These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser.
Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser.
It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
So I started to ladder T-Bills for the reasons everyone is stating in this thread. The rate is so volatile (in a good way) that locking into anything even 12 months is too long for me and rates continue to climb. I use fidelity and my suggestion is this.
When they offer the new 4 week and 8 week and 13 week t-bill (they auction on diff days and diff weeks) go in and buy one of each of them with whatever money you can spare. Let's use 5k for each.
I would buy a 4 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy an 8 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy a 13 week t-bill WITH Rollover for 5k
Then after 4 weeks when that first on comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Then after 8 weeks when the second comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Now you will have 3 13 week t-bills rolling every 4 weeks or so and rolling into a new one with the proceeds. This way every 4 weeks you are capturing an increasing rate and not locked into anything longer than 13 weeks. You benefit from the rate hikes, can cash out at any time, and you have state tax shelter from the earned interest.
I can almost guarantee that the above will yield you more net income (taking in tax break) at the end of 11months then the 5% locked CD
just my 2cents
You can buy treasuries from just about any brokerage. I use Fidelity, as I like their platform and they don't charge fees/commissions for treasuries. Fidelity Fixed Income Page[fidelity.com]
Follow the above link and scroll down to the row "U.S. Treasury." Choose the duration you want and click on it. You can then click "buy" to start a trade of a specific treasury bill/bond. Fidelity's Intro to Treasuries[fidelity.com]
This is true, but it doesn't make an 11-month CD at 5% a bad idea. Those HYS can change their rates at any time, but here you're guaranteed to get 5%.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Probably the wrong place to ask but... What would you guys do with 500k or so to ensure its not just sitting in an account gaining minimal interest?
For 500K, you can afford to consult a financial consultant to properly assess your complete financial condition.
But, in General,
It depends on:
1. your age, employment, stability of your employment, family/children, medical condition
2. own a house, thinking of buying a house
3. financial support from relatives
4. your current emergency fund amount
Money market
CDs
Treasury
ETFs
are some of the ways to grow your money; How to allocate your funds in these depends on your individual situation.
Examples:
if you are retired, in general you want to supplement your income (Social Security, pension..) you want very reliable investment like CDs Treasury etc.. Main thing is you cannot afford to lose money; you don't have time to make up any loss.
if you are young with family/children, maybe you can afford to take limited risk ...
if you are young and single, then you can take bigger risks to strike it big; if you are unlucky and lose some, you have time to learn from your mistakes and recoup.
So I started to ladder T-Bills for the reasons everyone is stating in this thread. The rate is so volatile (in a good way) that locking into anything even 12 months is too long for me and rates continue to climb. I use fidelity and my suggestion is this.
When they offer the new 4 week and 8 week and 13 week t-bill (they auction on diff days and diff weeks) go in and buy one of each of them with whatever money you can spare. Let's use 5k for each.
I would buy a 4 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy an 8 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy a 13 week t-bill WITH Rollover for 5k
Then after 4 weeks when that first on comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Then after 8 weeks when the second comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Now you will have 3 13 week t-bills rolling every 4 weeks or so and rolling into a new one with the proceeds. This way every 4 weeks you are capturing an increasing rate and not locked into anything longer than 13 weeks. You benefit from the rate hikes, can cash out at any time, and you have state tax shelter from the earned interest.
I can almost guarantee that the above will yield you more net income (taking in tax break) at the end of 11months then the 5% locked CD
For those with experience buying T-bills from Fidelity, I'm seeing high minimum investments on their T-bills, like $100,000 and up (100 bonds minimum x $1,000 per bond). Is there a way to buy a smaller quantity that I'm missing? Thanks!
So I started to ladder T-Bills for the reasons everyone is stating in this thread. The rate is so volatile (in a good way) that locking into anything even 12 months is too long for me and rates continue to climb. I use fidelity and my suggestion is this.
When they offer the new 4 week and 8 week and 13 week t-bill (they auction on diff days and diff weeks) go in and buy one of each of them with whatever money you can spare. Let's use 5k for each.
I would buy a 4 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy an 8 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy a 13 week t-bill WITH Rollover for 5k
Then after 4 weeks when that first on comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Then after 8 weeks when the second comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Now you will have 3 13 week t-bills rolling every 4 weeks or so and rolling into a new one with the proceeds. This way every 4 weeks you are capturing an increasing rate and not locked into anything longer than 13 weeks. You benefit from the rate hikes, can cash out at any time, and you have state tax shelter from the earned interest.
I can almost guarantee that the above will yield you more net income (taking in tax break) at the end of 11months then the 5% locked CD
just my 2cents
Super thanks for the detail process. I'm sure you are bombarded with questions, but when do you think is a good time to stop the treasury laddering (if ever)? Thanks in advance.
How do you get to 11.68%? As far as I can tell JEPI went from 50 in 2020 to 55 now.
Chasing yield...regardless of whether it's a stock, bond, hedge fund, private placement...can be one of the worst investment decisions you can ever make.
There is a reason...usually not a good ones...why some investments pay out much higher rates.
I have a few 12 month and 24 month CDs from Sept 2022 with 2-3% rate. Is it worth taking the penalty hit and purchase new ones?
I had a 5 year 3% CD with Ally, maturing 6/24. I went ahead & took the 6 month hit to migrate to a 5% CD.
I called & asked them if they would work with me to move the money to another CD with them (below 5%) with no penalty, they said no…even though it was a significant amount of money. Luckily, I was in the position to take advantage of another promotion they had running to earn $500. This offset the penalty amount by almost half. The remaining penalty amount will count toward a tax deduction next year.
It's probably worth it if you want to lock in the 5% rate for more than 1 year. I moved the money to a 27 month CD @ 5%.
For those with experience buying T-bills from Fidelity, I'm seeing high minimum investments on their T-bills, like $100,000 and up (100 bonds minimum x $1,000 per bond). Is there a way to buy a smaller quantity that I'm missing? Thanks!
I see the same. I think we need to go the treasury direct route until we have more money. If others know how to purchase in a smaller quantity ($1,000) under Fidelity, please let us know. Thank you in advance.
Those are most likely T-bills on the secondary market if the maturity is 2/28.
The shortest duration is 4 weeks.
I bought a 4-week T-bill in late January that will be maturing on 2/28.
I am seeing Zero Coupon Treasury Bills with various maturity dates. I went into the New Issues tab in the Bonds section thinking that it would show bills with new issue and not the ones on the secondary market. There are 5 currently with the shortest one to maturity at 5/11/2023. But the issue date on that one is 11/22/2022, so this is also a secondary market one.
How do you find direct issue TBills and what is the schedule of issue?
So it's essentially the same- it just Fidelity listed as T-Bill Zero Coupon vs may be listed as Note in Schwab.
However there are weekly T-Bill Zero Coupons and Notes available in Fidelity and that is just confusing.
It makes sense as someone has already mentioned that Zero Coupon is secondary market for T-Bills. Do you need to sell the Zero Coupon on maturity date like how you buy/sell stocks to get back your fund (+interest)?
I am a beginner at this.
I just buy when there is a new auction.
The schedule is found here https://www.treasurydirect.gov/au.../upcoming/
If you want to buy the next 4-week T-bill, you need money at Fidelity by Feb 8 at the latest.
You can start buying on Feb 7 or whenever Fidelity shows it on their website.
If you do not Auto-Roll, when the 4-week T-bill matures, the money goes into the Fidelity Core position. Then you can just transfer it out or use it to buy the next T-bill.
I am seeing Zero Coupon Treasury Bills with various maturity dates. I went into the New Issues tab in the Bonds section thinking that it would show bills with new issue and not the ones on the secondary market. There are 5 currently with the shortest one to maturity at 5/11/2023. But the issue date on that one is 11/22/2022, so this is also a secondary market one.
How do you find direct issue TBills and what is the schedule of issue?
For anyone that opened the CD at Capital One, remember you have the option of keeping the interest earned each month inside the CD (don't think they do compound) or have the interest earned roll out to your savings account each month. Right now Capital one savings account gives you 3.3 APR interest. So if you have a big porfolio on CD, you can potentially earn more in CD and the the interest from your monthly distribution on the Capital One savings account.
775 Comments
Your comment cannot be blank.
Featured Comments
When they offer the new 4 week and 8 week and 13 week t-bill (they auction on diff days and diff weeks) go in and buy one of each of them with whatever money you can spare. Let's use 5k for each.
I would buy a 4 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy an 8 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy a 13 week t-bill WITH Rollover for 5k
Then after 4 weeks when that first on comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Then after 8 weeks when the second comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Now you will have 3 13 week t-bills rolling every 4 weeks or so and rolling into a new one with the proceeds. This way every 4 weeks you are capturing an increasing rate and not locked into anything longer than 13 weeks. You benefit from the rate hikes, can cash out at any time, and you have state tax shelter from the earned interest.
I can almost guarantee that the above will yield you more net income (taking in tax break) at the end of 11months then the 5% locked CD
just my 2cents
Fidelity Fixed Income Page [fidelity.com]
Follow the above link and scroll down to the row "U.S. Treasury." Choose the duration you want and click on it. You can then click "buy" to start a trade of a specific treasury bill/bond.
Fidelity's Intro to Treasuries [fidelity.com]
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
But, in General,
It depends on:
1. your age, employment, stability of your employment, family/children, medical condition
2. own a house, thinking of buying a house
3. financial support from relatives
4. your current emergency fund amount
Money market
CDs
Treasury
ETFs
are some of the ways to grow your money; How to allocate your funds in these depends on your individual situation.
Examples:
if you are retired, in general you want to supplement your income (Social Security, pension..) you want very reliable investment like CDs Treasury etc.. Main thing is you cannot afford to lose money; you don't have time to make up any loss.
if you are young with family/children, maybe you can afford to take limited risk ...
if you are young and single, then you can take bigger risks to strike it big; if you are unlucky and lose some, you have time to learn from your mistakes and recoup.
Good Luck!
When they offer the new 4 week and 8 week and 13 week t-bill (they auction on diff days and diff weeks) go in and buy one of each of them with whatever money you can spare. Let's use 5k for each.
I would buy a 4 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy an 8 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy a 13 week t-bill WITH Rollover for 5k
Then after 4 weeks when that first on comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Then after 8 weeks when the second comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Now you will have 3 13 week t-bills rolling every 4 weeks or so and rolling into a new one with the proceeds. This way every 4 weeks you are capturing an increasing rate and not locked into anything longer than 13 weeks. You benefit from the rate hikes, can cash out at any time, and you have state tax shelter from the earned interest.
I can almost guarantee that the above will yield you more net income (taking in tax break) at the end of 11months then the 5% locked CD
just my 2cents
Why buy with a broker rather than TreasuryDirect?
When they offer the new 4 week and 8 week and 13 week t-bill (they auction on diff days and diff weeks) go in and buy one of each of them with whatever money you can spare. Let's use 5k for each.
I would buy a 4 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy an 8 week t-bill with NO Rollover for 5k
I would buy a 13 week t-bill WITH Rollover for 5k
Then after 4 weeks when that first on comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Then after 8 weeks when the second comes up, buy another 13 week t-bill with the 5k WITH Rollover.
Now you will have 3 13 week t-bills rolling every 4 weeks or so and rolling into a new one with the proceeds. This way every 4 weeks you are capturing an increasing rate and not locked into anything longer than 13 weeks. You benefit from the rate hikes, can cash out at any time, and you have state tax shelter from the earned interest.
I can almost guarantee that the above will yield you more net income (taking in tax break) at the end of 11months then the 5% locked CD
just my 2cents
*yield*
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
There is a reason...usually not a good ones...why some investments pay out much higher rates.
Caveat emptor.
I had a 5 year 3% CD with Ally, maturing 6/24. I went ahead & took the 6 month hit to migrate to a 5% CD.
I called & asked them if they would work with me to move the money to another CD with them (below 5%) with no penalty, they said no…even though it was a significant amount of money. Luckily, I was in the position to take advantage of another promotion they had running to earn $500. This offset the penalty amount by almost half. The remaining penalty amount will count toward a tax deduction next year.
It's probably worth it if you want to lock in the 5% rate for more than 1 year. I moved the money to a 27 month CD @ 5%.
The shortest duration is 4 weeks.
I bought a 4-week T-bill in late January that will be maturing on 2/28.
How do you find direct issue TBills and what is the schedule of issue?
However there are weekly T-Bill Zero Coupons and Notes available in Fidelity and that is just confusing.
It makes sense as someone has already mentioned that Zero Coupon is secondary market for T-Bills. Do you need to sell the Zero Coupon on maturity date like how you buy/sell stocks to get back your fund (+interest)?
I just buy when there is a new auction.
The schedule is found here https://www.treasurydir
If you want to buy the next 4-week T-bill, you need money at Fidelity by Feb 8 at the latest.
You can start buying on Feb 7 or whenever Fidelity shows it on their website.
If you do not Auto-Roll, when the 4-week T-bill matures, the money goes into the Fidelity Core position. Then you can just transfer it out or use it to buy the next T-bill.
If you got mattress money, look at ETFs
I'll give you the best slickdeal
MUTF: AMAGX
Look at the returns and then compare with other grandpa etfs
https://finance.yahoo.c
Why do the long term returns seem to be not outperforming benchmarks? Is it because of the 0.9% fee of AMAGX?
How do you find direct issue TBills and what is the schedule of issue?
The schedule is here https://www.treasurydir
You need money in your account the day of the auction.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.