Credit Cards

A credit card statement shows a balance, a due date and a rate, and says very little about how they work. The four steps take the mechanics in order: what gets reported when you pay in full, what counts as a cash advance, why a category may not match the store, and when a card’s fee pays for itself. Just the math works through single decisions, from balance transfers to which currency to pay in abroad.

1. Credit Cards

   Paying in full does not protect your utilization

   Paying in full and your utilization.

   Video · 8:06

2. Credit Cards

   What counts as a cash advance is not only cash.

   Cash advances, and what they cost.

   Video · 10:54

3. Credit Cards

   A card that pays four percent on groceries can pay one percent at the checkout.

   Why the category never matched.

   Video · 8:18

4. Credit Cards

   The Amex Cobalt is a specialist card, sold as a general recommendation.

   The Amex Cobalt’s break-even.

   Video · 10:14

Just the math

• Credit Cards

  A balance transfer is decided by what you can pay each month.

  Is a balance transfer worth it?

  Video · 12:56

• Credit Cards

  An annual fee buys the difference over a no-fee card, not the whole reward.

  Is an annual fee worth it?

  Video · 5:04

• Credit Cards

  When a machine abroad offers Canadian dollars, choose the local currency.

  Canadian dollars or local currency?

  Video · 7:10

• Credit Cards

  Points per dollar only compare once you turn them into a percentage.

  What one point is worth.

  Video · 10:33

• Credit Cards

  What balance protection pays is set by the certificate behind your card.

  What the certificate decides.

  Video · 7:03

• Credit Cards

  Three ways of counting give three different answers.

  Who carries a balance?

  Video · 8:31

• Credit Cards

  A 5% grocery card pays 5% only on the spending below its limit.

  What does 5% back pay?

  Video · 7:42