any good banking deals for investment and earning miles for it.

Regarding your subj header, thank you for pioneering honest financial disclosure among FTers. If we were all so forthcoming about how much we have!

But seriously: IMHO, you are dealing with a nontrivial chunk of cash, and should be more concerned with returns on that cash than with miles.

If you want to be earn decent risk-free returns and earn miles, buy $30k of us savings bonds with a mileage-earning credit card. Note that savings bonds outperform CD's and money market accounts.

If you want to be very liquid, put some time into seeking out the best money market rates -- IMHO, returns on mileage-earning money market accounts are abysmal.

In general, following general sound principles of money management will pay off much more than any miles you may earn on one banking offer or another.

I have some shares in some internet stocks that I'd be happy to part with for $50K - and I will throw in 50000 United miles, or 2 free roundtrips on Infinite Airways.

I'm offering a 1995 Chevy Cavalier with 77,000 miles. I'll throw in 100,000 Onepass Miles, and an autographed pitcure of me.

Oooohh... I also just found a NYC Transit Token. I think I also have a Mertocard with about $3.20 on it.

Think it over.

Seriously, you might want to contact a CFP and develop a strategy without regard to miles.

This guy's page has a list of the offers. I can get some points on Etrade if you let me refer you.

http://home.earthlink.net/~pgary/TravelFrame.html

Shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'll refer you at etrade.

Etrade will give you 10,000 miles for opening an account with $10,000, and lets you have multiple accounts. They also will let you write checks off of your brokerage account, which is a nice way to take your moeny out instead of waiting for someone to cut you a check.

Ameritrade has a good deal too but I forget which airlines they have--check Pgary's site--I recall Ameritrade being slightly more generous for smaller accounts but the miles being only on United. Not sure if Ameritrade has a referral program.

There are some other programs but they have higher fees and are less attractive to me for that reason.

[This message has been edited by LemonThrower (edited 05-16-2002).]

I know this goes against all that is sacred on FT, but I wouldn't let free airline miles determine where you invest your money.

If you'd like, I can send you the name and number of a friend in Newport Beach that is a VP of Investments with USB PaineWebber. He can help you determine the best investment strategy based on your goals and risk tollerance. Most of his clients have a minimum $500K investment portfolio, but he said he'd help you find something that fits your needs (mutual funds etc..).

Let me know if you'd like his number.

I suggest you deposit it into the Bank of Spiff. Your money will be placed in a diversified* investment account where agressive doesn't even begin to describe the investment strategy. Winnings, er profits will be split equally with the Bank and the customer. Our motto: "No fees, just bar tabs."

*funds will be "invested" among blackjack and craps. Highly diversified portfolios have access to Pai Gow Poker, Slots and Roulette.

[This message has been edited by Spiff (edited 05-16-2002).]

I second the comments about making sure that you have a plan for the money and then seeing if you can do it with the brokerages, etc. offering miles without sacrificing compared to others that don't offer miles. For example, Ameritrade, which would give you 25,000 UA miles for your money, pays a lousy rate on cash that just sits in your account. If you don't invest the money, these are REALLY expensive miles, even at today's low rates. BYW, I have an Ameritrade account and they're okay.

Where I differ from the advice above is my strong belief that you should deploy the money by giving to me, not those charletons. I promise that I will smile a lot if you give me the money.

My Uncle Vito can help you with that. He does a little street banking. He'll split the vig with you - charges 10 points a week. No 1099's, no taxes.

Seriously - figure out the right investment strategy for your risk tolerance and needed liquidity, then see if you can find a way to get miles with it. I second using pgary's website.

Purchase $30K in I bonds and $15K in Patriot bonds on mileage earning credit cards before the 25th of May. You can redeem them on October 1st. You will forfeit 3 months interest, but the residual interest earnings will be competitive with what you would earn in a certificate during these approx. 130 days. During this time, try to do research on what your investment options are, without regard to earning miles.

Prehaps you should give some of it to your favorite charity as you helpfully suggested in this thread?

Although the Infinite Airways idea sound like a good one as well.

There is some good information buried in this thread but I don't understand why some of you are so hostile to what this guy wants to do.

The suggestion to hire a certified financial planner is right on. What you want is someone that charges a set fee rather than a commission, since they are most likely to give you impartial advice. Once you know what you want to invest in, etrade or ameritrade can execute your trades as good as your broker can and more cost effectivley. So I don't understand the hostility.

I wanted to give you an update regarding E*TRADE. Some folks have pointed out that there is a $50 fee to close an account. This is not entirely accurate. There is such a fee if you transfer the entire balance of an account out of E*TRADE, such as to another brokerage. But one advantage of E*Trade in my opinion is that they make it easy for you to take money out--they give you free checks to write against your brokerage account. So when you want to close your account, just write a check against the funds in that account (assuming you have already sold.) Alternatively, you can request a certificate, although there is a charge for this (but everyone will charge you to get a cert. since it is imposed by the transfer agent and just passed along by the brokerage house).

So my point is that the fee can be avoided in many cases. Of course, the tax aspects of selling first could make this a poor strategy, but if you have a loss on your stocks you would want to sell anyway for tax purposes.

And the point about teh savings bonds is a good one--if you have a good point earning credit card, you could probalby do better by buying bonds with the credit card than opening a brokerage account just for miles. But if you are going to open a brokerage acccount anyway, why not get miles!

I'm happy to refer anyone to Etrade, since I'll get 5,000 miles. Send me an email at [email protected]. Etrade will give you United, Delta, or Northwest miles, so let me know which ones you want.

Personally, I like ameritrade's site a little better, but still give the edge to etrade because they give you checks for your brokerage account (avoids having to wait for someone to cut you a check). If this is not a big deal, ameritrade's site is a litter better plus a little cheaper. Regarding points, they only offer points on United.

I'm limited to 10 referrals in a year, so its not like I'm going to be raking in the points off of this post. I just want to share the benefits of my experience.

10 points a week???

"What am I, a schmuck on wheels?!?" - Maury the Wig Guy, Goodfellas

Thanks to all guys who gave honest advices. Lemonthrower thanks for referal. I went ahead and donated $3000 for charity and $47000 to AMEX Bank with 3.25% APR(savings account) ..I felt like avoiding brokerage accounts and thereby the chance to earn miles...like someone mentioned i didnt find miles worth the interest rate i am getting..

If I had $50k laying around, I'd probably invest at least $40k of it in a fast car, premium cigars, expensive scotch, golf, and women. The other $10k...I'd probably just waste.