Warning: Avoid Buying Vanguard Target Retirement Funds in Taxable Accounts

Posted on December 26, 2024 // 5 Comments
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Vanguard Target Retirement Funds are a huge series of “all-in-one” mutual funds, now with over $1 trillion in total assets. I don’t hold them myself, but I have advised my parents to invest their IRAs in them. I appreciate that they are low-cost, diversified, and rebalanced automatically to maintain a reasonable asset allocation, meaning that I don’t have to actively monitor them myself.

However, due to a mix of factors, it is important to know that these Target Retirement 20XX funds tend to make larger capital gains distributions than an equivalent mix of index ETFs. This can cause unexpected tax bills, especially for those with large balances and near retirement. Inside a 401k or IRA, none of this matters. But you should avoid owning them in a taxable brokerage account unless you accept these disadvantages as a price of their ease of ownership.

Back in 2021, these made large capital gains distributions due to a mishandling of mutual fund expense changes by Vanguard. Vanguard eventually had to settle a class action lawsuit for $40 million. This 2022 Morningstar article has more details: Lessons From Vanguard Target-Date’s Capital Gains Surprise.

The Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 and 2020 funds again announced a higher capital gains distribution amount than its peer funds in its 2024 estimate report. The 2025 TDFs for American Funds, Fidelity, and T. Rowe Price were all in the 0.53% to 2.10% range, and American Funds are actively-managed! The Fidelity Freedom Index 2025 Funds only distributed 0.53%.

Assuming a $1 million balance in Vanguard Target Retirement 2025, the 4.29% capital gains distribution would work out to $42,900 in additional, likely unexpected income. At a long-term gains rate of 15%, that’s a tax bill of $6,435.

This could all happen again and again. Why? For one, Vanguard’s steeper glide path at this age period means they are selling stocks for bonds faster than other funds. Second, folks have been selling their shares, either because they need the money for retirement expenses or because they are part of the larger trend of selling to switch to ETFs. Either way, these two things are expected to continue in the foreseeable future.

ETFs have inherent structural advantages over mutual funds that help them to avoid creating capital gains. I suspect that it is only a matter of time before Vanguard introduces a line of Target Retirement ETFs, which would be able to minimize capital gains distributions. Of course, that could mean even more people selling their Target Retirement Mutual Funds if they can’t figure out how to make converting a non-taxable event, which would result in even more capital gains distributions! I’m not saying this would happen for sure, but it is a possibility that may create a spiral of increasing capital agains.

The actionable move here is to avoid buying into the Target Retirement Funds in a taxable account right now. If you are a younger investor, a Target Retirement Fund is 90% stocks anyway, essentially split into 60% VTI (Total US Stock) and 40% VXUS (Total International Stock). I’d just buy those two core building-block ETFs if you manage to have extra money to invest after 401k/403b/457/TSP and IRAs. If you wanted to be more exact, you could buy 55% VTI, 35% VXUS, and 10% BND.

Filed Under: Investing //
Last updated: December 26, 2024
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Thank You, John Rekenthaler, For The Uncomfortable Truths About Investing

Posted on December 19, 2024 // Leave a Comment
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John Rekenthaler, longtime Director of Research at Morningstar, recently announced his retirement from a 35+ year career with the article Farewell, For Now. As a regular reader of his “Rekenthaler Reports”, I have respected his clear writings that were often about the uncomfortable truths of investing.

I am old enough to remember when the “5-Star Rating” from Morningstar was the ultimate goal of every mutual fund, as that meant they could place a huge ad inside Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and Money magazines (along with the inevitable other mentions) and wait for the money to roll in. Morningstar still has fund ratings and offers stock picks, but they’ve also evolved their business and to their credit, acknowledged these “uncomfortable truths”:

5-star Morningstar ratings weren’t very useful. Even way back in 2000, the research showed that high past performance did not result in high future performance. The only thing that showed “persistence” were the worst-performing funds. Bad funds stayed bad. From a 2000 article by Jane Bryant Quinn:

John Rekenthaler, Morningstar’s research director, says there’s actually not much difference between mid-ranked funds and top-rated ones. Three-star, four-star and five-star funds have been found to perform pretty much alike, he says.

Still, those funds do better, on average, than two-star or one-star funds. If that’s the case, you shouldn’t worry if your fund moves from level to level, as long as it rates three stars and up.

Low expense ratios matter the most in fund selection. Russell Kinnel was the author of the 2010 Morningstar article How Expense Ratios & Star Ratings Predict Success, but Rekenthaler was also part of that research team and the admission was really big news for that time:

Perhaps the most compelling argument for expenses is that they worked every time–because costs always are deducted from returns regardless of the market environment. The star rating, as a reflection of past risk-adjusted performance, is more time-period dependent. When the market swings dramatically, the star rating is going to be less effective.

Investors should make expense ratios a primary test in fund selection. They are still the most dependable predictor of performance. Start by focusing on funds in the cheapest or two cheapest quintiles, and you’ll be on the path to success.

Doing nothing is often the best investing advice. Could it be that the “Do Nothing Portfolio” could compete and often beat the average mutual fund and even index funds (which still add and remove stocks within their index)? There is a lot of interesting stuff here: More Lessons From the Do Nothing Portfolio.

There is something to be said about minimizing your trading to the absolute minimum. The reason behind making extra trades is often either performance-chasing or panic-selling. Less is often more.

Edges don’t last. From William Bernstein:

Rekenthaler’s Rule: “If the bozos know about it, it doesn’t work anymore.” In other words, as soon as an anomaly is uncovered, it is arbitraged out of existence.

Time IN the game, not timing the game. Rekenthaler even included some uncomfortable truths inside his last article. If he had listened to Jack Bogle and picked the low-cost Vanguard S&P 500 index fund from early on instead of his actual picks (as an employee at Morningstar!), he’d likely be much richer today. But because he still kept investing consistently and mostly in US stocks, he still did just fine. Thus, we should not expect investing perfection from ourselves, either.

Another tribute article: What I Learned From John Rekenthaler

Filed Under: Investing //
Last updated: December 19, 2024
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Best Interest Rates Survey: Savings Accounts, Treasuries, CDs, ETFs – December 2024

Posted on December 15, 2024 // 12 Comments
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Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of December 2024, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. There are lesser-known opportunities available to individual investors, often earning more money while keeping the same level of safety by moving to another FDIC-insured bank or NCUA-insured credit union. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you could earn from switching. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 12/15/2024.

TL;DR: Slightly lower overall in the short-term. Only a few around 5% APY now. Still some 4%+ APY 5-year CDs. Compare against Treasury bills and bonds at every maturity, taking into account state tax exemption. I no longer recommend fintech companies due to the possibility of loss due to poor recordkeeping and/or fraud.

High-yield savings accounts
Since the huge megabanks still pay essentially no interest, everyone should at least have a separate, no-fee online savings account to piggy-back onto your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates and solid user experience. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

  • The top rates at the moment are from newcomers TIMBR at 5.05% APY and Pibank at 5.00% APY. I have no personal experience with either, but they are the top rates at the moment. Most others have dropped at least a little. For example, CIT Platinum Savings is now at 4.55% APY with $5,000+ balance.
  • SoFi Bank is at 4.00% APY + up to $325 new account bonus with direct deposit. You must maintain a direct deposit of any amount (even $1) each month for the higher APY. SoFi has historically competitive rates and full banking features. See details at $25 + $300 SoFi Money new account and deposit bonus.
  • Here is a limited survey of high-yield savings accounts. They aren’t the top rates, but a group that have historically kept it relatively competitive such that I like to track their history.

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
A common question is what to do with a big pile of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (plan to buy a house soon, just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple and take your time. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

  • No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. Marcus has a 7mo/9mo/11mo No Penalty CD at 4.00% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Farmer’s Insurance FCU has 9-month No Penalty CD at 4.50% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit. Consider opening multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
  • Langley Federal Credit Union has a 10-month certificate special at 5.25% APY ($500 min, $50,000 max). This is a promo for new members only. Anyone can join this credit union nationwide; you must maintain $5 in their share savings account. Early withdrawal penalty is 90 days of interest.

Money market mutual funds
Many brokerage firms that pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). Note: Money market mutual funds are highly-regulated, but ultimately not FDIC-insured, so I would still stick with highly reputable firms.

  • Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (VMFXX) is the default sweep option for Vanguard brokerage accounts, which has an SEC yield of 4.54% (changes daily, but also works out to a compound yield of 4.64%, which is better for comparing against APY). Odds are this is much higher than your own broker’s default cash sweep interest rate.
  • Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund (VUSXX) is an alternative money market fund which you must manually purchase, but the interest will be mostly (80% for 2023 tax year) exempt from state and local income taxes because it comes from qualifying US government obligations. Current SEC yield of 4.49% (compound yield of 4.58%).

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks and are fully backed by the US government. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes, which can make a significant difference in your effective yield.

  • You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 12/13/24, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 4.31% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 4.24% annualized interest.
  • The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) has a 4.88% SEC yield (this looks old) and effective duration of 0.10 years. SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a 4.42% SEC yield and effective duration of 0.08 years.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. The annual purchase limit for electronic I bonds is $10,000 per Social Security Number, available online at TreasuryDirect.gov.

  • “I Bonds” bought between November 2024 and April 2025 will earn a 3.11% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More on Savings Bonds here.
  • In mid-April 2025, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops which usually involve 10+ debit card purchases each cycle, a certain number of ACH/direct deposits, and/or a certain number of logins per month. If you make a mistake (or they judge that you did) you risk earning zero interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others would rather not bother. Rates can also drop suddenly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling.

  • OnPath Federal Credit Union (my review) pays 7.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and login to online or mobile banking once per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization. You can also get a $100 Visa Reward card when you open a new account and make qualifying transactions.
  • Genisys Credit Union pays 6.75% APY on up to $7,500 if you make 10 debit card purchases of $5+ each per statement cycle, and opt into online statements. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
  • La Capitol Federal Credit Union pays 6.25% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases of at least $5 each per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization, Louisiana Association for Personal Financial Achievement ($20).
  • NEW: Falcon National Bank pays 6.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make at least 15 debit card purchases, 1 direct deposit OR ACH credit transaction, and enroll in online statements.
  • Credit Union of New Jersey pays 6.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit, online bill payment, or automatic payment (ACH) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
  • Andrews Federal Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit or ACH transaction per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization.
  • Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
CDs offer higher rates, but come with an early withdrawal penalty. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD to keep the ladder going. Some CDs also offer “add-ons” where you can deposit more funds if rates drop.

  • Credit Human has a 59-month CD at 4.11% APY. 48-month at 4.11% APY. 35-month at 4.25% APY. 23-month at 4.30% APY. 1-year at 4.40% APY. $500 minimum. The early withdrawal penalty (EWP) for CD maturities of 36 months or more is 365 days of interest. For CD maturity of 1 year, the EWP is 270 days of interest. This is actually a credit union, but is open nationwide with a American Consumer Council (ACC) membership. Try promo code “consumer” when signing up at ACC for a free membership.
  • Synchrony Bank has a 5-year certificate at 4.00% APY (no minimum), 4-year at 3.50% APY, 3-year at 3.75% APY, 2-year at 3.50% APY, and 1-year at 4.00% APY. Early withdrawal penalty for the 4-year and 5-year is 365 days of interest.
  • BMO Alto has a 5-year CD at 3.90% APY. 4-year at 3.80% APY. 3-year at 3.80% APY. 2-year at 3.80% APY. 1-year at 4.20% APY. No minimum. The early withdrawal penalty (EWP) for CD maturities of 1 year or more is 180 days of interest. For CD maturities of 11 months or less, the EWP is 90 days of interest. However, note that they reserve the right to prohibit early withdrawals entirely (!). Online-only subsidiary of BMO Bank.
  • You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Right now, I see a 5-year non-callable CD at 3.90% APY (callable: no, call protection: yes). Be warned that both Vanguard and Fidelity will list higher rates from callable CDs, which importantly means they can call back your CD if rates drop later. (Issuers have indeed started calling some of their old 5%+ CDs during 2024.)

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk (tbh, I don’t use them at all), but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

  • Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year CDs at [n/a] (non-callable) vs. 4.40% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs where they can call your CD back if interest rates drop.

All rates were checked as of 12/15/2024.

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //
Last updated: December 15, 2024
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Mary Buffett & The Difference Between Gifting Cash and Stocks

Posted on December 13, 2024 // 9 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

In a recent Fortune article, which in turn referenced an older ThinkAdvisor interview, Mary Buffett shared an anecdote about how her former father-in-law Warren Buffett changed the way he gifted his family $10,000 every year, from cash to shares of stock:

He would always give each of us $10,000 in hundred-dollar bills. As soon as we got home, we’d spend it — whooo! Then, one Christmas there was an envelope with a letter from him. Instead of cash, he’d given us $10,000 worth of shares in a company he’d recently bought, a trust Coca-Cola had. He said to either cash them in or keep them. I thought, “Well, [this stock] is worth more than $10,000. So I kept it, and it kept going up. Then, every year when he’d give us stock — Wells Fargo being one of them — I would just buy more of it because I knew it was going to go up.

Giving shares of stock instead of cash was small nudge that made a difference. A little bit of added friction. A little hint from the giver that you might want to keep it, but you aren’t forced to keep it.

I haven’t given my children any stock yet, but am starting to think they are ready. It won’t be a lot, but I’ll tell them about it and they can look at the custodial account statements each year. I’ll show them what paper stock certificates look like. I’m hoping that they’ll also see the growth from the investment, and then that’ll make them even less likely to sell the shares. But they’ll technically be free to sell them once they turn 18 (or up to 25 in some states).

Filed Under: Family, Investing //
Last updated: December 13, 2024
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List of 529 College Savings Plan Promotions: California, Florida, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin (December 2024)

Posted on December 7, 2024 // 4 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

College savings plans tend to have promotions mostly on May 29th, aka “529 Day”, but some are also offering bonuses during this Black Friday/Cyber Week/Year-End Holiday period. Now is also a good time to remember 529 plans can accept outside contributions, which mean you can easily contribute directly to someone else’s 529 plan, or request that people consider gifts that go directly to your child’s 529 plan. Most have easy links to share with friends and family.

Here’s a list of what I could find, please let me know if you find more. I’m listing the state, but you do not have to be a resident of that state to open a 529 account there. You can have multiple 529s from different states, and often you can get the bonus once for each child. However, you may need to be a resident to qualify for a specific bonus, or there may be an age restriction on the beneficiary, etc.

529 plans can now pay for K-12 tuition and other educational expenses beyond college tuition and room/board. Check your own state rules, though. Finally, opening a plan and making any contribution also starts the 15-year clock on potential future 529-to-Roth IRA rollovers.

Photo is modified from Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

Filed Under: College & Education, Deals & Offers, Investing //
Last updated: December 12, 2024
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Vanguard Announces New Treasury Bill ETFs: New Best Cash Alternative?

Posted on December 3, 2024 // 3 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Vanguard recently released an announcement that in “First Quarter 2025” they will be releasing two new index ETFs that both hold short-term US Treasury Bonds:

  • Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (VBIL). Holds Treasuries with maturities of 3 months or less. Estimated expense ratio of 0.07%.
  • Vanguard Ultra-Short Treasury ETF (VGUS). Holds Treasuries with maturities of less than 12 months. Estimated expense ratio of 0.07%.

Currently, I would say the two best options for those who want low-cost exposure to Treasury Bills as a cash alternative without having to manually manage their own T-Bill ladder are:

  • iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV). Holds Treasuries with maturities of 3 months or less (1.2 months weighted average as of 12/2024). Expense ratio of 0.09%. 30-day historical median bid/ask spread of 0.01%. Can be bought and sold at nearly any brokerage.
  • Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund (VUSXX). Maintains a NAV of $1. Holds Treasuries with average maturity of 38 days (as of 10/31/24). Expense ratio of 0.09%. Usually must be bought and sold within a Vanguard brokerage accounts to avoid transaction fees.

The advantages of owning properly-managed T-Bill funds are that you hopefully maintain the state income tax exemption of T-Bill interest, while adding the convenience and easy liquidity of ETFs and mutual funds. T-Bills often give residents of states with high local/state income taxes the highest tax-equivalent yield available for a cash equivalent (minimal volatility, minimal principal risk).

For tax year 2023, SGOV reported 96.45% of interest was derived from qualified U.S. Government and agency obligations. In many states, this meant that 96.45% of the interest paid out was exempt from state and local income taxes.

For tax year 2023, VUSXX reported 80.06% of interest was derived from qualified U.S. Government and agency obligations. In many states, this means that 80.06% of the interest paid out was exempt from state and local income taxes.

Ideally, VBIL will be very similar to SGOV with a tight bid/ask spread and nearly all interest eligible for state income tax exemption, but with even lower expenses and thus higher net yields. Something to keep a look out for in early 2025.

Filed Under: Banking, Investing //
Last updated: December 12, 2024
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

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TreasuryDirect Customer Service Delays and Estate Planning Concerns

Posted on November 17, 2024 // 11 Comments
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TreasuryDirect.gov is the official site for individuals to directly purchase US savings bonds and US Treasury bonds, including new T-Bills and TIPS at auction. But is it still worth the hassle? Back in August 2024, TreasuryDirect sent me the following e-mail when converting my paper bonds to electronic:

Cases are worked in the order they are received in our office. Your request is important to us and will receive attention as soon as possible. Please be aware of our estimated processing times to process your case which are based on the case type:

Cases requesting to cash Series EE and/or Series I paper savings bonds held in your name, at least 4 weeks.
Cases requesting to cash Series HH savings bonds held in your name, at least 3 months.
Unlocking your TreasuryDirect account, updating bank information in that account, or converting your paper savings bonds into electronic bonds in TreasuryDirect, at least 4 weeks.
Claims for missing, lost, or stolen bonds, at least 6 months.
All other cases, at least 20 weeks.
If we require additional information to process your case, we will contact you. Thank you for your patience.

That’s at least a month for some pretty basic stuff like unlocking your account because you forgot what you said was your favorite movie. In October 2024, the WSJ published TreasuryDirect to Bond Buyers: Moving Your Money Could Take a Year regarding long delays transferring Treasury bonds to outside brokerages.

The resulting customer service backlog is straining the Treasury Department’s antiquated system, which can require verified signatures and paper forms sent through the mail. People transferring securities from TreasuryDirect to third-party brokerages face especially long waits because those requests are processed manually, according to people familiar with the matter.

TreasuryDirect tries to complete most of them within six weeks, but can take 12 months, depending on capacity. A notice on the TreasuryDirect website says some customer service requests “may require 12 months or more to process.” The notice had said the longest delays were about six months until the end of July.

Finally, there are multiple posts on the Bogleheads, Early Retirement, and Reddit forums about the difficulties of dealing with TreasuryDirect after the account owner passes away. Here’s one example from a user that was already familiar with the website, knew all the account information, and had the beneficiaries assigned correctly, but still encountered multiple forms, conflicting instructions, and months of delays – Treasury Direct – The Eternal Wait and No Way To Track Transfer:

I’m closing in on 3 months waiting for Treasury Direct to transfer several EE bonds and an I bond that were in my dad’s online Treasury Direct account to my online Treasury Direct account. My dad passed away at the end of December 2022 and I was registered as the beneficiary with POD on all of the bonds.

And the follow-up (emphasis mine):

My dad’s I bonds were transferred to me around the 4-5 month mark.

After that experience, I decided to liquidate all of my TD accounts, and will encourage my husband to do the same. I personally don’t want a repeat of this experience, or make my heirs go through such a lengthy process in resolving my estate.

What I learned from this experience is to not discount how much stress and mental bandwidth it takes to deal with TD when you’re also grieving the loss of a family member, and trying to settle the estate so you can move on financially.

Another similar estate horror story here.

Takeaway #1: Expect and prepare for slow service. It’s very clear that TreasuryDirect is an underfunded government program with very limited resources. Even most mega banks no longer cash in old paper savings bonds, so that has increased their workload as well. Any time there is a surge in demand, either due to relatively attractive rates on savings bonds or Treasury bills, they are going to get backed up. If you happen to lock yourself out of your account during one of these times, it may take months to fix it! Be very careful before you close that old bank account linked through TreasuryDirect. Use a reliable password manager, and be sure to add your answers to questions like “Who is your favorite child?”. Be sure to note your account information in multiple documents, in case someone needs to find it.

Takeaway #2: Never use TreasuryDirect for anything besides US savings bonds. TreasuryDirect.gov is the only place where you can purchase US savings bonds, but it is not the only place you can buy individual Treasury bonds and TIPS. Just open an account with a broker with better resources and a bond desk like Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard and go through them.

Takeaway #3: Consider your heirs and simplifying your accounts as you age. In my opinion, I would also avoid TreasuryDirect if you are older and you don’t want to burden your estate executors with dealing with TreasuryDirect. You can save them several months and many hours of calls and paperwork by liquidating your assets and consolidating them elsewhere. TreasuryDirect will likely take the longest to resolve out of all of your financial accounts.

Personally, I continue to gradually liquidate the savings bonds in my TreasuryDirect account and buying individual TIPS in an outside brokerage account instead. I will have to pay some taxes on the deferred interest, but since I am getting a 1% to 2% higher fixed rate via TIPS in many cases, it’s not that bad. I also worry that my survivors might completely overlook this account if something unexpected happens (there are no mailed paper statements, or even monthly e-mails of online statements.) I’d like to minimize any unnecessary headaches and consider this part of my overall portfolio simplification process.

If I was younger and still grinding for every small edge, I would probably still accept these shortcomings for the right interest rate and tax deferral properties, but nowadays the calculations are different.

Image source: Sitejabber

Filed Under: Banking, Estate Planning, Investing, Savings Bonds, Treasury Bills and Bonds //
Last updated: November 17, 2024
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

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Coinbase: $50 Bitcoin Bonus for New Customers (Ends 11/22)

Posted on November 14, 2024 // 3 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Coinbase is offering a $50 BTC new user bonus for new customers that complete their first trade of at least $1. Offer expires soon on 11/22/24. The promo code GET50 should already be populated. Fine print says $50 in Bitcoin should arrive within 24-48 hours (arrived within 5 minutes for me). This limited-time offer is better than the standard offer ($5 bonus) and the current referral offer ($20 bonus).

Coinbase continues to try to be the largest, most reputable US-based cryptocurrency exchange platform. If you were ineligible for a Coinbase account in your state previously, I’d check again because they are now live in more states. As with a bank account, you will need to verify your identity using passport, driver’s license, or state ID card. I was able to upload my photo and get it approved instantly.

I linked my PayPal account for simplicity and bought $5 in BTC, and my $50 bonus arrived nearly instantly. For the purchase, there is either a $0.99 commission or you can sign up for a 7-day free trial of Coinbase Pro and pay zero commission (just remember to cancel).

Coinbase also has a program called “Learning Rewards” that regularly offers additional small bonuses ($3 to $5 a pop) for watching videos about new crypto and completing a short quiz.

Fine print:

After your first trade, $50 worth of BTC will be added to your account. Limited redemptions of code may apply. Promotion code expires at 11:59 PST on 11/22/2024. Offer available to new users in the U.S. who have not previously made a crypto purchase on Coinbase. Minimum trade of $1. Allow 24 hours for the bonus to be deposited into your account. Offer not available to new users who were referred to Coinbase through the Referral Program or who have previously opened an account using different contact information. Coinbase may update the conditions for eligibility at any time. Cannot be combined with another offer or promotion.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Investing //
Last updated: November 14, 2024
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Halfmore App: Turn Your Kids’ Chores into a Roth IRA

Posted on November 13, 2024 // 8 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Roth IRAs are popular and powerful, and while they have an earned income requirement, they don’t have a minimum age requirement. As long as a child has “official” earned income, they can contribute that into a Roth IRA (technically a Custodial Roth IRA as a minor, with full rights when they turn 18).

There have been various tips floating around on how parents can help “support” the creation of earned income for their child. There was even a now-defunct website called 1417power.com that would “hire” your kids to take surveys online (of course, the parent had to “hire” 1417power.com first…).

A new app called Halfmore can now facilitate the creation of a nice paper trail between parents as employers and children as workers. They promise to turn chores into a Roth IRA balance. Based on their screenshots, examples of such chores include floor sweeping, washing the dishes, surface dusting, and plant watering. The screenshots also suggest a pay rate of $15 to $16 an hour.

For chores to be recognized as legitimate sources of income, your kids should be paid for tasks you would typically hire another neighborhood kid or a nanny to do (rather than for regular family chores). They should also be appropriate for your child’s age and abilities. Examples include cleaning the garage, mowing the lawn (without a machine), and babysitting. The work must be real, and the wages should be fair.

From what I can gather through the limited information on their website (I had to register to get more details), this is what they offer:

  • They will help you file for an EIN from the government, so you are registered as an official household employer. This is basically the type of thing you should do if you hired a full-time nanny.
  • Through the app, you can track the completion of chores and manage payroll for your children. For example, the washing of dishes can be marked down as 30 minutes of work.
  • They will prepare work documentation for IRS income tax filing and record-keeping requirements.
  • They will help you navigate Federal and State employment taxes.
  • They will help open a custodial Roth IRA for you at Fidelity or Schwab, and transfer money into that account.

The cost is $15 per month or ($144 per year). Their FAQ says this covers up to three children (another place on the website says up to five children). You could file for an EIN, track chores, and open up a custodial Roth yourself for “free”. You are essentially following the same steps as if you were hiring a full-time nanny as a household worker. But if you make enough money such that you are considering this scheme for your kids, then your hourly rate is probably high enough that the convenience factor makes this a reasonable fee.

If you need more chore ideas, here is the Montessori Chart of Age-Appropriate Chores For Kids that keeps floating around like a meme:

spoiledchores

Looking through my archives, I realized that I have already written about “Roth IRA for Kids” in 2007, 2012, and 2019. My eldest child is in middle school now, and I’m still working on how to best teach them about money. I can see a matching program later on in life when they have a real job from an outside employer. But right now, I don’t pay them anything to do their chores. Chores are not a job, they are a responsibility to their family. They can’t decline their chores by declining the money. Maybe I’ll pay for extra jobs around the house, but I think it’s gonna be a stretch for that to add up to thousands of dollars a year.

If you already plan on gifting your child money anyway, this might be a more efficient method. For me, I already tell them that we spend a lot of money on their education right now, and that is our “gift”. I am already paying plenty for tutoring, swim lessons, tennis lessons, STEM camps, etc. Not to mention who knows how much college will cost! I suppose I just feel like this is too far down the list. Maybe my attitude will change later. Maybe I’ll just let them have the sense of accomplishment from funding their own retirement accounts. 😁

Filed Under: Family, Investing, Retirement //
Last updated: November 13, 2024
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Best Interest Rates Survey: Savings Accounts, Money Markets, Treasuries, CDs, ETFs – November 2024

Posted on November 12, 2024 // 6 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of November 2024, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. There are lesser-known opportunities available to individual investors, often earning more money while keeping the same level of safety by moving to another FDIC-insured bank or NCUA-insured credit union. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you could earn from switching. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 11/12/2024.

TL;DR: Fed lowered rates again; slight drops are continuing on average. Still some 5%+ savings accounts. Still some 4%+ APY 5-year CDs. Compare against Treasury bills and bonds at every maturity, taking into account state tax exemption. I no longer recommend fintech companies due to the possibility of loss due to poor recordkeeping and/or fraud.

High-yield savings accounts
Since the huge megabanks still pay essentially no interest, everyone should at least have a separate, no-fee online savings account to piggy-back onto your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates and solid user experience. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

  • The top rates at the moment are from newcomers Pibank at 5.50% APY and TIMBR at 5.25% APY. I have no personal experience with either, but they are the top rates at the moment. Most others have dropped at least a little. For example, CIT Platinum Savings is now at 4.55% APY with $5,000+ balance.
  • SoFi Bank is at 4.20% APY + up to $325 new account bonus with direct deposit. You must maintain a direct deposit of any amount (even $1) each month for the higher APY. SoFi has historically competitive rates and full banking features. See details at $25 + $300 SoFi Money new account and deposit bonus.
  • Here is a limited survey of high-yield savings accounts. They aren’t the top rates, but a group that have historically kept it relatively competitive such that I like to track their history. Kind of an index like the Dow or S&P 500.

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
A common question is what to do with a big pile of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (plan to buy a house soon, just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple and take your time. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

  • No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. Marcus has a 7mo/9mo/11mo No Penalty CD at 3.90% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Farmer’s Insurance FCU has 9-month No Penalty CD at 4.50% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit. Consider opening multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
  • Langley Federal Credit Union has a 10-month certificate special at 5.25% APY ($500 min, $50,000 max). This is a promo for new members only. Anyone can join this credit union nationwide; you must maintain $5 in their share savings account. Early withdrawal penalty is 90 days of interest.

Money market mutual funds
Many brokerage firms that pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). Note: Money market mutual funds are highly-regulated, but ultimately not FDIC-insured, so I would still stick with highly reputable firms.

  • Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (VMFXX) is the default sweep option for Vanguard brokerage accounts, which has an SEC yield of 4.67% (changes daily, but also works out to a compound yield of 4.77%, which is better for comparing against APY). Odds are this is much higher than your own broker’s default cash sweep interest rate.
  • Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund (VUSXX) is an alternative money market fund which you must manually purchase, but the interest will be mostly (80% for 2023 tax year) exempt from state and local income taxes because it comes from qualifying US government obligations. Current SEC yield of 4.63% (compound yield of 4.73%).

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks and are fully backed by the US government. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes, which can make a significant difference in your effective yield.

  • You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 11/12/24, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 4.60% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 4.38% annualized interest.
  • The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) has a 4.88% SEC yield and effective duration of 0.10 years. SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a 4.57% SEC yield and effective duration of 0.08 years.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. The annual purchase limit for electronic I bonds is $10,000 per Social Security Number, available online at TreasuryDirect.gov.

  • “I Bonds” bought between November 2024 and April 2025 will earn a 3.11% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More on Savings Bonds here.
  • In mid-April 2025, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops which usually involve 10+ debit card purchases each cycle, a certain number of ACH/direct deposits, and/or a certain number of logins per month. If you make a mistake (or they judge that you did) you risk earning zero interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others would rather not bother. Rates can also drop suddenly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling.

  • OnPath Federal Credit Union (my review) pays 7.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and login to online or mobile banking once per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization. You can also get a $100 Visa Reward card when you open a new account and make qualifying transactions.
  • Genisys Credit Union pays 6.75% APY on up to $7,500 if you make 10 debit card purchases of $5+ each per statement cycle, and opt into online statements. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
  • La Capitol Federal Credit Union pays 6.25% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases of at least $5 each per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization, Louisiana Association for Personal Financial Achievement ($20).
  • Credit Union of New Jersey pays 6.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit, online bill payment, or automatic payment (ACH) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
  • Andrews Federal Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit or ACH transaction per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization.
  • Orion Federal Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make electronic deposits of $500+ each month (ACH transfers count) and spend $500+ on your Orion debit or credit card each month. Anyone can join this credit union via $10 membership fee to partner organization membership.
  • All America/Redneck Bank pays 4.65% APY on up to $15,000 if you make 10 debit card purchases each monthly cycle with online statements.
  • Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
CDs offer higher rates, but come with an early withdrawal penalty. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD to keep the ladder going. Some CDs also offer “add-ons” where you can deposit more funds if rates drop.

  • Synchrony Bank has a 5-year certificate at 4.00% APY (no minimum), 4-year at 3.90% APY, 3-year at 3.90% APY, 2-year at 3.90% APY, and 1-year at 4.20% APY. Early withdrawal penalty for the 4-year and 5-year is 365 days of interest.
  • BMO Alto has a 5-year CD at 4.00% APY. 4-year at 3.90% APY. 3-year at 3.90% APY. 2-year at 3.90% APY. 1-year at 4.30% APY. No minimum. The early withdrawal penalty (EWP) for CD maturities of 1 year or more is 180 days of interest. For CD maturities of 11 months or less, the EWP is 90 days of interest. However, note that they reserve the right to prohibit early withdrawals entirely (!). Online-only subsidiary of BMO Bank.
  • You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Right now, I see a 5-year non-callable CD at 3.85% APY (callable: no, call protection: yes). Be warned that both Vanguard and Fidelity will list higher rates from callable CDs, which importantly means they can call back your CD if rates drop later. (Issuers have indeed started calling some of their old 5%+ CDs as of Fall 2024.)

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk (tbh, I don’t use them at all), but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

  • Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year CDs at [n/a] (non-callable) vs. 4.43% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs where they can call your CD back if interest rates drop.

All rates were checked as of 11/12/2024.

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing // Tagged:
Last updated: November 13, 2024
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

2025 401(k) Contribution Limits Announced; New Super Catch-Up for Ages 60-63

Posted on November 5, 2024 // 3 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

The IRS officially announced the new 401(k) contribution limits for 2025 (full news release), which also included a new “super catch-up” allowance for people who are ages 60-63 at year-end 2025. Strangely, it goes back down once you are age 64. I hadn’t heard of this before now. As usual, by “401(k)” I mean that it applies to 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan.

The 2025 base 401(k) contribution limit is increased to $23,500, up from $23,000. This WSJ article (paywall) has a handy chart for reference.

The 2025 base IRA contribution limit remains at $7,000 (subject to income limits). Taken together, “maxing out” your IRA and 401(k) now takes more than $30,000 a year even ignoring any catch-ups. That’s a lot, but whatever you can cram in there may get roughly a 30% boost towards your final retirement balance.

Filed Under: Investing, Retirement //
Last updated: November 5, 2024
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Visualizing Asset Allocation Choices: Risk vs. Return vs. Probability

Posted on November 3, 2024 // 1 Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Howard Marks published another Oaktree Capital memo recently, Ruminating on Asset Allocation, which included several insights about asset classes and how to create a portfolio. I recommend reading the entire thing, but here are a few highlights about how to better understand the balancing act that is asset allocation. (I know many people follow them, but I ignore all the memos that lean toward macroeconomic forecasts.)

Here are the top-level takeaways, which set the table:

  • Fundamentally speaking, the only asset classes are ownership and debt.
  • They differ enormously in terms of their fundamental nature.
  • Ownership assets and debt assets should be combined to get your portfolio to the position on the risk/return continuum that’s right for you. This is the most important decision in portfolio management or asset allocation.

How do you pick the right relative amounts of equities (ownership of a business) and bonds (debt)? The top chart above adds a new dimension of probability to just “risk increases with return”, and is actually from a previous Howard Marks memo:

…we see that as the thing called “risk” increases (that is, as we move from left to right on the graph), not only does the expected return increase, but the range of possible outcomes becomes wider and the bad outcomes become worse. That’s risk! (I hope this way of presenting risk will be considered a lasting contribution to the investment industry when I’m gone.)

Below is a new chart that keeps with the theme of considering probability vs. return, but for different asset class mixes (I edited the chart to explain the colors directly).

Ownership assets typically have a higher expected return, greater upside potential, and greater downside risk. Everything else being equal, the expected returns from debt are lower but likely to fall within a much tighter range.

Again, as we move from left to right (more ownership assets, less debt), the expected return increases and the expected risk increases (that is, just as in Figure 6 [the first chart above], the range of possible outcomes grows wider and the left-hand tail stretches further into undesirable territory). This way of presenting the options might be more intuitively clear.

Someone who believes in “more risk, more return” as portrayed in Figure 5 should logically adopt a high-risk posture. But if they understand the real implications of increased risk, as suggested by Figures 6 and 7, then they might opt for something more moderate.

Hopefully, this visualization can help us investors understand the value in a “balanced” portfolio holding both stocks and bonds. I would point out this is based on a diversified portfolio of stocks and/or bonds. Single companies can of course fail, but so many people have also gotten burned with “safe” investments that ended up with a -100% return (complete loss).

[Side note: The Yotta/Synapse/Evolve drama continues… I actually found my lost pennies in the “anonymized” ledger (legal?!?), but you can also see that so many others lost really significant amounts of money on what was supposedly FDIC-insured deposits.]

Filed Under: Investing //
Last updated: November 3, 2024
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

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