In case you missed it there was an earlier post on the 2024 dramatic
drop in SCCBC Open Wheel race participation. Among those who did not
show up this year was Liberal Alan Baker. Well, to be fair, he did show
up late in the season for a race or two, and promptly had his car
wrecked. Justice for not supporting SCCBC with his participation.

Alan actually owns a small condo, and is somewhat insulated from the
housing cost crisis gripping Canada at this time. He will not supply a
reason for his lack of 2024 racing or the general SCCBC decline. So I will.

Why the drop in racing? Well, the crisis is a lot bigger than SCCBC
racing participation, a lot bigger.

The Liberal/NDP government in Ottawa is in crisis. There is open talk of
forcing an early election. Why?

Investment funds are fleeing Canada for the U.S. while Canada to U.S.
migration has increased. Housing prices and rents have soared as Canada
opened up immigration, immigrants poured in, and housing construction
has not kept pace. Interesting, U.S. immigrants were not among those
coming to Canada in greater numbers. Wonder why.

In a growing global economy the Canadian federal deficit has soared to
record levels. Their finance minister just resigned. Liberal party
members are openly calling on Truedau to not run in the next election.
With the Liberals not holding a majority, the balance of power in
Parliament is with the minority NDP which has voted with the Liberals in
a somewhat uneasy coalition.

Here is a video with a speech by opposition leader Pierre Poilivre. Read
the comments too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEfOdi0pYm0

On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...

Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.

In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025. Its a
bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but airfares were
favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that we'd not been
paying attention to had built up a healthy balance, so with just ~20% of
its balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total for two).

-hh

On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>
> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>
> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.  Its a
> bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but airfares were
> favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that we'd not been
> paying attention to had built up a healthy balance, so with just ~20% of
> its balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total for two).
So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in suspense?

:-)

On 12/18/2024 12:17 PM, -hh wrote:
> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>
> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>
> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.  Its a
> bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but airfares were
> favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that we'd not been
> paying attention to had built up a healthy balance, so with just ~20% of
> its balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total for two).
>
>
> -hh
>
Ah yes, accumulating FF miles on company travel took us to Hawaii 9
times with almost no expense. Enjoy it while you can.

On 12/18/24 2:07 PM, Tom Elam wrote:
> On 12/18/2024 12:17 PM, -hh wrote:
>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>
>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>
>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.  Its a
>> bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but airfares were
>> favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that we'd not been
>> paying attention to had built up a healthy balance, so with just ~20%
>> of its balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total for two).
>>
>>
>> -hh
>>
> Ah yes, accumulating FF miles on company travel took us to Hawaii 9
> times with almost no expense. Enjoy it while you can.

Sorry, I failed to make it clear that this particular FFM account was
100% from personally paid for travel only.

-hh

On 12/18/24 1:11 PM, Alan wrote:
> On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>
>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>
>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.  Its a
>> bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but airfares were
>> favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that we'd not been
>> paying attention to had built up a healthy balance, so with just ~20%
>> of its balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total for two).
>
> So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in suspense?
>
> :-)

Oh, I'll choose "suspense", so as to not ... brag ;-)

-hh

On 12/18/2024 5:00 PM, -hh wrote:
> On 12/18/24 2:07 PM, Tom Elam wrote:
>> On 12/18/2024 12:17 PM, -hh wrote:
>>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>>
>>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>>
>>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.  Its a
>>> bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but airfares were
>>> favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that we'd not been
>>> paying attention to had built up a healthy balance, so with just ~20%
>>> of its balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total for two).
>>>
>>>
>>> -hh
>>>
>> Ah yes, accumulating FF miles on company travel took us to Hawaii 9
>> times with almost no expense. Enjoy it while you can.
>
> Sorry, I failed to make it clear that this particular FFM account was
> 100% from personally paid for travel only.
>
>
> -hh

Wow, impressive brag!

On 12/18/2024 1:11 PM, Alan wrote:
> On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>
>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>
>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.  Its a
>> bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but airfares were
>> favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that we'd not been
>> paying attention to had built up a healthy balance, so with just ~20%
>> of its balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total for two).
> So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in suspense?
>
> :-)

Alan once again deflects attention away from the issue.

On 2024-12-19 07:33, Tom Elam wrote:
> On 12/18/2024 1:11 PM, Alan wrote:
>> On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
>>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>>
>>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>>
>>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.  Its a
>>> bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but airfares were
>>> favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that we'd not been
>>> paying attention to had built up a healthy balance, so with just ~20%
>>> of its balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total for two).
>> So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in suspense?
>>
>> :-)
>
> Alan once again deflects attention away from the issue.

Alan chose to ignore your bullshit.

On 12/19/24 12:30 PM, Alan wrote:
> On 2024-12-19 07:33, Tom Elam wrote:
>> On 12/18/2024 1:11 PM, Alan wrote:
>>> On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
>>>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>>>
>>>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>>>
>>>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.  Its
>>>> a bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but airfares were
>>>> favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that we'd not been
>>>> paying attention to had built up a healthy balance, so with just
>>>> ~20% of its balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total for
>>>> two).
>>> So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in suspense?
>>>
>>> :-)
>>
>> Alan once again deflects attention away from the issue.
>
> Alan chose to ignore your bullshit.

Well, it did make me briefly wonder just how many tickets to Hawaii I
could buy from my main FFM account, if I were so inclined...

....although since his claim was retrospective, retconning here needs to
include FFMs already spent on destinations far further afield, such as
120K dropped for a BusinessFirst upgrade on EWR-HKG: that amount was
probably worth 3 FFM coach tickets to HNL just on its own.

-hh

On 12/19/24 1:57 PM, -hh wrote:
> On 12/19/24 12:30 PM, Alan wrote:
>> On 2024-12-19 07:33, Tom Elam wrote:
>>> On 12/18/2024 1:11 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>> On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
>>>>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>>>>
>>>>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>>>>
>>>>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.  Its
>>>>> a bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but airfares
>>>>> were favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that we'd not
>>>>> been paying attention to had built up a healthy balance, so with
>>>>> just ~20% of its balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total
>>>>> for two).
>>>> So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in suspense?
>>>>
>>>> :-)
>>>
>>> Alan once again deflects attention away from the issue.
>>
>> Alan chose to ignore your bullshit.
>
> Well, it did make me briefly wonder just how many tickets to Hawaii I
> could buy from my main FFM account, if I were so inclined...
>
> ...although since his claim was retrospective, retconning here needs to
> include FFMs already spent on destinations far further afield, such as
> 120K dropped for a BusinessFirst upgrade on EWR-HKG:  that amount was
> probably worth 3 FFM coach tickets to HNL just on its own.

Well, while waiting for my Windows VM to update to version 24H2, I found
this:

<https://awardwallet.com/blog/new-unpublished-united-partner-award-chart/>

Seems that routes to Hawaii used to be as cheap as just 10K/pp, so 9
coach RT's for two could have cost as little as just 360K FFM's.

Overall, the devaluation of FFMs since that era illustrates that all
other factors being equal, it makes more sense to use them up fairly
proactively instead of hoarding them.

-hh

On 12/20/2024 4:26 PM, -hh wrote:
> On 12/19/24 1:57 PM, -hh wrote:
>> On 12/19/24 12:30 PM, Alan wrote:
>>> On 2024-12-19 07:33, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>> On 12/18/2024 1:11 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>> On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
>>>>>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.
>>>>>> Its a bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but
>>>>>> airfares were favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that
>>>>>> we'd not been paying attention to had built up a healthy balance,
>>>>>> so with just ~20% of its balance, got two RT tickets for just
>>>>>> $50.66 (total for two).
>>>>> So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in suspense?
>>>>>
>>>>> :-)
>>>>
>>>> Alan once again deflects attention away from the issue.
>>>
>>> Alan chose to ignore your bullshit.
>>
>> Well, it did make me briefly wonder just how many tickets to Hawaii I
>> could buy from my main FFM account, if I were so inclined...
>>
>> ...although since his claim was retrospective, retconning here needs
>> to include FFMs already spent on destinations far further afield, such
>> as 120K dropped for a BusinessFirst upgrade on EWR-HKG:  that amount
>> was probably worth 3 FFM coach tickets to HNL just on its own.
>
> Well, while waiting for my Windows VM to update to version 24H2, I found
> this:
>
> <https://awardwallet.com/blog/new-unpublished-united-partner-award-chart/>
>
> Seems that routes to Hawaii used to be as cheap as just 10K/pp, so 9
> coach RT's for two could have cost as little as just 360K FFM's.
>
> Overall, the devaluation of FFMs since that era illustrates that all
> other factors being equal, it makes more sense to use them up fairly
> proactively instead of hoarding them.
>
>
> -hh

I think I paid 15-20k pp. Not to mention about 10 trips to Europe on
points too, more than 1 first class. Plus quite a few family ski trips.
This is why I take cash rebates instead of points.

On 12/19/2024 12:30 PM, Alan wrote:
> On 2024-12-19 07:33, Tom Elam wrote:
>> On 12/18/2024 1:11 PM, Alan wrote:
>>> On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
>>>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>>>
>>>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>>>
>>>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.  Its
>>>> a bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but airfares were
>>>> favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account that we'd not been
>>>> paying attention to had built up a healthy balance, so with just
>>>> ~20% of its balance, got two RT tickets for just $50.66 (total for
>>>> two).
>>> So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in suspense?
>>>
>>> :-)
>>
>> Alan once again deflects attention away from the issue.
>
> Alan chose to ignore your bullshit.

Bullshit or real?

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/what-options-does-pm-trudeau-face-canadas-leadership-crisis-2024-12-17/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2024/12/17/chrystia-freeland-canada-trudeau-trump-tariffs/77049818007/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-19/drive-to-force-trudeau-out-gains-momentum-liberal-lawmaker-says

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/18/justin-trudeau-revolt-canada-00184391

On 12/20/24 7:05 PM, Tom Elam wrote:
> On 12/20/2024 4:26 PM, -hh wrote:
>> On 12/19/24 1:57 PM, -hh wrote:
>>> On 12/19/24 12:30 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>> On 2024-12-19 07:33, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>> On 12/18/2024 1:11 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>>> On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
>>>>>>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.
>>>>>>> Its a bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but
>>>>>>> airfares were favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account
>>>>>>> that we'd not been paying attention to had built up a healthy
>>>>>>> balance, so with just ~20% of its balance, got two RT tickets for
>>>>>>> just $50.66 (total for two).
>>>>>> So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in suspense?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> :-)
>>>>>
>>>>> Alan once again deflects attention away from the issue.
>>>>
>>>> Alan chose to ignore your bullshit.
>>>
>>> Well, it did make me briefly wonder just how many tickets to Hawaii I
>>> could buy from my main FFM account, if I were so inclined...
>>>
>>> ...although since his claim was retrospective, retconning here needs
>>> to include FFMs already spent on destinations far further afield,
>>> such as 120K dropped for a BusinessFirst upgrade on EWR-HKG:  that
>>> amount was probably worth 3 FFM coach tickets to HNL just on its own.
>>
>> Well, while waiting for my Windows VM to update to version 24H2, I
>> found this:
>>
>> <https://awardwallet.com/blog/new-unpublished-united-partner-award-
>> chart/>
>>
>> Seems that routes to Hawaii used to be as cheap as just 10K/pp, so 9
>> coach RT's for two could have cost as little as just 360K FFM's.
>>
>> Overall, the devaluation of FFMs since that era illustrates that all
>> other factors being equal, it makes more sense to use them up fairly
>> proactively instead of hoarding them.
>>
>>
>> -hh
>
> I think I paid 15-20k pp.

I figured 20K/pp for round trip, so 15K would've needed even less.

> Not to mention about 10 trips to Europe on points too, more
> than 1 first class. Plus quite a few family ski trips.

Probably ~50K for business to EU. Domestic used to be very cheap, like
5K cheap, but no longer: I ran into a quite unreasonably high fare on a
domestic itinerary last year, such that I chose to use FFMs instead of
paying north of $1K cash and it was 69,600: an illustration of limited
competition in some markets as well as the systematic FFM devaluation.

> This is why I take cash rebates instead of points.

Cashback is certainly more fungible and it doesn't depreciate as fast,
but once again, the benefit is from using accumulated balances. I'm
modestly humored that I'd rediscovered up this forgotten FFM account; it
will probably net somewhere around five free(ish) flights on its own.

-hh

On 12/20/2024 9:58 PM, -hh wrote:
> On 12/20/24 7:05 PM, Tom Elam wrote:
>> On 12/20/2024 4:26 PM, -hh wrote:
>>> On 12/19/24 1:57 PM, -hh wrote:
>>>> On 12/19/24 12:30 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>> On 2024-12-19 07:33, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>> On 12/18/2024 1:11 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>>>> On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>>>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.
>>>>>>>> Its a bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but
>>>>>>>> airfares were favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account
>>>>>>>> that we'd not been paying attention to had built up a healthy
>>>>>>>> balance, so with just ~20% of its balance, got two RT tickets
>>>>>>>> for just $50.66 (total for two).
>>>>>>> So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in suspense?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> :-)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Alan once again deflects attention away from the issue.
>>>>>
>>>>> Alan chose to ignore your bullshit.
>>>>
>>>> Well, it did make me briefly wonder just how many tickets to Hawaii
>>>> I could buy from my main FFM account, if I were so inclined...
>>>>
>>>> ...although since his claim was retrospective, retconning here needs
>>>> to include FFMs already spent on destinations far further afield,
>>>> such as 120K dropped for a BusinessFirst upgrade on EWR-HKG:  that
>>>> amount was probably worth 3 FFM coach tickets to HNL just on its own.
>>>
>>> Well, while waiting for my Windows VM to update to version 24H2, I
>>> found this:
>>>
>>> <https://awardwallet.com/blog/new-unpublished-united-partner-award-
>>> chart/>
>>>
>>> Seems that routes to Hawaii used to be as cheap as just 10K/pp, so 9
>>> coach RT's for two could have cost as little as just 360K FFM's.
>>>
>>> Overall, the devaluation of FFMs since that era illustrates that all
>>> other factors being equal, it makes more sense to use them up fairly
>>> proactively instead of hoarding them.
>>>
>>>
>>> -hh
>>
>> I think I paid 15-20k pp.
>
> I figured 20K/pp for round trip, so 15K would've needed even less.
>
>
>> Not to mention about 10 trips to Europe on points too, more than 1
>> first class. Plus quite a few family ski trips.
>
> Probably ~50K for business to EU.  Domestic used to be very cheap, like
> 5K cheap, but no longer: I ran into a quite unreasonably high fare on a
> domestic itinerary last year, such that I chose to use FFMs instead of
> paying north of $1K cash and it was 69,600: an illustration of limited
> competition in some markets as well as the systematic FFM devaluation.
>
>> This is why I take cash rebates instead of points.
>
> Cashback is certainly more fungible and it doesn't depreciate as fast,
> but once again, the benefit is from using accumulated balances.  I'm
> modestly humored that I'd rediscovered up this forgotten FFM account; it
> will probably net somewhere around five free(ish) flights on its own.
>
>
> -hh

I'm not a fan of leaving money in an account that does not earn
anything. There is the phenomenon called price inflation. That is a tax
of sorts on cash balances. So, my rebates go reduce current card
balances a bit, freeing up cash flow elsewhere. At 0.65% of total income
not a major factor, but in retirement every little bit helps. The only
cash balances we own other than currency in our pockets earns something.
The main savings account is 4.5% APR.

On 12/23/24 9:20 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
> On 12/20/2024 9:58 PM, -hh wrote:
>> On 12/20/24 7:05 PM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>> On 12/20/2024 4:26 PM, -hh wrote:
>>>> On 12/19/24 1:57 PM, -hh wrote:
>>>>> On 12/19/24 12:30 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>>> On 2024-12-19 07:33, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>>> On 12/18/2024 1:11 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 2024-12-18 09:17, -hh wrote:
>>>>>>>>> On 12/18/24 10:29 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> In case you missed it there was an earlier post ...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Yes, we all saw that troll attempt too.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> In the meantime, I've started to book our first trip for 2025.
>>>>>>>>> Its a bit earlier than what we normally do to do this, but
>>>>>>>>> airfares were favorable. Plus I discovered that a FFM account
>>>>>>>>> that we'd not been paying attention to had built up a healthy
>>>>>>>>> balance, so with just ~20% of its balance, got two RT tickets
>>>>>>>>> for just $50.66 (total for two).
>>>>>>>> So where are you going? Or would you rather keep us in suspense?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> :-)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Alan once again deflects attention away from the issue.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Alan chose to ignore your bullshit.
>>>>>
>>>>> Well, it did make me briefly wonder just how many tickets to Hawaii
>>>>> I could buy from my main FFM account, if I were so inclined...
>>>>>
>>>>> ...although since his claim was retrospective, retconning here
>>>>> needs to include FFMs already spent on destinations far further
>>>>> afield, such as 120K dropped for a BusinessFirst upgrade on EWR-
>>>>> HKG:  that amount was probably worth 3 FFM coach tickets to HNL
>>>>> just on its own.
>>>>
>>>> Well, while waiting for my Windows VM to update to version 24H2, I
>>>> found this:
>>>>
>>>> <https://awardwallet.com/blog/new-unpublished-united-partner-award-
>>>> chart/>
>>>>
>>>> Seems that routes to Hawaii used to be as cheap as just 10K/pp, so 9
>>>> coach RT's for two could have cost as little as just 360K FFM's.
>>>>
>>>> Overall, the devaluation of FFMs since that era illustrates that all
>>>> other factors being equal, it makes more sense to use them up fairly
>>>> proactively instead of hoarding them.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -hh
>>>
>>> I think I paid 15-20k pp.
>>
>> I figured 20K/pp for round trip, so 15K would've needed even less.
>>
>>
>>> Not to mention about 10 trips to Europe on points too, more than 1
>>> first class. Plus quite a few family ski trips.
>>
>> Probably ~50K for business to EU.  Domestic used to be very cheap,
>> like 5K cheap, but no longer: I ran into a quite unreasonably high
>> fare on a domestic itinerary last year, such that I chose to use FFMs
>> instead of paying north of $1K cash and it was 69,600: an illustration
>> of limited competition in some markets as well as the systematic FFM
>> devaluation.
>>
>>> This is why I take cash rebates instead of points.
>>
>> Cashback is certainly more fungible and it doesn't depreciate as fast,
>> but once again, the benefit is from using accumulated balances.  I'm
>> modestly humored that I'd rediscovered up this forgotten FFM account;
>> it will probably net somewhere around five free(ish) flights on its own.
>
> I'm not a fan of leaving money in an account that does not earn
> anything. There is the phenomenon called price inflation. That is a tax
> of sorts on cash balances.

There's invariably a price to be paid to maintain some ready liquidity
for an emergency fund, or even just for fiscal management convenience.

> So, my rebates go reduce current card balances a bit, freeing up cash
> flow elsewhere. At 0.65% of total income not a major factor, but in
> retirement every little bit helps.

I've never even thought about bothering to track cashback balances as a
percentage of total Net Worth. And since 0.65% of a ~$2M Net Worth is
$13K - - a pretty high balance for retained cashbacks - - this suggests
some other interpretation of what you're saying.

> The only cash balances we own other than currency in our pockets
> earns something. The main savings account is 4.5% APR.

Sure, but HYSA rates have been declining over the past few months in
particular; one that we have which was close to 5.5% earlier this year
is already down to 4.4% and I expect it to drop further. If one really
wants inflation protection without Market risks, you're looking more at
TIPS and/or I-Bonds, both of which have their own pros/cons.

-hh