Financial Planning Tip August 2026

August 2026

Credit cards offer generous rewards these days due to the competition among card issuers. It’s worthwhile seeking out a card that provides you with rewards that you can use, whether it’s travel points or just a simple cash back card. (It’s common to see cards that pay 2% cash back, with no gimmicks. Why wouldn’t you cut credit card spending by 2%?)

Cards that offer travel points usually have more generous rewards, but with a huge caveat: those rewards are issued in travel points, which are routinely devalued. Around this time of year, in fact, many rewards programs announce “program updates,” meaning that economy-class flight’s price tag has jumped from 20,000 points to 30,000 points, and that hotel room has gone from 10,000 points to 18,000.

Many people save their points in hopes of using them to pay for an otherwise unaffordable vacation. But if you consider points to be a form of currency, it’s a currency that is routinely decimated by hyperinflation, keeping the unaffordable vacation always out of reach.

Instead, spend your points quickly, and convert that unstable currency into lasting memories!