IIRC, didn't you keep Treasurys on auto-roll? Once upon a time, they seemed like the better choice.

The yield for the one year U.S. Treasury Zero fell to -0.03%.

The entire short end of Treasury yield curve is now in negative territory from 3 months out to 1 year.

The US government already practices double taxation on Social Security payments, so I think we have already moved in that direction.

The most recent monthly fact sheet for FDLXX (4/30/21) shows that without waiving expenses and reimbursements, the fund would actually have a 7 day yield of -0.35%. Since the fund managers manage a number of Fidelity money market funds, it is possible that the company’s net cost to run this particul...

Here is a right side article on the topic. It links to a current Krugman article on inflation, and a study by the Obama admin about the post WW2 years. https://www.independent.org/news/article.asp?id=13573&omhide=true @ I Shrugged: I suppose you must know that the lines between the inflationist...

@D1984: 1. It is simply false, as you state, that “health insurance doesn’t buy any more health care.” Ask any physician who does knee replacements or treats breast cancer how those illnesses would have been treated in 1970 versus today. Our system for providing health care certainly leaves much to ...

The OP’s chart of real wages after inflation is misleading because it does not include the dramatic growth in the number and value of employee benefits since inflation took off in the 1970s-- now estimated to average about 46.6% above and beyond real wages. Such benefits include: -Health insurance -...

The idea I like the most is shortening the duration of the Treasuries. Stable (better for loss-aversion), better tax treatment (assumption), simpler. Practical steps to lower LTT volatility and raise total yield. 1. Stop buying TLT. ETF’s have counterparty risk, fluctuating net asset value, and ann...

Vinny, Thanks for sharing your experiences as an accountant. I obviously was wrong in assuming that all accountants knew how to do tax returns. I used to do my own taxes with a pencil and paper and a very large eraser. A few years ago I shifted over to Turbotax as my tax return got longer and more c...

@ Vinny, I think you have it correct. I use Turbotax to complete my tax return. Turbotax software fills out the forms for me. My IRS Form 8888 that I submitted this tax year has nothing in any of the blocks in Part I (Direct Deposit). Part II (U.S. Series I Savings Bond Purchases), is filled out as ...

Certificates of Indebtedness are guaranteed 0% securities designed to facilitate electronic payroll plan purchases of Treasury securities or US savings bonds. I have never purchased them because I only use my TreasuryDirect account to make direct purchases of US savings bonds with electronic transfe...

@ Dieter:
Buy what you can. You won't regret it.

If you aren't happy with an I-bond you buy right now, you can always treat it like a 1-year CD and sell it at the end of the one year lock-up period.

I'm not in the income bracket where I need to worry about paper iBonds (or even what the max is for electronic!), but, thanks for the info on the later i-Bond rate. I did put some $ into i-bonds for the first time in a while. If you are so rich that you don't personally need your quota of paper I-b...

@ Vinny:

Be sure to check that box.

jhogue, Quick question... Aren't you retired? If so, how are you pulling off the tax refund paper I-Bond deal each year? I think you've written that you overpay your tax. But that must be by thousands of dollars, right? I am retired. I do a draft of my taxes at the end of January. I then compute ho...

@ Vinny: Sorry, I have never tried H&R Block software. Turbotax shows Balance/Refund on the front page of its instructions and in the IRS Form 1040. See IRS Form 1040-SR (2020) page 3: -Refund Line 34: If line 33 is more than line 24, subtract line 24 from line 33. This is the amount you overpai...

@ Vinny: 1. I-bonds that you buy in your Treasury Direct account after 1 May 2021 will yield 3.54% for the next 6 months. 2. In addition to the above, you can buy $5,000 in I-bonds with your 2020 tax refund. They will also yield 3.54% for the next 6 months. IRS form 8888 has purchase instructions. I...

Fed cant buy ibonds and push down that yield? In a word, no. As you imply, the Fed could adjust the yield on, for instance, 1-year Treasury bills by selling them at auction or buying and selling on the secondary market. The yield on new I-bonds is fixed and guaranteed by the Treasury twice each yea...

1. I submitted my IRS Form 1040 via Turbotax yesterday, along with my request for tax refund in the form of this year's quota of paper I-bonds.Given the IRS's problems issuing refunds last year, I will be watching to see how smoothly I-bond issuance proceeds this year. 2. I share the nostalgia for p...

TreasuryDirect has set the new fixed rate for I bonds at 0.0%. Combined with the previous announced variable rate, the composite rate for newly purchased I bonds will be 3.54% for the next 6 months, as expected. Because the yield is guaranteed not to fall below zero, the yield for the next 12 months...

I am no prepper either, but a few years in the Boy Scouts taught me to "be prepared."

No plan can handle every possible contingency. I am suggesting an emergency fund with multiple layers and some diversification should see you through the most-- and the most likely-- emergencies.

Safety deposit box unlocks mechanically with two keys: the banker has one and I have the other.

I think safety comes in layers. I have a readily accessible emergency fund outside of my brokerage account (held at Fidelity and insured by Lloyds of London). I have a safe deposit box in a local bank. I know my local banker and he knows me. While my local bank account is FDIC-insured, it is just as...

@jalanlong: As Ayn Rand used to say, you need to examine your premises: There isn't anything imprudent about a 25% cash position. At most, a small negative real yield on cash is a premium paid for liquidity. At least, there are strategies available to achieve and maintain a positive real yield on ca...

I think it is quite simple: Buffett is more concerned with the return of his money than he is with the return on his money. In other words, safety and liquidity must come before yield.