
Hello, I am the The Polite Investor, a polite Englishman that has been
living in the US for 10 years.

Although I have always been interested
in personal finance and investing, once my employer enrolled me in
their retirement plan, I thought it was time to
get serious and figure out how the American financial system works to
make sound investment choices. 

I started this site to document my financial
journey and offer my opinions to help others. Perhaps you might learn something from
my experiences and together we can all try to lead better financial
lives.

I believe the key to building wealth is disiplined saving
and investing coupled with a somewhat minimalist lifestyle. You don't
need stuff and you should have a healthy skepticism towards activities
your peers engage in: mortgages, expensive cars, expensive vacations.
You'll find a little bit of my personal philosophy peppered throughout
the site.



I hope you feel welcome here. Take what you find useful and leave the
rest. Pass on what you’ve learned to your friends. May you find the
financial success you deserve.

Want to say hello?  [Email me](mailto:hello@politeinvestor.com).


Antony Holmes

Polite Investor, CEO, CTO, employee #1, whatever

Use a credit card responsibly and essentially you'll get paid to shop.



Some financial bloggers tell people to shun credit cards because you might incur debt. That's absolutely true. If you misuse a credit card it can
hurt you financially. At the same time I love credit cards and use them for every purchase I can. Everyone should use credit cards, providing they
can be responsible with them.

## Advantages

- Rewards. Cards with a reward system will pay to use the card. 2% cash back might not be a lot but it's still free money.
- Purchase protection. Most major credit cards have some form of purchase guarantee and will help you resolve issues with a purchase. A merchant
  might not take much of notice of an individual, but they sure will listen to a behemoth financial company.
- Smooth cash flow issues since you don't have to pay immediately. It's nice to pay off the balance at your convenience (as long as it's in the
  grace period).
- Stops fraud on your bank account. Fraudent charge on your card? Just call your card issuer and get a new card. It's a bit inconvenient, but nothing
  compared to debit card fraud where the money is taken immediately from your bank account and you might be without cash for an extended time until
  your bank resolves the problem.

## Disadvances

- Debt. Friction free purchasing without the need to pay immediately has been shown to cause people to spend more money. This can lead to serious debt
  problems.
- High interest rates if you don't pay off the balance. You should always pay your balance, so this shouldn't be an issue, if you're responsible.
- Rewards and cashback mean the price of goods is higher to compensate for the fees credit card issues charge merchants to pay for the rewards,
  so it's not really free money. That being said, since cards are ubiquitous, you can't really avoid this effect so at least the rewards make it
  all a bit less painful.

## What Credit Cards Should I Get?

It's a good idea to have a few credit cards just in case one of them becomes unusable and it can help improve your credit score a little by showing
you are responsible with multiple cards.

I recommend sticking with a simple, gimmick free cash back card such as the Fidelity Rewards Visa or the Citi Double Cash. Both give you unlimited
2% cash back on all purchases. No rotating spending categories, opaque point systems and spending cut offs to deal with. Simple really.

For more a few more credit card ideas, check out my [credit card](/reviews/credit-cards) reviews.


<div class="conclusions">

- Use a credit card for every purchase.
- Always pay off your balance.
- Earn free stuff.

</div>

_What's your favorite credit card?_

Tag

Credit Cards

Due credit