My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Vanguard T-Bill/Ultra-Short Treasury ETF, iShares Money Market ETFs Now Live

Posted on February 19, 2025 // Leave a Comment

Vanguard’s new index ETFs that hold short-term US Treasury Bonds are now live (press release).

  • Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (VBIL). Tracks the Bloomberg US Treasury Bills 0-3 Months Index, which holds T-Bills with maturities of 3 months or less. Expense ratio of 0.07%.
  • Vanguard Ultra-Short Treasury ETF (VGUS). Tracks the Bloomberg Short Treasury Index, which includes U.S. Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds with less than 12 months until maturity. Expense ratio of 0.07%.

Both are the lowest-cost ETF in their respective categories. As a result, I expect they will grow to be popular as now you can access low-cost cash from Vanguard without opening a brokerage account at Vanguard.

For now though, they’ve only been around for several days, so the volume is still relatively low and the bid/ask spreads are relatively high. For now, I am keeping my current favorite cash ETF holding: iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) with an expense ratio of 0.09%, close enough for now.

This ETF.com article points out that this is a growing sector for ETFs, with iShares also launching two of the earliest money market ETFs this month:

  • iShares Prime Money Market ETF (PMMF). Actively managed money market ETF. Expense ratio of 0.20%.
  • iShares Government Money Market ETF (GMMF). Actively managed money market ETF. Expense ratio of 0.20%.

These ETFs do not hold only US Treasuries, but instead hold a basket of cash-equivalents that satisfy the strict SEC money market rules under Rule 2a-7 that help to ensure both safety of principal and liquidity in times of market stress. However, this covers a variety of “safe” stuff besides Treasuries so the interest paid out may not be exempt of state and local income taxes. The “Government” money market is more likely to have a higher percentage that qualifies, but when I looked at their holdings there are a lot of various swaps and/or derivatives that probably don’t count as US government obligation interest.

Anyway, interesting that you can buy money market funds as ETFs now. If they are successful, I don’t see why Vanguard wouldn’t enter this sector as well. I’m confident they could beat those expense ratios.

Last updated: February 19, 2025

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: 75,000 Miles + $250 Travel Credit (Limited-Time Offer)

Posted on February 18, 2025 // 11 Comments

card_name

New limited-offer with first year bonus value of $1,000. The card_name is a premium travel rewards card with a flat 2 Miles per dollar on all purchases. 75,000 miles can be redeemed as a $750 credit towards any travel purchase made with the card (any airline website, any hotel website, AirBNB stays, Uber rides, no blackout dates). Right now, there is also a limited-offer with an additional $250 travel credit valid for hotels and flights booked through the Capital One Travel portal. Here are the highlights:

  • 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening, plus receive a one-time $250 Capital One Travel credit to use in your first cardholder year – that’s equal to $1,000 in travel.
  • 2X Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day.
  • 5X Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you’ll get Capital One’s best prices on thousands of trip options. They offer a Price Match Guarantee.
  • Up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®.
  • Enjoy two complimentary visits per year to Capital One Lounges or to 100+ Plaza Premium Lounges through the Partner Lounge Network. This perk is valid through December 31, 2024.
  • Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase-or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
  • Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
  • Miles won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how many you can earn.
  • $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • $95 annual fee.

Note the following about existing or previous cardholders:

Existing or previous cardmembers are not eligible for this product if they have received a new cardmember bonus for this product in the past 48 months.

(Capital One’s “ultra-premium” card is the Venture X card, which has more perks including Priority Pass airport lounge access and a $300 annual travel credit through Capital One Travel, but also a higher $395 annual fee. This Venture card is more directly competitive with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, while the Venture X competes more directly with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.)

Redemption details. Capital One “miles” can be redeemed directly for a cash statement credit on a 1 mile = $0.01 basis when offsetting any travel purchase made on the card within the past 90 days. In other words, 50,000 miles = $500 toward travel. That means you can fly on any airline or stay at any hotel, pay with this card, and then “erase” that purchase using your miles balance later. This even includes AirBnB vacation rentals, car rentals, and Uber rides.

This means that earning 2 miles on on every $1 in purchases essentially makes this a 2% back card when applied towards travel. You also have the option of booking travel through their travel portal, similar to Chase Ultimate Rewards, but you are not required to do so. You have the flexibility of booking through them or making the purchase directly through the airline, hotel, car rental counter, etc. This makes it easy to combine and spend all your Capital One miles.

Miles transfer options. Capital One now allows you to transfer your “miles” into select airline miles programs as well. Here are the airline transfer partners:

  • Aeromexico
  • Air France/KLM
  • Air Canada Aeroplan
  • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
  • Avianca Lifemiles
  • British Airways Avios
  • Emirates Skywards
  • Etihad
  • EVA
  • Finnair
  • Qantas
  • Singapore Airlines Krisflyer
  • TAP Air Portugal
  • Turkish Airlines
  • Virgin Red

Hotel partners

  • Accor Live Limitless
  • Choice Hotels

If you know how to leverage one of these international airline miles programs (my favorites are Aeroplan and Avios since you can combine family points), this can be a very valuable option. Otherwise, it’s nice to know you can always get a certain level of value by redeeming against any travel purchase.

Bottom line. The card_name earns 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, which you can either redeem against any travel purchase or transfer to one of their airline/hotel partners.

Due to the $900+ potential first-year value, I will be adding this card to my list of Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers.

Last updated: February 18, 2025

TurboTax Promo: Switch to TurboTax, File on App by 2/28, Get Deluxe/Premium For $0 Federal, $0 State

Posted on February 17, 2025 // 1 Comment

Here is a new TurboTax App promo link that offers free tax filing ($0 Federal, $0 State) for ALL tax situations (not just 1040EZ form users). This includes their TurboTax Standard, Deluxe, and Premium products. Here are the specific set of … [Read the rest]

Last updated: February 17, 2025

Pepper Gift Card App: $20 Bonus w/ $200 Purchase (New Users), Amazon 10X, Sam’s Club 10X

Posted on February 17, 2025 // 38 Comments

Update 2/17: New extended sales from now until 11:59p ET on February 20th. Be sure you see the 10X offer on your screen before tapping "Buy gift card". For example, if you buy a $50 Amazon gift card during an 10X offer you'll get a total of 8,000 … [Read the rest]

Last updated: February 17, 2025

Top 10 Best Small Business Credit Card Bonus Offers – February 2025

Posted on February 15, 2025 // 23 Comments

Updated February 2025. Do you have small business income or work as an independent contractor? Freelance, Uber/Lyft, DoorDash, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Airbnb? A small business credit card separates your personal and business expenses and can build up … [Read the rest]

Last updated: February 15, 2025

Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers – February 2025 (Updated)

Posted on February 13, 2025 // 45 Comments

Updated February 2025. That space in your wallet or purse is valuable, and you should be the one to get that value. By being smart and picky, you can find offers worth $500+ for a single card, all to encourage you to apply and try it out. This … [Read the rest]

Last updated: February 18, 2025

Helium Mobile Invite Codes for Free Cellular Plan (100 min, 300 txt, 3GB data)

Posted on February 12, 2025 // 1 Comment

Helium Mobile is offering a "free" cellular plan that includes 100 minutes talk, 300 texts, and 3 GB of data per month (no hotspot). You have to upload a government-issued ID (name, address, date of birth, ID number), but you don't need to provide … [Read the rest]

Last updated: February 12, 2025

Callan Periodic Table of Investment Returns 2024 Year-End Update

Posted on February 11, 2025 // Leave a Comment

Callan Associates updates a “periodic table” annually with the relative performance of 9 major asset classes over the last 20 years. Above is the most recent snapshot of 2005-2024, which you can find on their website Callan.com. The best performing … [Read the rest]

Last updated: February 11, 2025

Southwest Airlines Credit Cards: New Companion Pass Offer (Good Through February 2026)

Posted on February 11, 2025 // 26 Comments

New limited-time offer on select cards that includes a Companion Pass good through 2/28/26. Southwest Airlines Rapid points are very flexible, as they let you use points to book basically any available seat that could be bought with cash. A … [Read the rest]

Last updated: February 11, 2025

Best Interest Rates Survey: Savings Accounts, Treasuries, CDs, ETFs – February 2025

Posted on February 9, 2025 // 4 Comments

Here's my monthly survey of the best interest rates on cash as of February, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Banks love taking advantage of our idle cash, and you can often earning more money while keeping the same level of safety … [Read the rest]

Last updated: February 11, 2025

Morningstar Discussion about The State of Vanguard in 2025 (Highlights)

Posted on February 7, 2025 // 3 Comments

As a follow-up to my thoughts on Should I Stay with Vanguard? and their recent expense ratio drop announcement, I recently listened to this 30-minute Morningstar video with Daniel Sotiroff and Susan Dziubinski about the current state of Vanguard in … [Read the rest]

Last updated: February 7, 2025

Delta SkyMiles® American Express Cards – Welcome Offers up to 110,000 Miles (Limited-Time Offers)

Posted on February 6, 2025 // 10 Comments

New limited-time offers. Delta Airlines American Express cards offer various special perks like free checked bags, priority boarding, and the ability to earn Delta SkyMiles with card purchases. As you can only get the welcome offers once on each of … [Read the rest]

Last updated: February 12, 2025
Next Page »