Overview of How to Earn Points on Your Savings and Investments
Chris Hutchins explores a growing set of fintech products that let you earn airline miles or transferable points on cash and investments you already hold, instead of only on credit card spending. He compares the real economics of each option—earn rate, opportunity cost, taxes, liquidity, and risk—and concludes that the best choice depends heavily on your tax bracket, how much you value points, and how much risk you’re willing to take.
Core Idea: Points Don’t Come From Nowhere
- Every rewards program has a cost somewhere:
- Some are funded by bank lending spreads.
- Some are funded by brokerage fees or investment income.
- Some are funded by venture capital or promotional loss leaders.
- The key question is not just “how many points do I get?” but:
- What cash return am I giving up?
- How are the points taxed?
- Is the account safe and liquid?
- Is the program sustainable?
The Main Options Discussed
1) Bask Bank / Mileage Savings Accounts
How it works
- FDIC-insured savings account.
- Earns American Airlines miles instead of cash interest.
- Current rate discussed: 1.75 AA miles per $1 per year, paid monthly.
- No fees or minimums.
Why it can be good
- The current welcome bonus is strong:
- 20,000 bonus miles for new customers
- Requires $50,000 deposit
- Must be opened by Nov. 30
- Funds must be held for 90 days within the first 120 days
Why it may not be worth it without the bonus
- Compared against a ~4% HYSA or T-bills, the “cost” of buying AA miles can be around 1.5–2.3 cents per mile, which the host thinks is usually too rich.
- American miles are often available for close to 1 cent during sales.
Important tax angle
- Bask reportedly issues a 1099 using a low valuation for the miles.
- That can make the after-tax value much better for people in higher tax brackets.
- The host thinks this can make Bask more attractive if:
- You’re in a high tax bracket
- You already value AA miles highly
- You’re mainly going after the bonus
Bottom line
- Worth considering for the welcome bonus.
- Less compelling as a long-term parking spot for cash unless the tax treatment and your mileage valuation make the math work.
2) United Debit / Savings-Linked Rewards
How it works
- A checking/debit-linked product that earns United miles on balances.
- Also has a separate card benefit: $10,000 spend unlocks cardmember pricing on United awards.
Earn rates
- Tiered and balance-based.
- Roughly:
- around 1x to 1.5x miles per $1 per year
- capped at the equivalent of about $50,000
Why it’s not very compelling
- The earning rate is weaker than Bask.
- It’s tiered and not especially generous.
- The host could not find clear tax valuation info for the miles, so there’s no obvious tax arbitrage angle.
- Conclusion: not interesting enough to justify leaving cash there, in his view.
Bonus
- A 10,000-mile bonus is available with qualifying card activity, but he treats that as separate from the savings feature.
3) Alaska’s Upcoming Savings Product
- Alaska announced a coming savings-linked rewards product.
- Details were not yet live at the time of recording.
- The only immediate reason to care:
- You can pre-register and get a 20% off Alaska flights code for a future travel window.
- The host considers it “free value,” but says the savings product itself is still too undefined to judge.
4) Bank of America / Merrill Rewards Boost
This is slightly different from the other products, but the host includes it because it can improve the value of earning points on spending and holdings.
What changed
- Bank of America points may soon be transferable to Alaska Airlines.
Why it matters
- If you keep enough assets with Bank of America/Merrill, you can boost credit card earning rates:
- $100k+ in assets: 50% boost
- $1M+ in assets: 75% boost
- That can turn a Premium Rewards Elite card into:
- 2x on everything
- 3x on travel and dining
- Once transferable to Alaska, this becomes significantly more interesting.
Caveat
- This is more about keeping assets with BofA to improve card earnings than earning on savings directly.
Brokerage Accounts That Earn Points
5) Silo
What it is
- A brokerage account layered on top of Interactive Brokers.
- You can hold normal brokerage assets: cash, ETFs, stocks, Treasuries, etc.
- The key appeal: you earn points on assets you already own without changing your investment strategy.
How the current program works
- You pay a membership fee.
- Earn points based on balance and tier.
- Early members who join by Oct. 31 can lock in the current program.
Current value
- The host estimates roughly 0.31% to 0.4% effective annual boost at 1 cent per point.
- If you value points higher or use the travel portal, the value can be better.
Why it stands out
- You’re not giving up yield on a bank account.
- You’re not forced to shift your portfolio.
- It feels like “free points” on top of normal investing.
New program starting Nov. 1
- New customers will get a less generous but more sustainable structure:
- lower point earnings on stocks/ETFs
- higher earnings on cash
- Existing users can usually move to the new program, but not back.
Taxes
- Silo says points won’t be reported until redemption, and only above a high redemption threshold.
- That means the tax treatment may be more favorable than it first appears, but it’s not the same tax advantage as Bask.
Bonuses
- Early signup bonus available through end of October.
- The host also mentions a larger bonus for Long Angle members.
Bottom line
- The host is most bullish on Silo among the brokerage-style products because:
- it uses a real, established brokerage
- the points are earned on investments you already hold
- you don’t need to give up opportunity cost to get them
Higher-Risk, Higher-Upside Option
6) Symphony
What it is
- A newer app that routes deposits into a mix of strategies and rewards you with 5% cash or 5x points.
- You can choose a split between cash and points.
How the money is invested The founders describe four main buckets:
- Treasuries
- CLOs
- Private credit
- A small crypto-lending slice
Why they say it can work
- They claim the underlying investments earn more than 5%, leaving room for:
- the customer yield
- reserve funds
- operational margin
Why it’s riskier
- Not FDIC-insured.
- Uses blockchain/crypto rails.
- Contains private credit and other less transparent investment pieces.
- Liquidity is promised, but not guaranteed like a normal bank.
Risk controls they described
- SIPC coverage via brokerage partners
- Insurance for crypto-related exposures
- A reserve fund
- Withdrawal processes they say are usually fast, with a worst-case target of about five business days
Transfer partners and future value
- Transfer partners are coming, but not yet live.
- The host expects the first batch around October/November.
- This could make the points much more valuable if transfer partners are strong.
Welcome offer
- A major first-year bonus is available if you:
- open by the end of October
- fund within the deadline window
- The bonus can be large enough to materially increase first-year return, especially if you keep funds in for a full year.
Host’s view
- He’s interested but cautious.
- He thinks the underlying investments are not crazy, but the structure is still newer and more opaque than a plain bank or brokerage account.
- He would not use it for an emergency fund.
- He sees it as a potentially attractive higher-yield/high-points product if you’re comfortable with the risk and especially if you can capture the signup bonus.
Chris Hutchins’ Overall Take
Best by category
- Best low-risk option: Bask, especially with the bonus
- Best “points on assets you already own” option: Silo
- Most speculative / highest upside: Symphony
- Least compelling right now: United debit-linked earning
How he evaluates them
He repeatedly compares each option against:
- high-yield savings rates
- Treasury bill yields
- tax treatment
- the market value of the points themselves
General conclusion
- If you have a high tax rate and value airline miles highly, some of these can outperform cash returns.
- If not, many of the products are not worth sacrificing yield or taking extra risk.
- The welcome offers are often the real draw, especially for Bask, Silo, and Symphony.
Key Cautions
- None of this is personal financial advice.
- Point valuations are subjective.
- Bonus offers and rates can change quickly.
- Tax treatment matters a lot and may require a CPA’s help.
- New fintech products can be attractive, but they also introduce operational and liquidity risk.
Practical Takeaways
- Check the bonus deadlines if you’re interested:
- Bask: bonus by Nov. 30
- Silo: current program/bonus by Oct. 31
- Symphony: bonus/opening window by end of October
- Compare point value against:
- your cash yield alternatives
- your tax bracket
- how often you actually redeem airline/hotel points
- Don’t overcomplicate it:
- If you wouldn’t otherwise park money there, don’t force it just for points.
- If you already have the cash/investments and like the airline points, these can be a meaningful side benefit.