Marcus Sterling

Marcus Sterling

Senior Financial Strategist

Marcus Sterling is a Senior Financial Strategist with over 15 years of experience advising high-net-worth individuals on premium banking optimization and wealth accumulation strategies. His expertise spans credit card optimization, travel hacking, investment strategies, and lifestyle optimization for professionals.

Credentials & Expertise

CFP® - Certified Financial Planner
CFA® Charterholder
MBA - Wharton School of Business
Former VP at Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management

Latest Articles

100K+ Point Sign-Up Bonuses: A 2025 Analysis

While five premium credit cards currently offer sign-up bonuses exceeding 100,000 points, their real-world value diverges significantly based on redemption strategy and fee structure. The American Exp...

Using Points for Luxury Hotels: 2025 Strategies

Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards to World of Hyatt remains the dominant strategy for luxury hotel redemptions in 2025, delivering a 2.5-5× superior value compared to Marriott Bonvoy transfers. Dat...

Travel Hacking Guide 2025: Points, Flights & Hotels

The 2025 travel rewards landscape is defined by a critical American Express devaluation that effectively removes it from top contention for beginners focused on premium international flights. Chase Ul...

Calculating Net CPP: Your Points' True Financial Value

A transatlantic business class redemption yielding a raw 4.9 cents per point (CPP) becomes a 3.5 CPP transaction after accounting for $600 in carrier surcharges and a 1.12¢ CPP drag from an Amex Plat...

Crowdfunding vs. REITs: The 2025 Investment Verdict

For investors targeting a 7-9% annual yield, publicly traded REITs offer a superior risk-adjusted path through total return, despite current dividend yields of only 3-4%. The combination of daily liqu...

2025 Dividend Reinvestment: Pre-Tax Returns vs. Tax Drag

While VICI Properties projects a market-leading 278.2% 10-year total return, its tax treatment as a REIT creates a significant 7.8 percentage point after-tax disadvantage for high-income US investors ...

Dividend Stock Investing: A Beginner's Guide 2025

For US investors seeking the optimal balance of income and growth, the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) delivers a superior risk-adjusted return, evidenced by its 1.016 Sharpe ratio proxy, 12.19...

Premium Travel Credit Card Analysis (2025)

For affluent professionals spending over $20,000 internationally per year, the Capital One Venture X is the clear mathematical winner due to its 0% foreign transaction fee, which saves $540 annually c...

Private Banking Analysis: Chase vs. Schwab (2025)

For US and UK professionals with $250,000 to $1,000,000 in assets, entry-level private banking's value hinges entirely on fee structure versus benefit utilization. An analysis of 2025 offerings reveal...

Chase Sapphire Reserve vs. Amex Platinum: 2025 Analysis

For high-spending professionals, the American Express Platinum card delivers the highest first-year net value at $2,575, primarily driven by its 175,000-point sign-up bonus. However, the Chase Sapphir...

Best Concierge Credit Cards: A 2025 Data Analysis

For high-net-worth individuals spending over $200,000 annually, the Chase Sapphire Reserve delivers the highest quantifiable net value at $14,405 after its $795 annual fee, driven by superior rewards ...

Amex Platinum vs. Citi Prestige: The 2025 Verdict

For affluent professionals seeking a new premium travel card in 2025, the comparison between the Citi Prestige and American Express Platinum is decisively one-sided. The Citi Prestige Card is no longe...

Amex Platinum vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve (2025)

Following significant 2025 overhauls, the American Express Platinum Card's value proposition hinges entirely on high-volume airfare spending, delivering up to $2,195 more in net annual value for trave...

Chase Ultimate Rewards: 2025 Airline Partner Guide

Iberia Plus delivers the top value for transatlantic business class at 40,500 points plus minimal taxes, yielding 2.3-2.5 cents per point (CPP). Conversely, United MileagePlus excels for domestic shor...

2025 Travel Rewards Card Application Strategy

A sophisticated approach to 2025 travel rewards cards requires precision alignment across three variables: historical bonus elevation patterns, major travel booking windows, and Chase's 5/24 rule cons...

Best Amex Airline Transfer Partners 2025

For US and UK travelers optimizing Amex points for premium cabin international flights in 2025, Avianca LifeMiles, ANA Mileage Club, and Air Canada Aeroplan provide the highest baseline value at 1.4¢...

2025 Hotel Loyalty Program Rankings

World of Hyatt delivers the highest baseline value, with points worth 1.8¢ each and a critical policy of waiving all resort fees on award stays. This fixed-value structure makes it the superior progr...

Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partners: 2025 Analysis

While Chase Ultimate Rewards lists 13 airline and hotel transfer partners, only five consistently deliver outsized value for premium international travel and luxury hotel stays: World of Hyatt, Air Ca...

Delta SkyMiles 2025: How to Maximize Award Redemptions

Delta's 2025 SkyMiles program renders direct premium cabin redemptions financially unviable, with dynamic pricing pushing transatlantic business class awards to over 300,000 miles. Strategic use of tr...

AAdvantage Partner Awards: 2025 Redemption Guide

The American Airlines AAdvantage program operates on a starkly divided valuation model. Redemptions on AA-operated flights are subject to dynamic pricing that yields a meager 0.42¢ to 0.68¢ per mile...