Originally Posted by
Stockjock
In order to potentially get the engagement bonus, you must have:
4. Average daily balance of $25,000 or more in the lower-yielding Bank Deposit Program.
Originally Posted by
ddavis
MS subtracted fees paid from the engagement bonus to come up with the 1099 amount (if any).
But if you're going to do that calculation, you can't really count the interest earned, because you could get that elsewhere, separate from the MS relationship.
So the numbers you're really looking at are $695 AF + $195 first free AU (I'll include that for the purposes of this calculation) - $660 in fees paid = $230.
And then MS will send you a 1099 for the $695 engagement bonus. So in the end it's basically a wash.
Of course, the SUB might be worth it for year 1.
Sorry but this math doesn't work for me. The SUB is irrelevant to the AF waiver aka Engagement bonus (I will get the SUB from Amex regardless).
I will not tie up $25k that I can't touch in a cash account when I could be earning $1250-1500/yr with zero risk (MS own Preferred account is paying 5% but GS Preferred Savings currently pays 5.5%). The AF is $695 plus MS files a 1099 for the waived fee. So this makes zero sense unless you keep $25k balance in your checking at all times, and plan to switch everything over to MS.