Bogleheads.org

This is the 7th year for us to purchase Series I bonds. $10K each + $5K via tax return. Only wish I hadn't ignored them for all those years and had started earlier. Oh well... Plan is to hold each to maturity with the plan to purchase another $25K in 2024 and 2025 and that'll likely be it. We'll have them maturing each year starting at age 86 through age 94 at that point. We'll of course continue to monitor the fixed rate to see if it ever makes sense to redeem any before maturity and purchase replacements, but it won't be a disaster if we never do that. Will it move the needle a lot? Probably not. "Just another brick in the wall" Cheers How are i-bonds treated/taxed from an inheritance perspective vs other assets? 🤔

fundseeker wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 7:52 pm Keep it in the money market until mid April and then decide. We'll all have a better idea then about the expected new rate for May 1.

I just want to confirm - regardless if I buy in April or January, I will still get6-months of interest for this period? It isn't pro-rated if I buy in April? Or is it?

Is there any other downside to waiting to buy?

Right now I think you can get ~4.25% in a good MM fund.

I-bonds will pay ~6.48% for 6 months but if inflation gets tamed, then what?

There is the advantage of a 0.4% fixed rate on these i-bonds.

I have about $49k in i-Bonds as of right now.

Should I get $20k more or keep in MM fund?

[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek]

This is not a political post.

The headlines are are saying the U.S. may default on its debt next week, or something like that.

I am sitting on about $85k of U.S. treasuries of various short-term maturity dates, not to mention bond fund holdings and i-bonds.

Is all of this money now at risk of being lost??

Do I need to sell my treasury holdings and treasury funds to be safe??

I like to think I am doing well financially, but for my age, sometimes I feel like I am behind the curve when I read about some other posters' assets. I come from a lower class/lower middle class background and got my career started a little late due to being stuck in a podunk town for years after college graduation. What can I do to continue my improve my lot in life and become rich? Am I doing ok or do I need to find additional sources of income to retire comfortably? Location: Southern mid-west Me: 37, MBA from mid-tier state school. Base Salary: $117k + up to 15% bonus Wife: 33, MBA from top tier school. Base Salary: $115k + up to 15% bonus No Kids (yet), about to change probably. 1 or 2 in future. 2 max. House Payment: $2600/mo Curren...

OP and their spouse certainly earns plenty to live well and save, but I'm surprised so few have mentioned the income side of the equation, especially for the spouse with a top-tier MBA. $115k is great for an average person, but not really for a top-tier MBA. For example Univ of Michigan MBA the median starting base salary is $165k (https://michiganross.umich.edu/graduate/full-time-mba/careers/employment-data). Even for the lowest paid industries they break out the median is >115k. If truly top-tier it should be very realistic to get that income closer to $200k before too long. And if you can save most of that increase you are talking about some real increase in savings even before tightening any spending. Those numbers were older. We've bo...

No one probably cares, but, 4-year (approximately) check-up: Current Ages: 41 and 37 Original (11/2018): Emergency Fund/Cash/Saving Accounts: $113k 401k: $129k Taxable Brokerage: $5k Home equity: ~$55k Total Net Worth: ~$307k Previous2 (12/2019): Emergency Fund/Cash/Saving Accounts: $162k 401k/HSA/Retirement Accounts: $231k Taxable Brokerage: $11k Home equity: ~$72k Total Net Worth: ~$476k Previous3 (12/2020): Emergency Fund/Cash/Saving Accounts: $162k 401k/HSA/Retirement Accounts: $420k Taxable Brokerage: $23k Other: $23k Home equity: ~$84k Total Net Worth: ~$712k Previous4 (11/2021): Emergency Fund/Cash/Saving Accounts: $230k 401k/HSA/Retirement Accounts: $614k Taxable Brokerage: $50k Other: $66k Home equity: ~$110k Total Net Worth: ~$1.0...

Do interest payments on CDs compound? E.g. if I buy a $100k 3-yr brokered CD with monthly interest payments and the coupon payment is 5% (and the advertised yield is 5%), at the end of the 3-years, do I have a $115,000, or do I have more than that due to some frequency of compounding? Interest on brokered CDs does not compound. If the CD is advertised as 5% payable monthly (most pay semi-annually), you will receive monthly interest payments into your settlement account of: .05 * 100,000 * (# of days in the month/365) In months with 30 days that will be $410.96 and in months with 31 days it will be $424.66 (both numbers were rounded up), and interest for February is left as an exercise for the reader. At the end of 5 years, you will get you...

It protects against living longer than your money lasts. Dying early(mortality credits) is what supplies the funds for those that live much longer. If you know the age of your death, it would be easy...... Dan So do those annuities pay an income stream for the rest of your life, essentially? So if you live long, you win, if you don't, you lose. Sounds almost like a wager. It's a method of reducing risk during retirement. If your basic needs are covered by reliable income sources without an annuity, then maybe you don't need one. Some reading: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/annuity.asp https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Retirement_risk Are annuities investment products best suited for retirees/near-retirees? Is there any reason for someo...

dwickenh wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 10:09 am The 14.5 cap is also likely restricted by a participation rate of 10-50% that applies before the cap. the month to month cap restricts gains to 1% a month, but allows all of monthly losses to reduce gains. SO's fixed indexed annuities averaged 2.6 % for the years 2014-2021. 10 year government Bonds would have done better. Everything involved is tilted to the benefit of the insurance company.

Wow...that is a pretty bad return.

It protects against living longer than your money lasts. Dying early(mortality credits) is what supplies the funds for those that live much longer. If you know the age of your death, it would be easy...... Dan So do those annuities pay an income stream for the rest of your life, essentially? So if you live long, you win, if you don't, you lose. Sounds almost like a wager. It's a method of reducing risk during retirement. If your basic needs are covered by reliable income sources without an annuity, then maybe you don't need one. Some reading: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/annuity.asp https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Retirement_risk Are annuities investment products best suited for retirees/near-retirees? Is there any reason for someo...

Do interest payments on CDs compound? E.g. if I buy a $100k 3-yr brokered CD with monthly interest payments and the coupon payment is 5% (and the advertised yield is 5%), at the end of the 3-years, do I have a $115,000, or do I have more than that due to some frequency of compounding?

Kind of the way the yield on EE bonds is actually higher than the 2.1% advertised due to compounding, right?

dwickenh wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 9:59 am It protects against living longer than your money lasts. Dying early(mortality credits) is what supplies the funds for those that live much longer. If you know the age of your death, it would be easy......

Dan

So do those annuities pay an income stream for the rest of your life, essentially? So if you live long, you win, if you don't, you lose. Sounds almost like a wager.

Most people don't understand annuities, even after they own them. SPIA is a single premium immediate annuity. You give an insurance company an amount of money and they give it back to you with some interest over your lifetime. If you die, they keep the money unless you pay extra for a refund of premium. Fixed indexed annuities are high expense, low return products that are meant to make great profits for the agents selling them. I have studied the fixed indexed annuity due to my SO having 2 of these with over 7 figures invested. We are slowly trying to unwind them as the penalty phase expires. Lack of liquidity is a major problem. Limited retirement funds may make a SPIA(no fees) a good choice for some people. The MYGA(multi year guarantee...

This is an investment product I don't know much about. From what I've gathered, the Boglehead wisdom is that only SPIA annuities are worth touching and avoid everything else (though I'm not sure what an SPIA is or why they are the only worthwhile one). I heard a radio show advertisement for an Fixed Index annuity that caps market gains at 14.5% a year and limits market losses to 0%. Now I am sure there is probably a hefty fee that eats into that (~2%-3%?). And it is also possible dividends are not included as part of your personal return. But if you wanted the gains of the stock market, without the risk of principal loss, is this such a bad idea? Also I see some annuities that offer a fixed interest rate of like 5% over 5 years, etc. What i...

Kevin M wrote: ↑Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:38 pm Well, now we know the answer. The 4-week bill auction yield today is 3.640%. High ask price now at Fidelity is 3.530% for min qty 100, and there are no quotes for smaller quantities. So auction buyers got 11 basis points more and could buy min qty 1 at a broker.

With FZDXX 1-day yield at 3.77%, I would not buy the 4-week bill in an IRA. In taxable, the TEY for me at 3.53% is 4.01%, so it might be worth it, but FZDXX yield probably will continue to increase, so we don't really know.

Kevin

So going from settlement date to maturity date, it sounds like the yield differential for the 4-weeks in this auction vs a Prime MM yield will be negligible, I am guessing?

I never asked, but why the short duration? Do you have an immediate use for these funds? Return really goes up as you move out to 6 month and 12 month. 1 year is about 4.5%. 1% on 100,000 is $83 a month. That's a lot of $6.50 lunches. Good question. Answer is probably convoluted. I started taking a closer look at Fixed Income products in early October. At the same time I also started consolidating all my existing checking/savings into Fidelity for simplicity. I had about $170k in cash/savings. This is the amount of money I am comfortable holding. I knew rates were going to keep going up so I started spreading money around of various durations. I started with a 9-mo CD ($15k) at 3.95%. Now you can get 4.60% so that was a bit of a bummer. Th...

The 4-week bill being auctioned on 11/10/2022 and issued on 11/15/2022 is CUSIP 912796YY9. Since 4-week bills are reopenings, this is trading on the secondary market. When I pulled quotes from Fidelity today, the ask yield was 3.506%, so this is what you could have gotten today (probably a little less if buying a smaller quantity) with settlement tomorrow, 11/10. Yield for the 4-week at the last auction on 11/3 was 3.681%. Sometimes the auction yield is higher than the secondary market yield just before auction. I guess Fidelity thinks yields will go lower. On 11/3, the 1m constant maturity Treasury (CMT) yield was 3.75% and today it was 3.65%, so down by 10 basis points since last auction date. CMT yields are based on bid prices, while I ...

David Jay wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 10:55 am How much money are we talking about, because you are spending time weighing the impact of 16 basis points over a one month duration. That is the difference of .00013 per month, or about $13 per $100,000.

Hey...that'll buy me at least 2 lunches that month

Vanguard showing indicative yield of 3.49 for 1 month and 3.87 for 2 month November auctions (2 month closes tomorrow AM). So perhaps Fidelity just "estimates low". So even at 3.49%, it seems like the MM Prime fund SPRXX paying 3.65% is probably a better rate and also more easily liquid/accessible? A 4-week T-bill, for all practical purposes, is cash. No one would "invest" in a 4-week T-bill--it's a place to park cash and it behaves like cash. Now, the 4-week T-bill is trading at about 3.52% and the routine settlement fund at Vanguard (VMFXX) is yielding 3.43%. Both are places to park short-term cash and both are giving you those cash yields. So if I desperately needed the money in 2 or 3 weeks, I would just sell the T-...

David Jay wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 9:43 am Vanguard showing indicative yield of 3.49 for 1 month and 3.87 for 2 month November auctions (2 month closes tomorrow AM). So perhaps Fidelity just "estimates low".

So even at 3.49%, it seems like the MM Prime fund SPRXX paying 3.65% is probably a better rate and also more easily liquid/accessible?

Definitely your opinion - the MM fund that failed in 2008 held commercial paper and they'll be the ones to fail next time around. What about the other MM funds that also held commercial paper and did not fail in 2008? Those were better because they didn't fail. In other words, it was how the funds were managed that determined their survival or failure, not the presence of commercial paper inn their holdings. What does it mean for a money market fund to "fail?" I guess a reasonable definition would be that it goes to zero or gets liquidated. When Hurricane Lehman caused the Reserve Fund to fail, it honestly wasn't that bad. The fund was diversified, so the Lehman collapse only triggered a 3% loss. The fund blocked redemptions for ...

MikeG62 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 8:16 am

justsomeguy2018 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 08, 2022 9:35 pm

whodidntante wrote: ↑Tue Nov 08, 2022 7:38 pm You're buying at Fidelity, so buy on the secondary market. You will know the yield.

Probably should have...I only see 3 mo available on secondary market...maybe I should have just stuck with 3 mo.

You need to check the secondary market when the market is open (8am-5pm). Outside of those hours, typically Fidelity does not show any bonds available for purchase.

I meant if I go to the Fixed Income page, the 1st tab in the table is "Yields" and it starts with a 3-mo column and goes up to 30-yr+. I don't see anything shorter than that but maybe there is a different section to search.

whodidntante wrote: ↑Tue Nov 08, 2022 7:38 pm You're buying at Fidelity, so buy on the secondary market. You will know the yield.

Probably should have...I only see 3 mo available on secondary market...maybe I should have just stuck with 3 mo.

Thought I would dip my toe in new issues and the auto-roll feature. Did $10k 4 week and $5k 8 week.

Nver2Late wrote: ↑Tue Nov 08, 2022 12:41 pm Yeah, we are looking at the same one. That one auctions on Thursday, 11/10. I've been told that Fidelity under predicts the auction rates ahead of the auction.

Yeah...it's a little odd that last week their estimate was 3.5xx% but this week it's 3.331%. I get that they underestmate (well, I get it now) but I am fairly certain last week's estimate was higher.

Nver2Late wrote: ↑Tue Nov 08, 2022 12:29 pm I don't see a 4-week T-bill auction today. There is one on Thursday. I'm expecting about 3.8%. Last week was just shy of 3.7%. Are you looking at rates on the secondary market?

No, I am on Fidelity's website under the New Issue section. These have maturity date of 12/13/2022.

I was planning to put in an order on Fidelity for some 1-mo treasury bills today, but was surprised to see the expected yield is only 3.331%. Last week I thought it was 3.5x% and figured it would be similar or higher.

With some MM funds currently yielding 3.7%+, I am wondering if it makes more sense to just hold the money there (plus I'd get slightly easier liquidity, I think?).

Or will the MM fund drop some as a result of this auction?

Outer Marker wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 1:08 pm

justsomeguy2018 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 12:59 pm Yes we do have a home. We've only lived it in a little over a year. Equity is over 20%. Probably $110-$180k depending on if you count the potential rise in home value the past year.

How does the zero cost HELOC work?

You can probably find a 90% LTV HELOC if you shop around. Same as shopping for a mortgage online. My lender paid all closing costs; so, unless I tap the HELOC, I'm not paying anything.

And if you do tap it...then what do you pay?

So you want to know how to best market time your cash while waiting to market time your equities? Good luck. Something like that...just trying to optimize the return I can get while also not "spreading myself too thin" should some unfortunate situations arise and I find myself in a financial pickle for a few extra basis points. Do you have a home and, if so, how much equity? I have a $200K HELOC in place with zero balance that costs me nothing to maintain. That allows me to be fully invested with more than ample liquidity to manage any unforeseen large expenses. Sure, credit markets could size up, and my equity line frozen, but that's very unlikely and not something I worry about. I've got ample cash on hand for most contingencie...

Yield for 4-week Tbill bought at auction this week was 3.681%, which for me is taxable-equivalent yield (TEY) of 4.18% (marginal tax rates = 22% and 9.3%). With FZDXX at 3.7%, this doesn't make much sense in an IRA at Fidelity, but may in taxable. I bought some with auto-roll in taxable, so we shall see which does better on a TEY basis. FZDXX would need to be about 3.93% in about 2 weeks from settlement for breakeven, assuming linear increase in yield over four weeks from settlement on 11/8. I also bought some of the 8-week at 3.958%, which is TEY = 4.49% for me, also with auto roll turned on. Still holding cash in FZDXX in IRAs for TIPS purchases over the next few weeks. Kevin How do the different yield quotes work exactly? If 1-day yield...

FZDXX is a much risker fund (commercial paper) compared to FDLXX/VMFXX/VUSXX/T-Bills, not sure why anyone would want to put 100k+ into it (yes I know you can hold less than 100k). Because it is not MUCH riskier. It is a wee bit more risky, negligible risk in my opinion. Let's not exaggerate risks. I think the risk of loss is low, but in a crisis, the fund might limit redemptions for a period. That wouldn’t bother me, but it’s a risk worth knowing because it’s a potential disaster for some situations. What are the odds you could get your funds out before they got froze up? What I mean is - knowing that is a risk I would probably move the funds out if it looked like another impending financial crisis was developing. Realistic, or no?

Yield for 4-week Tbill bought at auction this week was 3.681%, which for me is taxable-equivalent yield (TEY) of 4.18% (marginal tax rates = 22% and 9.3%). With FZDXX at 3.7%, this doesn't make much sense in an IRA at Fidelity, but may in taxable. I bought some with auto-roll in taxable, so we shall see which does better on a TEY basis. FZDXX would need to be about 3.93% in about 2 weeks from settlement for breakeven, assuming linear increase in yield over four weeks from settlement on 11/8. I also bought some of the 8-week at 3.958%, which is TEY = 4.49% for me, also with auto roll turned on. Still holding cash in FZDXX in IRAs for TIPS purchases over the next few weeks. Kevin How do the different yield quotes work exactly? If 1-day yield...

Broken Man 1999 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 04, 2022 12:15 pm Since I put most charges on credit cards, I pay those bills + bills where the credit card would have fees by pulls from my credit union checking account. I monitor my credit card balances, so I know what distribution I will need to pay them. My bill paying is pretty much automatic.

Near the end of each month I know what my bills will be for the following month. So I set up a distribution from my TIRA to fund the first couple of weeks of the month, and my SS benefit pays the remaining bills of the month.

I seldom have new billers to pay, but monthly expenses are lumpy, otherwise I could automate my TIRA distributions as well. I prefer to only hold enough cash to pay my immediate bills.

Broken Man 1999

Thanks for the explanation

Anyone buying the 5% brokered CD’s or waiting for possible higher yields? Just curious, are they call protected? The one from Capitol One is on Schwab. I know a lot are not. Taxable or Tax-Deferred account? Is there a chance you would need to sell before maturity? I would think those answers might factor in to your choice. Aren't U.S. Treasuries exempt from state income tax and are probably way more liquid. TIPS held in a tax deferred account might be competitive depending on your views on inflation, probably around 1.7% real today for 5 year. And then there are the new I-Bonds with 0.4% fixed rate and starting at like 6.89% annualized for the first 6 months and if held 5 year no early withdrawal penalty. Just bought for my Roth. Happy to ...

sailaway wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 10:26 pm So you want to know how to best market time your cash while waiting to market time your equities? Good luck.

Something like that...just trying to optimize the return I can get while also not "spreading myself too thin" should some unfortunate situations arise and I find myself in a financial pickle for a few extra basis points.

Up until recently, with fixed income paying a pittance, I've kept things fairly simple. Keep most or all of my cash in highest savings account or any high yield checking account I can find. And keep "working cash" (~$25k) in a checking account (bill paying, direct deposit, etc.) I've since switched to a Fidelity CMA and lately I've been buying various fixed-income products (CDs, treasuries) ranging from 3-mos to 1 year, with majority of it being in 3 mos. So I currently have about $80k in various treasuries, like a ladder of sorts (3-mos to 1 yr). I think the weighted average yield is 4.15% (estimating). (amounts are $35k 3 mos, $15k 6 mos, $20k 9 mos, $10k 1 yr) I have an additional $100k sitting in money market fund paying 2.65%...

arf30 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 5:41 pm

UpperNwGuy wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 5:23 pm Because it is not MUCH riskier. It is a wee bit more risky, negligible risk in my opinion. Let's not exaggerate risks.

Definitely your opinion - the MM fund that failed in 2008 held commercial paper and they'll be the ones to fail next time around.

Define "fail" - how much principal was lost? All of it?

Also what are the odds that you could be proactive and get out of the fund if there is a fairly clear impending meltdown?

increment wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 2:51 pm

justsomeguy2018 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 2:37 pm Did I miss the cutoff date to buy the T-Bills? I thought I would have until Nov 8th. No longer see it as an option under New Issues on Fidelity anymore.

Which TBills? The 4- and 8-week ones that settle on Tuesday, November 8th? Those would have been unavailable through the auction as of some time earlier today (which is the auction date). But don't worry, new 4- and 8-week TBills should be announced next Tuesday for auction on Thursday. Plan to put your order in around Wednesday (after Fidelity puts them on the list some time on Tuesday but before Fidelity deletes them some time on Thursday).

Thanks for the info.

Would the maturity date on these just be 1-week later?

Is the yield expected to be higher than this weeks?

dogagility wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 7:37 pm

justsomeguy2018 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 6:34 pm

dogagility wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 10:53 am

justsomeguy2018 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 9:15 am

dogagility wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 5:54 am
Rather than put this money in FZDXX, I suggest putting a large percentage of this money into 4 week T-Bills and autoroll continuous purchases. You'll get a significantly higher rate of return.

How do I do that?

Here's a guide: https://thefinancebuff.com/treasury-bil ... c-fidelity

Is there a reason to do the 4-week T-Bills instead of 2 month or 3 month with the higher yields?

Good idea if your financial situation can handle the slight loss of liquidity.

Did I miss the cutoff date to buy the T-Bills? I thought I would have until Nov 8th. No longer see it as an option under New Issues on Fidelity anymore.

[New thread merged into the I Bonds Mega Thread here - moderator ClaycordJCA]

Not really interested in gift box so waiting until January (if at all) to buy the newest 6.89% i-bond rate.

Just curious if that means I'll lose 2 months of the interest since it will be 2 months into the new rate.

I've asked this elsewhere, but do T-Bills always pay more than savings accounts typically? I've always held a large EF in savings accounts and wonder if I've missed out on higher yields via T-Bills.

Here's a guide: https://thefinancebuff.com/treasury-bills-cd-money-market.html#htoc-fidelity Is there a reason to do the 4-week T-Bills instead of 2 month or 3 month with the higher yields? Good idea if your financial situation can handle the slight loss of liquidity. Liquidity meaning due to the longer duration? In theory you could always sell them, right? Even if at a loss. T-Bills are highly liquid. I routinely buy and sell them in my brokerage account at Fidelity. Free. They instantly sell and the cash is available T+1. Caveat is you do it during normal bond hours which is from 0800 to 1600 or 1700? M-F. Have T-Bills always paid higher interest rates than savings accounts? If so I am wondering why I haven't been buying them sooner.

OP here - let me phrase my question another way. I get this is highly subjective, but - with a HH income of $400k-$450k in a zero-income tax state and $900k in investable assets, is it stretching too much financially to dole $60k/yr for 2 private school educations, if 401k max etc. can still be met? Like, is that something that would make more financial sense for $500k HH incomes (or $600k, etc.) ? Would we be one of the poorer families at the school? So kind of similar to a mortgage or car affordability question - if you make $50k/yr, maybe you shouldn't be buying Tesla's or $700,000 homes, etc. Depends on the school. Most elite private schools in the Bay Area offer financial aid. I'd say 20-30% of the families are not paying full tuition...

Side question: Is there a way I can easily identify what the yield is supposed to be on my treasury holdings at FID? Do you mean the yield when you purchased, or the yield now? Your yield at purchase is shown on your trade confirmation. It's also shown in the purchase preview screen if buying on secondary market. The yield now is determined by the secondary market. Just search for the CUSIP for your Treasury in the bond search screen, look at the depth of book, find the appropriate min quantity, and you'll see the bid and ask yields. The bid yield is relevant if you are considering selling, and the ask yield is relevant if considering buying. Kevin The yield when I bought it. These are all secondary market. I meant a way to find the yield ...

anon_investor wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 9:33 pm Anyone in a high income tax state looking for a Fidelity miney marlet fund for their taxable account should checkout FDLXX (Fidelity Treasury Only Money Market Fund) as the current after tax yield may be close or higher than FZDXX, because it is all treasuries so the yield is exempt from state/local taxes - its is also in theory safer and not subject to liquidity gates.

Good thought/idea.

I am luckily in a no-income tax state.

Side question: Is there a way I can easily identify what the yield is supposed to be on my treasury holdings at FID? Do you mean the yield when you purchased, or the yield now? Your yield at purchase is shown on your trade confirmation. It's also shown in the purchase preview screen if buying on secondary market. The yield now is determined by the secondary market. Just search for the CUSIP for your Treasury in the bond search screen, look at the depth of book, find the appropriate min quantity, and you'll see the bid and ask yields. The bid yield is relevant if you are considering selling, and the ask yield is relevant if considering buying. Kevin The yield when I bought it. These are all secondary market. I meant a way to find the yield ...

dogagility wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 7:37 pm

justsomeguy2018 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 6:34 pm

dogagility wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 10:53 am

justsomeguy2018 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 9:15 am

dogagility wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 5:54 am
Rather than put this money in FZDXX, I suggest putting a large percentage of this money into 4 week T-Bills and autoroll continuous purchases. You'll get a significantly higher rate of return.

How do I do that?

Here's a guide: https://thefinancebuff.com/treasury-bil ... c-fidelity

Is there a reason to do the 4-week T-Bills instead of 2 month or 3 month with the higher yields?

Good idea if your financial situation can handle the slight loss of liquidity.

Liquidity meaning due to the longer duration? In theory you could always sell them, right? Even if at a loss.

Ah I see....that's interesting. So the EE bonds bought now will earn 2.1% annual interest for the life of the bond? If compounded semiannually, would the total amount still be less than double the amount that's promised at 20 years? Or more? The promise of doubling at the 20-year mark still remains, so if you happen to hold the EE bond until 20 years elapsed, you will still get the effective 3.5% yield. But unlike earlier issues, for years 0 through 19y 11 months, you get 2.1% rate instead of 0.1%. That said, T-bills and T-notes of any duration are yielding at least double that 2.1% now, and are far better investments, even including the fact that the interest on T-bills and T-notes is taxable every year (unlike EE bonds, whose interest is...

dogagility wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 10:53 am

justsomeguy2018 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 9:15 am

dogagility wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 5:54 am

justsomeguy2018 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 11:48 pm This fund requires a minimum of $100k to invest and is currently paying a 3.08% yield.

What happens if you buy the $100k, but then have to sell $10k so the balance drops below $100k? Is that a problem and do you still get the 3.08% yield?

Is this a bad place to hold your emergency fund given the volatile current climate?

Rather than put this money in FZDXX, I suggest putting a large percentage of this money into 4 week T-Bills and autoroll continuous purchases. You'll get a significantly higher rate of return.

How do I do that?

Here's a guide: https://thefinancebuff.com/treasury-bil ... c-fidelity

Is there a reason to do the 4-week T-Bills instead of 2 month or 3 month with the higher yields?

Northern Flicker wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 5:54 pm Because the fees are lower, you can get a slightly higher yield (3.12%) without the credit and liquidity risk of FZDXX by using VUSXX instead:

https://investor.vanguard.com/investmen ... file/vusxx

And the minimum is only $3,000. I would prefer not to hold an emergency fund in a MMF that may be required to enforce liquidity gates per regulations.

That's good info to know....but won't I need to open an account at Vanguard to buy into that fund? In fact if I try and trade it on my brokerage it says "This fund is closed to new investors."