. It is quite easy to live pretty well without spending that much money. I am purchasing a car right now, and most dealerships have a limit on how much you can put on a card and charge an additional 3% for the pleasure. If I pay cash, they'll give me 3% off, which translates to an additional $3k just to get DL miles. Who would do that?
I don't eat at restaurants when I'm in town: I do enough of that on the company's dime when I travel, and most of my friends like to cook and invite people over. I buy most of my food at the DeKalb Farmer's Market. They don't take credit cards. Heck, I'm even likely purchasing a Volt, which will mean almost no gas expense starting in May.
Maybe in your circumstance it is easy to spend $25k, but for those of us who like to save/invest more than we spend on restaurant meals that are gone before you are out of the restaurant and other unnecessary expenses, $25k is above necessary spending.