u/Marine_Layered

I am new to Bilt as of yesterday, and I have some questions. If there is a Bilt FAQ somewhere that somebody can direct me to instead of answering my questions, that would work for me too!

First of all - how does Bilt make their money? This all seems like smoke and mirrors and a bunch of flim-flam ... but then again, I am old and maybe not fully understanding this new-fangled fintech platform. I see that there's a 3% transaction fee, which seems like it can be avoided by paying via ACH through the other portal. But part of me thinks - they need *something* from me. What is it that they want from me? Is it just the transaction fee, or are they mining my spending data? Or something else?

I am an Alaska Airlines Summit card holder and that is the card I have hooked up to Bilt. I am using this card to pay rent through ACH to my landlord's portal. Is this the smartest way to do that?

I also have a mortgage through Rocket Mortgage that is currently not set up through Bilt. I could move this to Bilt if there was an advantage to doing so. If I am reading correctly, I would need to sign up for the Bilt 2.0 card to do this - is that right?

Any other pro-tips? I am here to LEARN!! (and to earn mileage but mostly to learn) Thank you.

We've had a couple of people around here talk about their inherited wealth and keeping the principal in tact, but using the gains to improve their lives. For example, one recent poster was using $1800/month of the gains from his inherited wealth to improve his ability to rent a nicer apartment, etc.

Establishing a safe withdrawal rate for generational wealth spending is different than drawing down retirement funds which are just supposed to last through retirement and be done (or thereabouts), so the 4% SWR does not apply here.

So let's say you have $1m in inheritance, and you would like that inheritance to last in perpetuity (yes I realize that perpetuity is a long time and there are many factors - but this is a thought exercise so please play along :)). There should be something held back for inflation - where does that number come from? And then maybe something else is held back to grow the nut, but then the rest could be used to improve the lives of the family members, or gifted to nonprofits, or whatever. So what does the formula look like?

All 5th graders in our school district choose an instrument to play in band or orchestra. My first kid chose a violin, but the 2nd kid has chosen a Trumpet. He really likes it, and has chosen band as an elective in middle school. Our high school also has a fantastic music program and I am hoping he sticks it out all the way through! So anyway, I have Trumpet Mom questions I am hoping you all would be willing to help me with.

We currently rent his trumpet from a local music shop. It is a Yamaha. We can use what we have paid in rental fees as partial payment for an instrument at the music store. I am a proponent of playing quality instruments, so if this trumpet is not a good one (and I'm not sure how to know that, either :)), I'd like to trade the rental in for a good quality instrument. However, neither one of us knows what to look for or to avoid. Advice here would be appreciated. I come from the world of strings and know there is a huge difference between one violin and another. Is that the case with trumpets as well?

I also would like advice on cases. He is going to middle school next year and will be hauling his trumpet back and forth on the bus. His current case is very heavy and very big, with only a hand handle. I am hoping someone will have suggestions on a bus-friendly trumpet case?

I am excited to be a band mom. Thank you all for your help!

EDIT: Wow thank you all so much for your help. This has been fantastic! 😃