Sophie: Tax advice is tricky, individualized, and the future is impossible to predict, but here are a couple of strategies to consider that can reduce your “monster tax bills” due to interest in taxable accounts in the near term: 1. Consider taking one or a series of Roth IRA conversions. Use part o...

1. I agree, the problem with TIPS is taxes. 2. I agree, the problem with annuities is expenses. I bonds are tax deferred for 30 years and have an expense ratio of 0%. My current cash set up is: 1/3 I bonds 1/3 T-bills 1/3 FDLXX (Fidelity Treasury Only Money Market Fund) It has safety, liquidity, and...

The first movie I can remember is The Wizard of Oz, as shown on TV when I was about four. I was so traumatized by the Wicked Witch that my parents had to send me to bed-- and then I had nightmares for days.Fortunately I recovered and eventually it became an annual event at our home. I still think it...

A one year T-bill yielded 5.34% this morning in Fidelity's secondary market.
A five year brokered CD yielded just 5.50%

1. Isn't it nice that Cash isn't trash any more?

2. Why fight the Fed?

I suppose I should have left out any speculation on the future of interest rates in my last post. I don't know what they will do. What I am trying to do is guard against the possibility that inflation might be stubbornly persistent.

As many on this forum know, I have long been a booster of buying US Series I bonds, especially for “Deep Cash” in the Cash quadrant of the Permanent Portfolio. I recently halted this practice (at least for now) and felt some obligation to explain why my thinking has evolved: 1. My I-bonds now consti...

Cash investors should consider taxation as well as inflation. I-bonds have superior tax treatment compared to TIPS: I-bonds come with 30 years tax deferral, interest compounded semi-annually. TIPS do not. I-bonds create extra tax deferred space. TIPS in tax-advantage accounts take up that space. I-b...

You can make some money in the short term buying and selling I-bonds. However, I agree with sophie that the most profitable I-bond strategy is to buy as much as you can as soon as you can and hold them for as long as you can. That takes maximum advantage of their 30 year federal tax deferral+ 30 yea...

stuper1, You pose an interesting question. I would not involuntarily surrender tax free space in our Roth IRAs if I could avoid it because: 1. Once that tax advantage is gone, you can never get it back. 2. I am pretty convinced that our taxes have nowhere to go but up. ( I could be wrong, but I doub...

Thanks for the up to date review of gold ETFs.

I chose SGOL because of its holdings are diversified outside the US in Zurich and London.

Bitcoin is speculation, pure and simple. If you want to put it in the VP with money you can afford to lose, go right ahead. But right now, the cryptocurrencies remind me of tech companies before 2000 or railroads after the Civil War: a few of them survived, but even they are in substantially differ...

I am sorry to hear of your run-in with internet bank robbers of the early 21st century variety, mathjak. I am glad to hear, however, that Fidelity is working on it. Aside from vigilance, diversification is the only answer to this sort of problem. That is why I keep I bonds at both in my TreasuryDire...

It is a simple fact; yet STILL too often ignored by investors: No debt instrument is safer or more liquid than a Treasury-backed security. To get a higher yield you have to accept more risk. And anybody who is eager to leave their cash with Citibank would do well to first read up on its history in t...

I think you misunderstand. The problem isn't that the FDIC will fail. It won't. But if your bank fails, it could cause you no end of headaches before FDIC makes you whole again. Well since I use a lot of FDIC insured bank accounts, please educate me with some examples in recent memory where deposit...

I'd take that in a heartbeat. Its an FDIC insured savings account. As long as you keep it at $250K or less to stay in the insurance band, its just as good as a Treasury bill in my workd. If we truly have an issue where FDIC fails and the government doesn't back it, thats gonna be a scenario where c...

Yep, no question that the era of ZIRP is over.

Just for the sake of discussion… I have a T-Bill ladder in my taxable account at Fidelity composed of 3, 6, and 9 month T-Bills, purchased on the secondary market, that I will to hold to maturity. It currently yields about 4.5%-- which is far better than an HBPP-designated Treasury money market fund...

I think there is some merit in Kriegsspiel’s contrarian views of the Russia/Ukranian War. However, the decisions by the neutral (and mostly non-corrupt) governments of Sweden and Finland to seek NATO membership immediately after the Russian invasion sounded serious alarm bells on the eastern frontie...

David Enna gives an extended consideration of how to time a sale of I-bonds to yield the optimal interest rate for the short-term investor. See his column at: https://tipswatch.com Note that,( like me), his preferred strategy is to always buy the max every year and never sell before 30 year maturity...

With the expected passage of 1 Nov. re-set rate for I-bonds, the dust is beginning to settle: 1. For short-term I-bond investors, the variable interest component rate fell from 9.62% to 6.48%. for an annualized rate of 8.2%, if you bought before 1 Nov. This looks like a severe fall off until you con...

Bankers at the Federal Reserve do not know what the interest rate will be next year. How can the average investor?

Thanks, Barrett. You didn't directly answer my question, but you DID address the pressure I was feeling to get it done prior to October 31. I appreciate the reassurance that all may not be lost. Maddy, 1. Every recent (past 10 years) TreasuryDirect account that I know begins with a letter, not a nu...

I bought my full aliquot of online I Bonds in January, and also got paper bonds with my tax refund in March. I filed in February as per usual, to reduce the chance that an identity thief will beat me to it - under the theory that he who files first, files best. I wonder if the problem is the timing...

With the CPI data out this morning, TipsWatch has the new variable rate for 11/1/22 to 4/30/23 at 6.48%. Link is here: https://tipswatch.com/category/i-bond/ Thinking I may add to our gift box positions before 10/31 to get the current 9.62% for six months. And then, obviously, 6.48% for another six...

Sorry to hear about your mother's condition, sophie.

Adding to my Cash pile rather than the other 3 volatile assets during times like the present dampens volatility and "feels" like an extra bit of cushion against the unexpected or unanticipated.