seeking Vanguard money market alternative

[Pappagallina]

Hi--I have had money at Vanguard for years, and basically did not touch it. Recently, I am trying to organize everything and tried to add 3 banks as links. The first one went fine (the rep did it verbally from my input). For the 2nd two, I entered the cent amounts sent to the accounts, and nothing ever verified. At Schwab, this is verified instantly. At Vanguard, I have spent literally hours trying to deal with this absurd and inept company (completely inept reps) trying to get the banks to link. Today, after more than another hour on the phone, they told me to do it all again! I said forget it and I am on the way out. Then I looked up Vanguard on the BBB site, and it received an F!!!!! Yes, an F (sounds right). I have already transferred some money out. I am sending the mutual fund (too complicated tax-wise to sell) to Schwab, which is dramatically better (and which got an A+ from the BBB--sounds right). But I need to find a better treasury money market replacement. The expense ratio at Vanguard was .9% (excellent) but ONE PAYS FOR THAT WITH HOURS AND HOURS OF HELL. I want to find a great treasury money market with a company which is NOT CONVOLUTED (no signature guarantees, no absurd requirements for this or that or the other, the ability to do things online, well-trained reps, etc.). Any ideas?
Thanks,
Eileen

[RetiredAL]

Hi--I have had money at Vanguard for years, and basically did not touch it. Recently, I am trying to organize everything and tried to add 3 banks as links. The first one went fine (the rep did it verbally from my input). For the 2nd two, I entered the cent amounts sent to the accounts, and nothing ever verified. At Schwab, this is verified instantly. At Vanguard, I have spent literally hours trying to deal with this absurd and inept company (completely inept reps) trying to get the banks to link. Today, after more than another hour on the phone, they told me to do it all again! I said forget it and I am on the way out. Then I looked up Vanguard on the BBB site, and it received an F!!!!! Yes, an F (sounds right). I have already transferred some money out. I am sending the mutual fund (too complicated tax-wise to sell) to Schwab, which is dramatically better (and which got an A+ from the BBB--sounds right). But I need to find a better treasury money market replacement. The expense ratio at Vanguard was .9% (excellent) but ONE PAYS FOR THAT WITH HOURS AND HOURS OF HELL. I want to find a great treasury money market with a company which is NOT CONVOLUTED (no signature guarantees, no absurd requirements for this or that or the other, the ability to do things online, well-trained reps, etc.). Any ideas?
Thanks,
Eileen

I too recently added an additional checking account as a transfer point at Schwab. Schwab me asked for the Bank Name (Wells Fargo) and Account Number and instantly validated it, ready to transfer either in or out Schwab.

[chrisdds98]

consider buying xhlf at the brokerage of your choice. it has a little more duration but a lower fee and is safer than MMFs as it only holds treasuries

[rkhusky]

Hi--I have had money at Vanguard for years, and basically did not touch it. Recently, I am trying to organize everything and tried to add 3 banks as links. The first one went fine (the rep did it verbally from my input). For the 2nd two, I entered the cent amounts sent to the accounts, and nothing ever verified. At Schwab, this is verified instantly. At Vanguard, I have spent literally hours trying to deal with this absurd and inept company (completely inept reps) trying to get the banks to link. Today, after more than another hour on the phone, they told me to do it all again! I said forget it and I am on the way out. Then I looked up Vanguard on the BBB site, and it received an F!!!!! Yes, an F (sounds right). I have already transferred some money out. I am sending the mutual fund (too complicated tax-wise to sell) to Schwab, which is dramatically better (and which got an A+ from the BBB--sounds right). But I need to find a better treasury money market replacement. The expense ratio at Vanguard was .9% (excellent) but ONE PAYS FOR THAT WITH HOURS AND HOURS OF HELL. I want to find a great treasury money market with a company which is NOT CONVOLUTED (no signature guarantees, no absurd requirements for this or that or the other, the ability to do things online, well-trained reps, etc.). Any ideas?
Thanks,
Eileen

Not sure why you called to get this done. When I did it years ago, doing it online was a snap. But then again, with all the fraud going around, linking 3 different accounts at the same time might have set off warnings.

Sounds like you will be happier at Schwab, which finances their operations with much higher ER’s on cash. Don’t try to avoid it, think of it as paying for better phone support and being able to walk into an office and have the reps perform transactions for you.

[Tyler Aspect]

You could buy 1 month US Treasury Bills; keep rolling them over every month.

[Pappagallina]

Thank you. I am looking into hxlf. I have never bought anything but mutual funds, so this is all new to me. I know about Schwab but am not sure that is the best option for the money market. I have never bought treasuries. I will have to learn about these.
Thanks again, Eileen

[Pappagallina]

Schwab does not have hxlf and they don't know what it is. Where does one get this?
Thanks,
EIleen

[beyou]

Thank you. I am looking into hxlf. I have never bought anything but mutual funds, so this is all new to me. I know about Schwab but am not sure that is the best option for the money market. I have never bought treasuries. I will have to learn about these.
Thanks again, Eileen

If you are concerned about doing something you never did before, moving from a mutual fund to individual bonds is a much bigger leap than moving to ETFs. ETF is still a fund, just the way to buy and sell is a bit different. And in this case, the price will not be $1/share but rather a value that moves slightly (pennies) from day to day. Still safe US Treasuries but you buy and sell like a stock, even with safety of US Treasuries under the hood.

I would also consider SGOV as it uses very short term Treasury bills more like a money market fund but at slightly higher fee than XHLF.
SGOV buys up to 3 month Tbills, XHLF up to 12 month Tbills. Equal safety, different yields. One may do better in rising rates environment, other may do better in a falling rate environment, but more similar that different. I use XHLF but did consider SGOV seriously as well. I switched from Vanguard VUSXX like you seek to do.

No fees to trade in/out unlike if you traded VUSXX outside Vanguard.
But there will be tiny gains/loss accumulated when you withdraw. Won't be impactful but it is different than a mmkt fund in this respect.

[beyou]

Schwab does not have hxlf and they don't know what it is. Where does one get this?
Thanks,
EIleen

It is XHLF not HXLF as you typed.
And search like you are looking for a stock NOT a mutual fund.
An ETF is similar to a mutual fund except in the way you buy it, it is more like a stock.

[Pappagallina]

Thank you so much--I will look into these. I did not know they existed. I am very upset about how horrible this situation with Vanguard has been, and I really want to leave Vanguard completely. I just was not sure what to do. . .
Thanks again--I will work on this.
Eileen

[Feldman]

In the grand scheme of things, is it really that horrible?

The expense ratio of VUSXX is 0.09%, not 0.9%.

[nura]

I had the same experience linking Schwab that OP had with Vanguard with external banks, was never successful. I has able link Vangurd with Fidelity without any hassle.

[goingup]

Recently, I am trying to organize everything and tried to add 3 banks as links.

It sounds like a frustrating situation. I have to think that adding 3 external banks to a MM account would be somewhat unusual and warrant extra scrutiny.
I'm sorry you're leaving Vanguard. I think they have great MM and bond funds, as well as equity funds. But I know what it's like to lose faith in a company and want to move on.

[stan1]

There are the new Vanguard ETFs (coming Q1 2025) with 0.07% expense ratios:
https://corporate.vanguard.com/content/ ... 12224.html

Vanguard Ultra-Short Treasury ETF (VGUS) and Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (VBIL) are index ETFs that will offer low-cost Treasury exposure for individual investors and financial advisors.

What I would do is buy individual t-bills for anything I planned to hold for more than 26 weeks, and use an FDIC insured high yield savings account for cash needs with less than a 6 month timeline. That avoids the extra complexity of ETF capital gains taxes although that is much easier now that it is automated and reported by brokerages on a 1099.

Schwab does have a t-bill auto roll feature so it is easy to build a ladder that renews as they come due.
https://www.schwab.com/fixed-income/cd- ... y-rollover

[BolderBoy]

consider buying xhlf at the brokerage of your choice. it has a little more duration but a lower fee and is safer than MMFs as it only holds treasuries.

OP said she is looking for a Treasury MMF.

I don't think that XHLF is such.

[backpacker61]

I'm sorry you're leaving Vanguard. I think they have great MM and bond funds, as well as equity funds. But I know what it's like to lose faith in a company and want to move on.

+1
I particularly like their palette of tax exempt bond mutual funds.

[criticalmass]

Thank you so much--I will look into these. I did not know they existed. I am very upset about how horrible this situation with Vanguard has been, and I really want to leave Vanguard completely. I just was not sure what to do. . .
Thanks again--I will work on this.
Eileen

Losing a bunch of money from fraud is a horrible situation. Not sure what the horror is here.

With Vanguard, just add one bank at a time. This helps avoid tripping fraud shutdown alarms.
Vanguard uses test deposits to confirm the bank account. They do NOT use third parties that ask for your banking passwords to access your accounts, which you shouldn’t hand over to third parties.

[Chuck]

I'm using Vanguard money market funds at E-Trade with no drama. They just won't automatically sweep.

Almost every new account I've created in the past 5 years, I've tripped some kind of security circuit breaker. Once my account at each institution has "aged" I haven't had any issues.

[chrisdds98]

consider buying xhlf at the brokerage of your choice. it has a little more duration but a lower fee and is safer than MMFs as it only holds treasuries.

OP said she is looking for a Treasury MMF.

I don't think that XHLF is such.

most folks are ignorant of the superior product with its lower fee and lower risk. when folks say they want a MMF what they mean is they want an ultrasafe place to park their cash.

[chrisdds98]

Schwab does not have hxlf and they don't know what it is. Where does one get this?
Thanks,
EIleen

what the heck is hxlf

https://bondbloxxetf.com/bondbloxx-bloo ... asury-etf/

[clip651]

OP said she is looking for a Treasury MMF.

I don't think that XHLF is such.

most folks are ignorant of the superior product with its lower fee and lower risk. when folks say they want a MMF what they mean is they want an ultrasafe place to park their cash.

Please don't call us ignorant for not being familiar with an ETF from a company that per Morningstar is only 2 years old.

Personally I prefer to invest in funds with much longer track records than that. Since this is a treasury ETF, it may be as good and safe as other similar treasury ETFs. But since I can't see how well it was managed for even 5 years it's not going to hit my radar of things that I might want to invest in when there are many other treasury and money market funds from companies with much longer track records.

[secondopinion]

OP said she is looking for a Treasury MMF.

I don't think that XHLF is such.

most folks are ignorant of the superior product with its lower fee and lower risk. when folks say they want a MMF what they mean is they want an ultrasafe place to park their cash.

The superior product is to hold the treasury bills directly; no fees, full insurance, no middleman. That is the true “ultrasafe place” to park cash. It is not super convenient, but nor is XHLF. And what about the SEC fees for XHLF? It adds up.

[Pappagallina]

All these comments are helpful. I will look into straight treasury bills (I have never done this). The reason why it was so ghastly horrible for me is because I am off the charts busy, can never get done what I need to do, and I had to LITERALLY WASTE hours with this inept company, for nothing. I had not solution in the end. I don't think it tripped security. I have been there over 30 years. I think it is a crazy, inept company (I PUT THE VERIFICATION CENTS INTO THEIR SYSTEM). I have just had it. THEIR REPS ARE NOT TRAINED AND DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. And they have an F from the BBB!! That's why! I don't have time for nonsense!
Eileen

[Pappagallina]

I have been trying to look into these treasury approaches. I wrote down the questions below. If anyone has any thoughts on these questions, I would be happy to listen. Thanks.

Is one of these two (buying direct treasuries with the Schwab automatic rollover, vs. investing in xhlf) better than the other for LONG TERM INVESTING (meaning that it may sit there for a long time)?

Is there a major drawback to one or the other if this is a long-term approach?

What are the main dangers with each of these two treasury approaches?

[Curly]

Based on what I learned here at the forum, I started buying treasuries this year. Before this, I knew Zero** about anything other than buying CDs at the bank. Now, we have at any given time 6-8 Treasuries "laddered" for upcoming cash requirements. Some investors would prefer to buy XHLF and other treasury ETFs from BondBloxx, and after studying those products I think they are a great option.

But if you would enjoy the simple project of downloading the auction schedule and noting the dates of auctions for the various maturities that suit your needs, and then planning to buy a treasury on the appropriate dates, this might be the better choice for you.

We have Treasuries at both Schwab and Fidelity, and I slightly prefer buying at Fidelity. But the differences aren't important enough to abandon Schwab (if that is where you already are established) and start over at Fidelity.

**I mention this to show you that it is super easy to get started and with the advice you can get here at the forum you can get rolling right away with buying your first T-Bill.

I have been trying to look into these treasury approaches. I wrote down the questions below. If anyone has any thoughts on these questions, I would be happy to listen. Thanks.

Is one of these two (buying direct treasuries with the Schwab automatic rollover, vs. investing in xhlf) better than the other for LONG TERM INVESTING (meaning that it may sit there for a long time)?

Is there a major drawback to one or the other if this is a long-term approach?

What are the main dangers with each of these two treasury approaches?

[BL]

Here is one link I found on Bogleheads on some "How-to's" on buying at various brokerages:
https://thefinancebuff.com/treasury-bi ... arket.html

I used Harry Sit's precise directions to buy treasuries at auction (mostly) at my brokerage.

[lakpr]

All these comments are helpful. I will look into straight treasury bills (I have never done this). The reason why it was so ghastly horrible for me is because I am off the charts busy, can never get done what I need to do, and I had to LITERALLY WASTE hours with this inept company, for nothing. I had not solution in the end. I don't think it tripped security. I have been there over 30 years. I think it is a crazy, inept company (I PUT THE VERIFICATION CENTS INTO THEIR SYSTEM). I have just had it. THEIR REPS ARE NOT TRAINED AND DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. And they have an F from the BBB!! That's why! I don't have time for nonsense!
Eileen

Would you be receptive to an alternative suggestion?

*IF* the amount you want to invest is more than $100k, US Bank. You can then apply for their Smartly Rewards credit card that offers 4% unlimited cashback with no upper limit on purchases or earnings.

At US Bank, you can buy GABXX, it is also a 100% Treasuries money market fund, but pays a smidgen more than VUSXX (4.7% at GABXX vs 4.6% VUSXX).

Further tiny details are that you will have to open a Smartly checking account to redeem the 4% cash back according to their terms. BUT, if you can swing two $4000 direct deposits into their checking account, they are also offering a $450 bonus for opening the checking account.

YES, a few hoops. BUT, unlike Vanguard where there is no reward, there is a 4% rewards credit card that MAY make it worth the hoops.

Not a US Bank customer, nor did I apply for the Smartly Rewards card, but just thought you may be better off at US Bank.

[rkhusky]

And they have an F from the BBB!!

The grass isn’t always greener. Here are some other reviews for you to peruse:

https://www.jdpower.com/business/press- ... tion-study
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press- ... tion-study
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press- ... tion-study
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press- ... tion-study

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/fidelity.html
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/automat ... guard.html
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/schwab.html
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/ameritrade.html
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance ... price.html

https://www.bbb.org/us/ma/boston/profil ... complaints
https://www.bbb.org/us/pa/malvern/profi ... complaints
https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/westlake/prof ... complaints
https://www.bbb.org/us/ne/omaha/profile ... complaints
https://www.bbb.org/us/co/colorado-spri ... complaints

[BackToSchoolDad]

You can purchase most VG funds for free through Chase and JP Morgan Self Directed. I find their trading is easier than Schwab where I also have accounts. The Schwab MM are lacking, and using t bill ETFs can work, but isn't preferable to me.

To be fair to VG, linking 3 bank accounts at once is a pretty rare scenario. I've never had any problems linking external accounts on any platform. You're free to put your money wherever you want, but it sounds like you invited this hassle to some degree.

[lakpr]

To be fair to VG, linking 3 bank accounts at once is a pretty rare scenario. I've never had any problems linking external accounts on any platform. You're free to put your money wherever you want, but it sounds like you invited this hassle to some degree.

That is very harsh. What is this, 1990s? If Vanguard can't evolve from the 90's mindset, it is time we vote with our feet and money.

[greg24]

I'm sorry this happened to you. But moving all your assets to a new platform, setting up 3 new bank links from a brand new account, etc., all invite the possibility of further difficulties. I have considered moving away from Vanguard, but it is a lot of work with no guarantee things will be better with a new provider.

[BackToSchoolDad]

To be fair to VG, linking 3 bank accounts at once is a pretty rare scenario. I've never had any problems linking external accounts on any platform. You're free to put your money wherever you want, but it sounds like you invited this hassle to some degree.

That is very harsh. What is this, 1990s? If Vanguard can't evolve from the 90's mindset, it is time we vote with our feet and money.

It sounds like VG is trying to get away from the 90s and do as much as possible online, which to me is pro consumer and the right move.

OP sounds like they're wanting to do a lot over the phone, which is fine, but VGs phone customer service is not well regarded. If that's their priority, seems fair to move custodians. You always have the option to pay more for more service.

I don't think I'm being harsh. OP is denigrating a company that has done immense work to improve individual investor outcomes, and has made the entire investing landscape better for regular folks like us. If it wasn't for VG, all of us would be paying higher fees.

I personally invest in VG funds on other platforms, best of both worlds. But I like that my fees are going to a company who at least pretends to be looking out for me. I know that Schwab and Chase are only interested in taking more of my money for their shareholders.

[chrisdds98]

I have been trying to look into these treasury approaches. I wrote down the questions below. If anyone has any thoughts on these questions, I would be happy to listen. Thanks.

Is one of these two (buying direct treasuries with the Schwab automatic rollover, vs. investing in xhlf) better than the other for LONG TERM INVESTING (meaning that it may sit there for a long time)?

Is there a major drawback to one or the other if this is a long-term approach?

What are the main dangers with each of these two treasury approaches?

if you learn how to buy and roll your own bonds you can save the .03% fee of xhlf (I think thats about $300/year per every $1M invested in the fund). I chose xhlf because I didn't want to learn how to buy individual bonds and considering how low the fee is it didn't seem worthwhile to learn.

i can't think of any real dangers... perhaps screwing up the bond rolling would reduce returns a bit.

[bridgetek]

If the OP wants to stick with MMFs instead of an ETF or buying T-Bills directly, here’s the information on Schwab MMFs. https://www.schwab.com/money-market-funds
The Treasury MMF seem to be:
Schwab U.S. Treasury Money Fund – Investor Shares (SNSXX) With no minimum and 4.28% 7-day yield.

I’m guessing the Schwab customer support people can help with any specific questions.

[secondopinion]

I have been trying to look into these treasury approaches. I wrote down the questions below. If anyone has any thoughts on these questions, I would be happy to listen. Thanks.

Is one of these two (buying direct treasuries with the Schwab automatic rollover, vs. investing in xhlf) better than the other for LONG TERM INVESTING (meaning that it may sit there for a long time)?

Is there a major drawback to one or the other if this is a long-term approach?

What are the main dangers with each of these two treasury approaches?

if you learn how to buy and roll your own bonds you can save the .03% fee of xhlf (I think thats about $300/year per every $1M invested in the fund). I chose xhlf because I didn't want to learn how to buy individual bonds and considering how low the fee is it didn't seem worthwhile to learn.

i can't think of any real dangers... perhaps screwing up the bond rolling would reduce returns a bit.

If this is true, then dare I say you do not have enough experience to comment on the matter; you saw the ER and based decisions solely on it. Bid-ask spreads are not trivial especially if the investor is parking the money for a very short time, and SEC fees are a thing. While I am not fully against XHLF, it is far from a “superior choice”.

From my experience, a money market fund is more convenient. But if I am holding cash because I cannot stand it to be lost at all, holding treasury bills is your best bet and the cheapest option.

[chrisdds98]

if you learn how to buy and roll your own bonds you can save the .03% fee of xhlf (I think thats about $300/year per every $1M invested in the fund). I chose xhlf because I didn't want to learn how to buy individual bonds and considering how low the fee is it didn't seem worthwhile to learn.

i can't think of any real dangers... perhaps screwing up the bond rolling would reduce returns a bit.

If this is true, then dare I say you do not have enough experience to comment on the matter; you saw the ER and based decisions solely on it. Bid-ask spreads are not trivial especially if the investor is parking the money for a very short time, and SEC fees are a thing. While I am not fully against XHLF, it is far from a “superior choice”.

From my experience, a money market fund is more convenient. But if I am holding cash because I cannot stand it to be lost at all, holding treasury bills is your best bet and the cheapest option.

superior to a MMF because it has a lower fee and lower risk. I agree that individual treasuries are slightly superior to xhlf

[Pappagallina]

Thanks, everyone. I can't understand what some posts mean because I don't understand the abbreviations (OP, ER, etc.). I don't know what you mean! However, I am getting something of what people are saying (I'm 71 and don't do any social media!). I will say that I have had excellent customer service from Schwab (open 24/7, get through fast, people usually help me [not always, but mostly], not a lot of mistakes, call me back if I am freaked out that they can't find a fax, etc.). At Vanguard the website doesn't work, adding the banks doesn't work (I did what I was supposed to do), the reps put me on hold for long periods of time over and over and nothing solves the problem, one has to wait a long time just to speak to someone--I have not had good experiences there except for one time, when I had to transfer something from my mother who died (that took two hours, but at least IT HAPPENED versus terrible runaround from Fidelity, which I left forever because they shut me out of an account for no reason!). Schwab is really the only place where I have had MOSTLY helpful interactions (although their MM is terrible to use--trades like a fund). I give Schwab 4 stars. I am going to try to learn how to buy treasuries, and if that is too onerous, I will try out the xhlf. They both sound like better alternatives to money markets. I appreciate very much your suggestions on these. Regarding US Bank, well, unfortunately I had a terrible experience there too! I am in the process of leaving US Bank except for one non-interest checking account. But that's a different story.. .
Thanks again.

[Curly]

Hello

"OP" means "Original Poster", so in this thread, you are the OP.

"ER" means expense ratio (of a mutual fund, ETF, money market, etc.)

Thanks, everyone. I can't understand what some posts mean because I don't understand the abbreviations (OP, ER, etc.). I don't know what you mean!


I am going to try to learn how to buy treasuries....

Thanks again.

[Curly]

If you want to get started with buying Treasuries, you can log in to your Schwab account and look for "Products" at the top. Click on that and select "Bond, CDs and Fixed Income".


I just checked and the system is updating--no information at the moment.

So later today we can come back to this post and provide more info for what you can look for at Schwab to see what is available at auction early this week.

[Pappagallina]

Thank you. I have been continuing to think about this. I understand it a lot better. I think my main question right now is: Is it better to use auto-rollover or not? It seems like without it, there is a better chance of making a different decision if financial situations have changed (but I don't understand it enough to know exactly what that means). With auto-rollover, it allows one to consider the investment as long-term and not think about it for some time (but what if it rolls over for a bad rate of return? or it rolls over for a different period of time which isn't helpful? it seems like a loss of control. . . ???). Why do people primarily put it on auto-rollover? Is there some benefit to this that I am not grasping?
Thanks,
Eileen

[bogling]

Autoreinvest can put the money to work. At S keep in mind the settlement account is not a mutual fund like VMFXX at V so money in bank deposit program settlement fund is basically not earning what could be if in a mutual fund. Takes manual buys to invest.

Could use MM Optimizer spreadsheet to look at your particular state tax situation.

viewtopic.php?t=401821

A state tax free treasury fund may make sense and VUSXX might be the highest After Tax Yield found. FRSXX is a close second for me available at Fidelity for $10M min invest. Or have a Wellstrade account right now with $250k linked to a premiere checking account and get a $2500 bonus after holding 90 days. Can buy FRSXX below $10M there and have heard can transfer to Fidelty later if wanted.

https://accountoffers.wellsfargo.com/premierbonus/

Honestly, did find opening an account a V had issues, and yes can't talk to V after hours and did find less satisfaction working with rep when there were issues than some other brokerages. But honestly, have experienced purchasing their MMMFs is one of the best processes. Buys made directly out of linked bank accounts have been easier and more profitable than any other brokerage have tried so far due to immediate investment and low ER for VUSXX.

Could actually buy VUSXX with an ACH from external bank without 2 credit verification and delay on initial setup, and when making ACH purchases directly out of linked accounts get immediate credit where at other broker where ACH settles a day in an low interest BDP account, then must transfer next day from settlement to buy, and so like 2 days out of the market before earning ... and that's if it isn't Friday!

[Wiggums]

With Schwab, they pay almost no interest on the settlement account, so you want to keep the money invested until you need it.

Auto-roll has pros and cons. You’ll have to learn how the broker handles the money and timing between the maturity of one bond and the purchase of the new bond.

We buy individual treasuries and take advantage of the high interest rates in the settlement account fund at Vanguard.

[am]

How about 90% sgov, 5% tqqq, 5% ibit to give your money some spice

[TipsQuestions]

I've been with Vanguard for 28 years, never had an issue. Schwab's a pain - I have to keep manually sweeping money into my MM account. At the for-profit guys, it's you vs them.

[Curly]

Good morning,

I have not used the auto-roll feature at Schwab or Fidelity because I think it's easy enough to track the maturities of various CDs and Treasuries. And then it's easy enough to look at the auction schedule and decide what to buy, based on future needs for the cash.

As others have noted, the biggest disadvantage at Schwab is the deadtime your cash is sitting in the sweep account, as compared to the money market auto sweep method used at Fidelity and Vanguard. We have other reasons why we keep investments at Schwab, so I deal with this problem by immediately moving cash to SNSXX. For the amounts of cash we have, and the time periods involved, it makes sense to handle it this way for the downtime between T-Bill maturity and the next auction.

We also have VUSXX at E-Trade, and I will move cash to that fund if the timing works out right. Everything is a trade-off for % return, cost of the fund, transfer times between institutions, and so forth.

It sounds like you want to keep all your activity at Schwab, so in my opinion you will just need to do a little extra work to monitor what's going on so you can minimize the low interest-bearing cash issue.

If you haven't already looked, here is how you find the Treasury auction info at Schwab:

--on the home screen (showing your accounts), click on "Products" at the top of the screen
--select "Bonds, CDs and Fixed Income"
--click "Start Investing"
--scroll down and on the left side click on "Treasury Auctions" under New Issues
--you will see the four Treasuries that are currently available and the auction date is noted
--right above those four Treasuries, look for "Upcoming Treasury Auctions", click on that for a schedule you can download and use to plan for upcoming offerings

Check that out and if still interested, we can describe the process of buying an individual treasury at auction.

**One thing I left out of the description above: if that is your first time looking at bond offerings at Schwab , you will have to read and sign two separate pages of legal stuff before you can continue.

Thank you. I have been continuing to think about this. I understand it a lot better. I think my main question right now is: Is it better to use auto-rollover or not? It seems like without it, there is a better chance of making a different decision if financial situations have changed (but I don't understand it enough to know exactly what that means). With auto-rollover, it allows one to consider the investment as long-term and not think about it for some time (but what if it rolls over for a bad rate of return? or it rolls over for a different period of time which isn't helpful? it seems like a loss of control. . . ???). Why do people primarily put it on auto-rollover? Is there some benefit to this that I am not grasping?
Thanks,
Eileen

[bogling]

Take a peek at MM Optimizer or just review 7 day SECC yield in this case. SNXX at S IMHO pays poorly compared to VUSXX even looking at 7 day yield and not considering After Tax Yield likely due to ER. S will answer the phone for support but have also found while they are available for calls on nights and weekends, if call for treasury/t-bill help after business hours get told to call back fixed income specialists during business hours.

[increment]

SNXX at S IMHO pays poorly compared to VUSXX even looking at 7 day yield and not considering After Tax Yield likely due to ER.

Okay, but the published 7-day yields already take into account the expense ratio.

[bogling]

SNXX at S IMHO pays poorly compared to VUSXX even looking at 7 day yield and not considering After Tax Yield likely due to ER.

Okay, but the published 7-day yields already take into account the expense ratio.

Correct. And the lower yield corresponds with the higher ER. Don't know how much money you have to see the effects but .25% difference is a lot on any amount over time.

Today MMO shows SNSXX @ 4.26% and VUSXX @ 4.49% with ATY in my state tax situation @ 3.24% and 3.41% respectively. So why would someone choose to use SNXX? There is a "cost" for that perceived rep benefit at S. IIRC can get an actual dedicated financial advisor at V for .3% although haven't experienced their benefit.

Compounding wealth is a lot about low fees. It's a V and BH principal.

BTW if don't like V and if don't think S is a good deal can get that $2500 bonus I mentioned @ WF where FRSXX is 4.48% (and my ATY is 3.40%).

[Pappagallina]

What is ATY?

[Pappagallina]

It appears that all of you have much more background and interest in complex investments. I have a lot on my plate and I must have something simple that can take care of itself. I am trying to set everything up so that it will continue on without my activity as much as possible, because I don't know what is coming next (my husband has serious cognitive issues, the house is too big and I need to leave it, I can't keep up with everything I have to do). I can't waste time on lousy reps and I can't set up things that need constant monitoring. So that is a big goal for me! Your suggestions are helpful, when I can understand them, and I appreciate them. I just have to do something that will last for some period of time. I need to do it and move on to the next thing!
Thanks again, Eileen