xpguy said:or maybe what have you done with your $100k 0% BT other than conservatively put it in a savings account (boring)?
maybe you decided to go to Vegas or put it in some stocks.
I think it would be interesting to hear some riskier stories

Here's what I wonder about that risk...and let me know if I'm way off base.

1. It's almost a given that the stock market as a whole, will rise in the long run.

2. Like most Fatwalleteers, have a small immediate-term emergency fund in a money market account (liquidity tomorrow) and a larger short-term emergency fund in a STIG bond fund (liquidity in less than a week), to cover me past the bumps along the road to long-term success in mutual funds

3. Assuming a 10% monthly savings rate, that savings could be reallocated to pay minimum payments during the down market (again, replaced further down the road to long-term success)

That said, assuming the BT money does not dwarf your net worth* (eg a larger-than-expected tumble in the stock market could lead you to bankruptcy), why do you treat the big influx of cash different from any other windfall?

Is it purely the psychological aspect of it? That is, your primary fear is that you don't want to be saying to yourself a year from now, "I took out $xx for a 1-year term and lost $xx in that one-year term"?

*Big assumption, I know...

markkundinger said:a) BT money is in my case (and probably many others) higher than annual income.Yes, but your income (and net worth) don't have to be higher than the complete value of the BT, just higher than the difference between a down year in the market and a flat year.

b) If you were confident enough in your investing capabilities to do leveraged investing, you'd probably already have margin loans from a broker.Yes, but at what rate could a broker offer this?

BTW, I'm just referring to index funds...adding to other accounts you plan to hold for the long-term.

c) If your return on the 0% money has a large risk component, you're not really looking at proper "arbitrage" anymore, you're just taking on risk.True, you'd no longer be an "arbitrageur."

But CDs, money market accounts, and other fixed income securities aren't theoretically risk-free either. But the expected return outweighs the risk enough that it's worth it...I don't see why the same couldn't be said--in at least a small proportion--for stock index funds.

cameron2003 said:Are there laws about using credit in infinite loops ways?
Infinite loops... my head hurts just thinking about it. Ex-programmer.

huntermage said:I don't quite understand how I can borrow money from my CC, because my CC said :"The 0% APR does not apply to cash advances".
Thanks a lot.

This really has nothing to do with the maximum annual income ever earned from CC BT interest. Please read a BT investment thread.

Here is a start.