Reader Questions: Cash and Bond Holdings Details

Posted on April 9, 2026 // Leave a Comment

I’ve gotten a few reader questions about my personal cash and bond holdings, so I thought I’d combine them here. You may be surprised that I don’t chase the top rates that much myself anymore, although I still do attractive deposit bonuses (most recently CIT Bank and Marcus). I’ve found that I can get pretty darn close to the top rates without being spread across as many bank accounts as in the past. My specific situation is that I have state income taxes of ~10%, so the fact that US Treasury obligations are exempt from state income tax makes a significant difference to me.

Big picture, I am roughly 70% stocks and 30% bonds and I let it float between 65%/35% or 75%/25% without worrying about. I mostly rebalance with both new cash inflows and internal flows of interest/dividends.

30% in bonds is broken down into 20% US “Regular” Treasury Bonds and/or FDIC-insured deposits and 10% US Treasury Inflation-Protected Bonds. For the US Treasury bonds, I hold mostly Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF (VGSH). The current 30-day SEC yield is 3.83%. Again, this converts to a tax-equivalent yield of ~4.25 APY due to the state-tax exemption for my situation.

VGSH is essentially a basket of US Treasury bonds held at a rock-bottom expense ratio of 0.03% with an average effective maturity and average duration of about 2 years. I converted to the ETF because the equivalent mutual fund has an expense ratio of 0.06%. If you think about it, a ladder of 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 4-year, and 5-year bank certificates of deposit (CDs) with an added rung of “0-year” cash has an average duration of 2 to 2.5 years depending on how close they are to maturity. I used to spend a lot of time creating a 5-year CD ladder with top rates spread across multiple different credit unions, but right now I doubt you’ll beat a weighted average rate of 4.25% (again due to my 10% state tax rate).

What about more interest rate risk? The Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF (VGIT) has an average duration of 5 years. The current 30-day SEC yield is 4.02% (roughly 0.20% higher). The steepness of the yield curve changes, but for the most part it is pretty flat right now, such that I haven’t felt that the slight increase in yield is worth the added interest rate risk. If interest rates go up, then that little bit of extra yield can be offset completely. Overall it’s a minor difference, VGIT would be fine really, but I do make sure to avoid long-term bonds. I used to own both short-term and intermediate-term funds, but now it’s just short-term for simplicity and lower stress. I choose to take my risk in the stock portion of the portfolio.

What about more credit risk? I can compare with Vanguard Total US Bond ETF (BND), which contains corporate bonds and mortgage-backed securities and such, with a current 30-day SEC yield of 4.34%. While BND also holds some Treasuries, it doesn’t meet the 50% threshold requirements for California, Connecticut, and New York, so residents don’t get any tax break in those states. That makes the difference only about 0.10%. For me, the extra risk doesn’t seem worth the extra yield.

Municipal bonds are also not competitive right now if you compare them directly (AAA-rated short-term munis to short-term Treasuries). I have held Vanguard muni bond funds in the past when their tax-equivalent yield was a full 1% higher than the same term US Treasury.

(* I know that there is discussion about the credit quality of the United States, which is fine and fair, but I still think they are the relative safest and don’t feel the need to diversify into corporate bonds or debt from other countries. The Treasury literally creates the money. Inflation is more of a concern to me.)

As part of my bond allocation, I include at least a year’s worth of expenses in “cash”. Let’s say my rough withdrawal rate is 3%, so I keep about 3% of my portfolio in cash. This is mostly held in a combination of the following three accounts and whatever deposit bonuses I am currently pursuing.

  • Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund (VUSXX) has a currently APY equivalent of ~3.68%, which converts to a tax-equivalent yield of ~4.08% APY due to the state-tax exemption. Vanguard is a traditional brokerage and doesn’t provide things like Bill Pay or checking account features, but it is also where I hold the rest of my bonds and where most of my dividends land every quarter.
  • Fidelity® Treasury Only Money Market Fund (FDLXX) has a currently APY equivalent of ~3.3%, which converts to a tax-equivalent yield of ~3.67% APY due to the state-tax exemption. This is not as good as Vanguard or the top online savings accounts, but I like that it usually stays relatively competitive without having to move any funds. I also use Fidelity for its brokerage/IRA/Solo 401k already. Direct deposit (and some dividends) goes in, and Bill Payments go out. Fidelity “pushes” these payments out. I don’t use Fidelity for anything else requiring their routing numbers, checkwriting, or debit card (anything “pulled” from Fidelity). Many of their banking services are farmed out through UMB Bank and if there is any kind of issue, then dealing with them can be a pain as they can blame each other for the problem.
  • Ally Savings, SoFi Savings, and CIT Bank. I’ve used each of these for a while and I like that they are reliable especially when dealing with lots of smaller transactions (ACH pulls, check deposits, Venmo, etc) and interbank ACH transfers. They have competitive interest rates, if not the highest every month. They each also have invested in their own user interface for interbank transfers. Honestly, I’d stick with just Ally if I could as I like their system the best, but they’ve been lagging in the interest rate department recently.
Filed Under: Banking, Investing // Tagged:

MMB Portfolio Dividend & Interest Income – 2026 1st Quarter Update

Posted on April 8, 2026 // Leave a Comment

Here’s my 2026 1st Quarter income update as a companion post to my 2026 1st Quarter asset allocation & performance update. Even though I don’t focus on high-dividend stocks or covered-call strategies, I still track the income from my portfolio as an alternative metric to price performance. The total income goes up much more gradually and consistently than the number shown on brokerage statements, which helps encourage consistent investing. Here’s a quote from Jack Bogle (source):

The true investor will do better if he forgets about the stock market and pays attention to his dividend returns and to the operating results of his companies. – Jack Bogle

Stock dividends are a portion of profits that businesses have decided to distribute directly to shareholders, as opposed to reinvesting into their business, paying back debt, or buying back shares. They have explicitly decided that they don’t need this money to improve their business, and that it would be better to distribute it to shareholders. The dividends may suffer some short-term drops, but over the long run they have grown faster than inflation.

Here is the historical growth of the S&P 500 total dividend, which tracks roughly the largest 500 stocks in the US, updated as of 2026 Q1 (via Yardeni Research):

Tracking the income from my portfolio. Three of the primary “trees” that produce “fruit” in my portfolio are Vanguard Total US Stock ETF (VTI), Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS), and Vanguard Real Estate Index ETF (VNQ).

In the US, the dividend culture is somewhat conservative in that shareholders expect dividends to be stable and only go up. Thus the starting yield is lower, but grows more steadily with smaller cuts during hard times. Companies do buybacks as well, often because they are easier to discontinue. Here is an updated chart of the trailing 12-month (ttm) dividend per share over the last 15 years paid by the Vanguard Total US Stock ETF (VTI) via WallStNumbers.com.

European corporate culture tends to encourage paying out a higher (sometimes even fixed) percentage of earnings as dividends, but that also means the dividends move up and down with earnings. The starting yield is currently higher but may not grow as reliably. Here is an updated chart of the trailing 12-month (ttm) dividend per share over the last 15 years paid by the Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS).

In the case of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), they are legally required to distribute at least 90 percent of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends. Historically, about half of the total return from REITs is from this dividend income. Here is an updated chart of the trailing 12-month (ttm) dividend per share over the last 15 years paid by the Vanguard Real Estate Index ETF (VNQ).

The dividend yield (dividends divided by price) also serve as a rough valuation metric. When stock prices drop, this percentage metric usually goes up – which makes me feel better in a bear market. When stock prices go up, this percentage metric usually goes down, which keeps me from getting too euphoric during a bull market.

Finally, the last income component of my portfolio comes from interest from bonds and cash. Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF (VGSH) and Schwab US TIPS ETF (SCHP) are example holdings, with the actual amount varying with the prevailing interest rates, the real rates on TIPS, and the current rate of inflation.

Dividend and interest income yield. To estimate the income from my portfolio, I use the weighted “TTM” or “12-Month Yield” from Morningstar (checked 4/8/26), which is the sum of the trailing 12 months of interest and dividend payments divided by the last month’s ending share price (NAV) plus any capital gains distributed (usually zero for index funds) over the same period. My TTM portfolio yield is now roughly 2.61%.

In dividend investing circles, there is a metric called yield on cost, which is calculated by dividing the current dividend by the original purchase price. In other words, while my portfolio yield today is may be lower than say a target withdrawal rate of 3%, that is because the current market price is also a lot higher. Due to increasing dividends on average over time, my yield-on-cost based on my portfolio value from 10 years ago is over 5%.

What about the 4% rule? For big-picture purposes, I support the simple 4% or 3% rule of thumb, which equates to a target of accumulating roughly 25 to 33 times your annual expenses. I would lean towards a 3% withdrawal rate if you want to retire young (closer to age 50) and a 4% withdrawal rate if retiring at a more traditional age (closer to 65). It’s just a quick and dirty target to get you started, not a number sent down from the heavens!

During the accumulation stage, your time is better spent focusing on earning potential via better career moves, improving your skillset, networking, and/or looking for asymmetrical (unlimited upside, limited downside) entrepreneurial opportunities where you have an ownership interest.

Our dividends and interest income are not automatically reinvested. They are simply another “paycheck”. As with our other variable paychecks, we can choose to either spend it or invest it again to compound things more quickly. You could use this money to cut back working hours, pursue a different career path, start a new business, take a sabbatical, perform charity or volunteer work, and so on. You don’t have to wait until you hit a magic number. Our life path has been very different because of this philosophy. FIRE is Life!

Filed Under: Goals, Investing, Retirement //

Best Interest Rates Survey: Bank Accounts, Treasury Bills, Money Markets, ETFs – April 2026

Posted on April 6, 2026 // Leave a Comment

Here’s my monthly survey of the best interest rates on cash as of April 2026, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Banks and brokerages love taking advantage of idle cash, and you can often earn more interest 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 4/6/26.

TL;DR: Savings account interest rates were mostly stable. You can still get 4.6% APY if you accept certain hoops/restrictions, but most are under 4% now. Short-term T-Bill rates ~3.7%. Top 5-year CD rates are ~4.10% APY, while the 5-year Treasury rate is ~4.0%.

High-yield savings accounts*
Since the huge megabanks still pay essentially zero 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 saving rate at the moment: Pibank at 4.60% APY (no min), but they have some weird restrictions; like you can only use wire/Plaid to deposit and wire transfers to withdraw funds?! CineFi (no min) dropped a bit to 4.25% APY, a division of First Entertainment Credit Union. OnPath FCU also dropped to 4.25% APY with $25,000 minimum balance. CIT Platinum Savings held at 3.75% APY with $5,000+ balance, with a new 4.10% APY Boost promotion that was recently extended to 5/31. There are many banks in between.
  • SoFi Bank is at 3.30% APY (new customers can get up to 4.00% APY for 6 months + increased $425 bonus with qualifying direct deposit. You must maintain a direct deposit of any amount (even $1) each month for the higher ongoing APY. SoFi has historically competitive rates and full banking features.
  • 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. This month they start at 3.20% APY on up.

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 13-month No Penalty CD at 3.95% APY ($500 minimum deposit). Farmer’s Insurance FCU has a 9-month No Penalty CD at 4.00% APY ($1,000 minimum deposit). USALLIANCE Financial CU has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 3.90% APY ($500 minimum deposit). CIT Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 3.75% APY ($1,000 minimum deposit).
  • E-Trade Bank has a 12-month CD at 4.10% APY (no minimum deposit). Early withdrawal penalty is 90 days of interest.
  • Farmer’s Insurance FCU has a 12-month CD at 4.00% APY with new money required. $1,000 minimum to open. 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 a 7-day SEC yield of 3.58% (changes daily, but also works out to a compound yield of 3.64%, 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 (100% for 2025 tax year) exempt from state and local income taxes because it comes from qualifying US government obligations. Current 7-day SEC yield of 3.63% (compound yield of 3.69%).

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 3/6/26, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 3.69% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 3.70% annualized interest.
  • The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) has a 3.55% 30-day SEC yield (0.09% expense ratio) and effective duration of 0.10 years. The Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (VBIL) has a 3.57% 30-day SEC yield (0.06% expense ratio) and effective duration of 0.10 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 2025 and April 2026 will earn a 4.03% 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 2026, 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 post another update 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.

  • La Capitol Federal Credit Union pays 6.50% 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).
  • OnPath Federal Credit Union (my review) pays 6.00% 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 $150 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.
  • Oklahoma Central Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases (non-ATM) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union if they are “affiliated with another credit union”.
  • First Southern Bank pays 5.50% APY on up to $25,000 if you make at least 15 debit card purchases, 1 ACH credit or payment 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 5.25% APY (decreased) 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.
  • Capitol Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $15,000 if you make 12 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 ($5 to Wild Basin Wilderness).
  • 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.

  • United Fidelity Bank has a 5-year certificate at 4.15% APY ($1,000 minimum), 4-year at 4.10% APY, 3-year at 4.10% APY, 2-year at 4.10% APY, and 1.5-year at 4.05% APY. Early withdrawal penalties are not disclosed clearly online.
  • Advancial Federal Credit Union has has a 5-year certificates at 4.14%/4.24%/4.34% APY APY based on either a $1,000/$25,000/$50,000 opening balance. Early withdrawal penalty for the 5-year is 365 days of interest. Anyone nationwide should be able to join via membership with partner organization US Dog Agility Association, but I would call to verify first.
  • Mountain America Credit Union (MACU) has a 5-year certificate at 4.00% APY ($500 minimum), 4-year at 4.00% APY, 3-year at 4.05% APY, 2-year at 4.20% APY, and 1-year at 3.80% APY. Early withdrawal penalty for the 4-year and 5-year is 365 days of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization American Consumer Council (use promo code “consumer” when joining).
  • 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 brokered CD at 4.05% 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 (and will!) call back your CD if rates drop significantly later.

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 4.20% APY (non-callable) vs. 4.33% 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 4/6/26.

* I no longer recommend fintech companies due to the possibility of significant loss due to poor recordkeeping and the lack of government protection in such scenarios. The point of cash is absolute safety of principal.

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing // Tagged:

3 Reasons Why Vanguard Investors Made $5 Trillion Over Last 10 Years

Posted on April 2, 2026 // Leave a Comment

A new Morningstar article points out that between December 2016 and December 2025, Vanguard investors contributed about $2 trillion in net investment flows, while also gaining $5 trillion in market appreciation (income and gains). They listed two major reasons for this result.

  • Stock returns averaged 12.6% a year annualized. On an asset-weighted basis, Vanguard’s equity funds returned 12.6% per year over the decade ending 12/31/2025.
  • Vanguard investors mostly bought and held during this time, allowing them to capture the vast majority of the overall gains, more so than other fund families. Morningstar tracks something called the “timing gap”, which measures how the timing and size of investor trading affects their actual return vs. the overall fund returns. Vanguard investors don’t time the market very much.

I would also add a reminder about a third reason:

  • Vanguard continues to not only offer low costs but encourage them across their platform, allowing investors to keep more of the market’s return. There are many new products out there (sometimes called “Boomer Candy” but really just “candy” for everyone) that dangle appealing features: Aggressive covered-call ETFs for high-income, buffer ETFs for downside protection, leveraged ETFs for boosted returns. These all have a common feature: much higher fees and lower expected long-term returns! Vanguard offers none of these products. That’s not an accident!

Here are historical average expense ratios, as of December 31, 2025 (source: Vanguard):

Vanguard isn’t perfect, but they are “staying the course” with enough of their core values that I am still keeping the majority of my assets with them.

Side note: In the M* article was a disclosure that back in February 2026, Morningstar bought the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) from the University of Chicago. CRSP created many super low-cost indexes so that Vanguard could offer index funds at rock-bottom prices, not having to pay higher fee to track similar things like the S&P 500 index. CRSP indexes are why the Vanguard Total US Stock fund and similar are so cheap. Morningstar is a for-profit company, so that is a possible concern.

Filed Under: Investing //

MMB Portfolio Asset Allocation & Performance – 2026 1st Quarter Update

Posted on April 1, 2026 // 1 Comment

Here is my 2026 1st Quarter portfolio update that includes all our combined 401k/403b/IRAs and taxable brokerage accounts but excludes our house and small side portfolio of self-directed investments. Following the concept of skin in the game, the following is not a recommendation, but a sharing of our real-world, imperfect DIY portfolio.

“Never ask anyone for their opinion, forecast, or recommendation. Just ask them what they have in their portfolio.” – Nassim Taleb

How I Track My Portfolio
Here’s how I track my portfolio across multiple brokers and account types:

  • The Empower Personal Dashboard real-time portfolio tracking tools (free) automatically logs into my multiple accounts, adds up my various balances, tracks my performance, and figures out my overall asset allocation across the entire portfolio. Formerly known as Personal Capital.
  • Once a quarter, I also update my manual Google Spreadsheet (free to copy, instructions) because it helps me calculate how much I need in each asset class to rebalance back towards my target asset allocation. I also create a new sheet each quarter, so I have a personal archive of my portfolio dating back many years.

2026 1st Quarter Asset Allocation and YTD Performance
Here are updated performance and asset allocation charts, per the “Holdings” and “Allocation” tabs of my Empower Personal Dashboard.

The major components of my portfolio are broad index ETFs. I do mix it up a bit around the edges, but not very much. Here is a model version of my target asset allocation with sample ETF holdings for each asset class.

  • 35% US Total Market (VTI)
  • 5% US Small-Cap Value (AVUV)
  • 20% International Total Market (VXUS)
  • 5% International Small-Cap Value (AVDV)
  • 5% US Real Estate (REIT) (VNQ)
  • 20% US “Regular” Treasury Bonds and/or FDIC-insured deposits (VGSH)
  • 10% US Treasury Inflation-Protected Bonds (SCHP)

Big picture, it is 70% businesses and 30% very safe short-term bonds/cash:

By paying minimal costs including management fees, transaction spreads, and tax drag, I am trying to essentially guarantee myself above-average net performance over time.

I do not spend a lot of time backtesting various model portfolios. You’ll usually find that whatever model portfolio is popular at the moment just happens to hold the asset class that has been the hottest recently.

The portfolio that you can hold onto through the tough times is the best one for you. I’ve been pretty much holding this same portfolio for 20 years. Check out these ancient posts from 2004 and 2005. Every asset class will eventually have a low period, and you must have strong faith during these periods to earn those historically high returns. You have to keep owning and buying more stocks through the stock market crashes. You have to maintain and even buy more rental properties during a housing crunch, etc. A good sign is that if prices drop, you should feel the urge to buy more of that asset instead of less. I don’t have strong faith in the long-term results of commodities, gold, or bitcoin – so I don’t own them.

Performance details. Here’s an updated YTD Growth of $10,000 chart courtesy of Testfolio for some of the major index ETFs (total US stock, total international stock, total US bond) that shows the difference in performance in the broad indexes:

Nearly everything went up in 2025. So far in 2026, if you had a good dose of international stock diversification, you were pretty much flat. I read that the S&P 500 went down about 5%, and the Magnificent 7 went down about 13% in the first quarter. I’ll share about more about the income aspect in a separate post.

Filed Under: Goals, Investing, Retirement //

Moomoo Investing App Promo: Up to $1,000 of NVDA Cash Deposit Bonus, or 3% ACAT Transfer Bonus + 8.1% APY for 2 Months

Posted on March 12, 2026 // 77 Comments

Updated offers March 2026. Brokerage app Moomoo is offering a couple of new promotions for new customers (or existing ones that haven’t funded their accounts yet), one for cash deposits and one for ACAT transfers.

Cash deposit bonus. New customers can get $1,000 of NVDA stock + 8.1% APY for 2 months via referral link if they make a net deposit of $100,000+ by 8/31/26. The minimum hold period is 180 days for the $1,000 tier. The extra 4.75% APY is only valid for 2 months on the first $20,000 of cash sweep deposits. Full terms here. There are also lower tiers:

To be clear, this is for cash deposits, not ACAT transfers. You can invest the cash into stocks and options, but you can’t withdraw during the hold period. Earning $1,000 on $100,000 for a 180 day hold works out to 2% annualized, which is not nearly as good as in the previous version of this offer where it was a 60-day hold and thus 6% annualized.

ACAT transfer bonus.If you have existing investments of ETFs or stocks, new customers can get a 3% transfer bonus + 8.1% APY for 2 months. Maximum bonus is $600 on $20,000 transferred. The 3% bonus is paid out in quarterly installments and fully paid after a year. You must transfer “stocks, certain options, ETFs, and cash to MFI using an ACAT transfer from your existing brokerage account.” For the 8.1% APY, the extra 4.75% APY is only valid for 2 months on the first $20,000 of cash sweep deposits. Full terms here.

A 3% transfer bonus with a year minimum hold is pretty good, too bad it is only for new customers and the cap is at $20k transferred. Here the details of the 3% bonus:

A 3% match of the first transfer amount. The match amount is limited to the first $1-$20,000 transferred in. The match will be given as a “Cash Coupon” and credited in four equal quarterly installments. The first installment will be unlocked on Day 90 following the settlement date of the Qualified Transfer-In; the second on Day 180; the third on Day 270; and the fourth on Day 360. Each installment equals 25% of the Cash Coupon; the total Cash Coupon equals 3% of the Transfer Amount.

What Moomoo calls a “Cash Coupon” is not a direct cash credit to your account; it works like a coupon that rebates a future stock trade. You may have to activate it and then make a trade to claim it. In the past, I have chosen to just buy (and then sell) enough SGOV (again, a conservative T-Bill ETF) to trigger it in a simple manner if you don’t have other stock trades you plan to make. For example, you might need to buy a single $101 share of SGOV to trigger a $100 cash reward into your account. It was a bit of a hassle, but I’ve always managed to convert all my Moomoo “Cash Rewards” or “Cash Coupons” converted to actual cash.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Investing //

Best Interest Rates Survey: Bank Accounts, Treasury Bills, Money Markets, ETFs – March 2026

Posted on March 8, 2026 // 2 Comments

Here’s my monthly survey of the best interest rates on cash as of March 2026, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Banks and brokerages love taking advantage of idle cash, and you can often earn more interest while keeping the same level of safety by moving to another FDIC-insured bank or NCUA-insured credit union. Check out my *fixed!* 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 3/8/26.

TL;DR: Savings account interest rates dropped slightly on average overall. You can still get 4.6% if you accept certain hoops/restrictions, but most are under 4% now. Short-term T-Bill rates were flat at ~3.6%. Top 5-year CD rates are ~4% APY, while 5-year Treasury rate is ~3.7%.

High-yield savings accounts*
Since the huge megabanks still pay essentially zero 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 saving rate at the moment: Pibank at 4.60% APY (no min), but they have some weird restrictions; like you can only use wire/Plaid to deposit and wire transfers to withdraw funds?! CineFi (no min) dropped a bit to 4.25% APY, a division of First Entertainment Credit Union. OnPath FCU also dropped to 4.25% APY with $25,000 minimum balance. CIT Platinum Savings held at 3.75% APY with $5,000+ balance. There are many banks in between.
  • SoFi Bank is at 3.30% APY (new customers can get up to 4.00% APY for 6 months + $325 bonus with qualifying direct deposit. You must maintain a direct deposit of any amount (even $1) each month for the higher ongoing APY. SoFi has historically competitive rates and full banking features.
  • 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. This month they start at 3.30% APY on up.

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 13-month No Penalty CD at 3.95% APY ($500 minimum deposit). Farmer’s Insurance FCU has a 9-month No Penalty CD at 4.00% APY ($1,000 minimum deposit). USALLIANCE Financial CU has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 3.90% APY ($500 minimum deposit). CIT Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 3.75% APY ($1,000 minimum deposit).
  • USALLIANCE Financial CU has a 12-month CD at 4.05% APY ($500 minimum deposit). Early withdrawal penalty is 180 days of interest.
  • Farmer’s Insurance FCU has a 12-month CD at 4.00% APY with new money required. $1,000 minimum to open. 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 a 7-day SEC yield of 3.59% (changes daily, but also works out to a compound yield of 3.65%, 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 (100% for 2025 tax year) exempt from state and local income taxes because it comes from qualifying US government obligations. Current 7-day SEC yield of 3.62% (compound yield of 3.68%).

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 3/6/26, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 3.70% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 3.54% annualized interest.
  • The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) has a 3.54% 30-day SEC yield (0.09% expense ratio) and effective duration of 0.10 years. The Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (VBIL) has a 3.54% 30-day SEC yield (0.06% expense ratio) and effective duration of 0.10 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 2025 and April 2026 will earn a 4.03% 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 2026, 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 post another update 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.

  • La Capitol Federal Credit Union pays 6.50% 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).
  • OnPath Federal Credit Union (my review) pays 6.00% 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 $150 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.
  • Oklahoma Central Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases (non-ATM) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union if they are “affiliated with another credit union”.
  • First Southern Bank pays 5.50% APY on up to $25,000 if you make at least 15 debit card purchases, 1 ACH credit or payment 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 5.25% APY (decreased) 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.
  • Capitol Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $15,000 if you make 12 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 ($5 to Wild Basin Wilderness).
  • 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.

  • United Fidelity Bank has a 5-year certificate at 4.15% APY ($1,000 minimum), 4-year at 4.10% APY, 3-year at 4.10% APY, 2-year at 4.10% APY, and 1.5-year at 4.05% APY. Early withdrawal penalties are not disclosed clearly online.
  • Advancial Federal Credit Union has has a 5-year certificates at 3.97%/4.07%/4.18% APY APY based on either a $1,000/$25,000/$50,000 opening balance. Early withdrawal penalty for the 5-year is 365 days of interest. Anyone nationwide should be able to join via membership with partner organization US Dog Agility Association, but I would call to verify first.
  • Mountain America Credit Union (MACU) has a 5-year certificate at 4.00% APY ($500 minimum), 4-year at 4.00% APY, 3-year at 4.05% APY, 2-year at 4.20% APY, and 1-year at 3.80% APY. Early withdrawal penalty for the 4-year and 5-year is 365 days of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization American Consumer Council (use promo code “consumer” when joining).
  • 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 brokered 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 (and will!) call back your CD if rates drop significantly later.

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 4.05% APY (non-callable) vs. 4.12% 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 3/8/26.

* I no longer recommend fintech companies due to the possibility of significant loss due to poor recordkeeping and the lack of government protection in such scenarios. The point of cash is absolute safety of principal.

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing // Tagged:

Berkshire Hathaway 2025 Annual Shareholder Letter by Greg Abel

Posted on March 5, 2026 // 2 Comments

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) recently released its 2025 Letter to Shareholders (also see full 2025 Annual Report). Usually, this is when I read Warren Buffett’s teachings and share my personal takeaways (2024, 2023, 2022, etc). Sadly, the time has come when the new CEO, Greg Abel, must take over this duty.

In the letter, Abel does a nice job of listing all the often-unique strengths of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett. Longtime shareholders will be familiar with these attributes, but I suppose it’s good that he repeats them himself.

  • Corporate culture built around honesty, transparency, and straightforward communication with shareholders.
  • Decentralized structure where subsidiary CEOs operate autonomously with minimal headquarters oversight.
  • Strong culture of trust: managers are expected to run their businesses independently and ethically.
  • Long-term ownership mindset focused on decades, not quarters.
  • Preference for owning high-quality businesses with durable competitive advantages.
  • Disciplined capital allocation, including a willingness to hold large cash reserves until attractive opportunities appear.
  • Insurance operations provide “float,” which acts as low-cost capital for investments.
  • Limited use of leverage and avoidance of excessive financial risk.
  • Preference for permanent ownership rather than buying businesses to sell later.

As noticed by @TCII_Blog, Buffett is explicitly listed as someone that will be consulted on any share buybacks in the full annual report:

Berkshire’s common stock repurchase program permits Berkshire to repurchase its Class A and Class B shares at prices below Berkshire’s intrinsic value, as conservatively determined by Berkshire’s Chief Executive Officer after consultation with the Chairman of the Board. We are not committed to a minimum or subject to a maximum repurchase amount. We will not repurchase our stock if it reduces our consolidated cash, cash equivalents and U.S. Treasury Bills holdings to below $30 billion. Financial strength and redundant liquidity will always be of paramount importance at Berkshire. There were no share repurchases in 2025.

No buybacks in 2025, but on 3/5/26, Greg Abel announced that they have started buying back shares again (WSJ gift article). We can only assume that means both he and Buffett agree that BRKB very recently traded below their “estimate of intrinsic value, conservatively determined.”

In addition, Abel also announced that he will be using his entire after-tax annual salary as CEO (currently ~$15 million after-tax/$25 million gross) to purchase Berkshire Hathaway shares. In other words, he will have “skin in the game”.

Abel, who succeeded Buffett as CEO in January, also said in a regulatory filing that he personally bought about $15 million in Berkshire shares and plans to purchase more annually.

“I’m committed to doing this every year,” Abel said during an interview televised on CNBC. “My entire salary, as long as I’m CEO. We’ll file our 10-K, I’ll write the letter, and after the 48-hour cooling-off period, I’ll purchase.”

I’m not a billionaire like Abel, but starting with a $50 bonus from the now-gone ShareBuilder brokerage site in the early 2000s, I’ve built up a nice little position in Berkshire Hathaway. Whenever there is a new brokerage bonus, I prefer to buy BRKB shares because the long-term return will likely at least match the S&P 500, and it never distributes dividends. This means no 1099-DIV forms to deal with at the end of the year, ha. I also never sell the shares, only move them around for ACAT transfer bonuses or they get merged into other brokers, so no 1099-B. This all adds up when you open as many new brokerage accounts as I do…

As a 20+ year shareholder now, I feel that Abel has been saying and doing all the right things so far. Charlie Munger famously said “Greg will keep the culture!”, and so I wish him the best and am holding all my shares for now. In fact, I think it’s quite possible that Berkshire will perform even better price-wise in the next decade as Abel takes a more active role in areas that he likes. Buffett had his strengths and preferences, and Abel has his own.

However, nobody knows what will actually happen, and people can change over time. Look at how many billionaires out there have been corrupted by power and money. I’ll miss the Buffett wisdom, but I’ll still be watching (and hopefully learning) from Berkshire’s activities since I have my own “skin in the game”.

Filed Under: Inspirational, Investing //

Robinhood HOOD Rewards Season 2026 Promos: Up to 3% ACAT Transfer Bonus

Posted on March 1, 2026 // 2 Comments

Robinhood is running “HOOD Rewards Season” from 2/19-3/25, which includes the return of some competitive account transfer bonuses. Noteworthy are the 3% total match if you have $10,000 in margin (which you can “create” beforehand) and the 2% match that includes 401k rollovers. However, note that they have very long minimum holding periods where you are stuck at Robinhood (and can’t pursue other opportunities) or they will clawback the bonus. Transfers must be initiated by March 25, 2026 to qualify.

  • 2% bonus on ACATS transfers to your Robinhood joint or individual taxable brokerage account from an external brokerage. 5-year minimum hold period + Robinhood Gold ($5/mo or $50/year) membership for a year required.
  • 3% total bonus on ACATS transfers (1% extra) with a margin balance of $10,000 or more to your Robinhood joint or individual taxable brokerage account from an external brokerage.
  • 2% bonus on ACATS transfers to your Robinhood IRA, including 401k rollovers. 5-year minimum hold period + Robinhood Gold ($5/mo or $50/year) membership for a year required.
  • 3% bonus on IRA contributions. This is a standard offer for Robinhood Gold customers, but still worth noting if you are joining the Robinhood ecosystem. 5-year minimum hold period.
  • Robinhood will also cover outgoing transfer fees (up to $75) if you transfer $7,500+ in assets.
  • 2% bonus on crypto transfers. They are also announcing new products/features on March 4, 2026.

Full terms at Robinhood.com/hoodrewardstransfer.

The 2% bonus on taxable account transfers requires a subscription with Robinhood Gold ($5/mo) and customers must stay subscribed to Gold for 1 year after receiving each Gold match to keep the full Gold match. A 1% match is available to non-Gold customers, no subscription required. The funds that earned the match be kept in the account for at least 5 years to avoid a potential chargeback of the bonus. Transfer must be initiated by March 25,2026 to qualify. Offer only applies to self-directed individual or joint taxable accounts. For more information refer to Hood Season Account Transfer Bonus at robinhood.com/hoodrewardstransfer??

The additional 1% margin bonus is available to all customers who are approved for a margin account and transfer a margin balance of at least $10,000 using ACATS.

If you don’t want to move your money around all the time, I think this is a pretty good promo. If you move over a $100,000 portfolio for 5 years, that’s $3,000. If you move over a $1,000,000 portfolio for 5 years, that’s $30,000. If you have a $100,000 portfolio parked at Merrill Edge, given the upcoming Preferred Rewards changes, compare this bonus against potential cash back. Might be better to take the upfront money than to chase a higher tier. Robinhood now has over $300 billion in assets under custody.

It’s not hard to “create” a $10,000 margin balance by buying some extra SGOV/VBIL in your account right before the ACAT transfer (assuming you have enough equity collateral), do the transfer, and then pay off the margin by selling the SGOV/VBIL right after the transfer is completed. You’ll just pay a little margin interest in the meantime, should be less than $10 as your SGOV/VBIL will earn interest as well (price should increase in interim if no dividend distribution). Robinhood wants investors that use margin, as they tend to be more profitable.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Investing //

The True Global Market-Cap Weighted Portfolio: Gold as 3rd Largest Asset Class?

Posted on February 23, 2026 // 4 Comments

A market-capitalization weighted portfolio is one where assets are held in proportion to their total market value (share price * # of shares). For example, if you were to buy into the S&P 500 index (a cap-weighted index), right now you would be buying ~170 times more of Amazon (~$2 Trillion value) as Best Buy ($13 Billion value). But as the share value of each company changes, you wouldn’t have to do anything to maintain market-cap weighting.

What if you wanted to weigh your entire portfolio based on values of all the investable assets in the world? This chart from WisdomTree’s 2/26 update breaks it down for you (found via Weekly Chartstorm).

Roughly, you’re looking at 50% equities, 30% debt (fixed income/bonds), 12.7% of gold (!), and 1% in digital assets. The gold number surprised me. These values are credited to Bloomberg and Wisdomtree as of 2/2/26. Market cap values are in billions.

Let’s check some of those numbers. The chart estimates the total market value of all the equities in the world at ~$135 Trillion, which also roughly matches other sources. The chart estimates the total market value of all the gold in the world at ~$33 Trillion, which roughly matches other sources. That gives us a ratio of roughly 4:1 of stocks:gold.

However, I wrote in 2016 about the idea of Investing 1% Of Your Portfolio Into Gold, where another source said that the world market cap weighting for gold at that time was a tad under 1%. Looking closer, this number appears to be an estimate of the world’s total quantity of gold held for investment.

At first, I thought this was like how you can’t own every business in the world since many are privately-held, when we talk about equities we are actually talking about publicly-investable businesses. Okay, so it looks like roughly 50% of the gold above ground is used in jewelry and 15% for industrial purposes. But still, isn’t gold jewelry also considered an investment? How do you decide how much of gold is an investment asset by someone, and how much isn’t? Maybe a true global market-cap weighting of gold is not quite as high as in the chart of above, but still significantly higher than what I previously thought.

Filed Under: Investing //

Best Interest Rates Survey: Bank Accounts, Treasury Bills, Money Markets, ETFs – February 2026

Posted on February 11, 2026 // 1 Comment

Here’s my monthly survey of the best interest rates on cash as of February 2026, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Banks and brokerages love taking advantage of idle cash, and you can often earn more interest 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 2/11/26.

TL;DR: Savings account interest rates are mostly unchanged from last month. You can still get 4.6% if you accept certain hoops/restrictions, but most are under 4% now. Short-term T-Bill rates have fallen, now ~3.6%. Top 5-year CD rates are ~4% APY, while 5-year Treasury rate is ~3.7%.

High-yield savings accounts*
Since the huge megabanks still pay essentially zero 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 saving rate at the moment: Pibank at 4.60% APY (no min), but they have some weird restrictions; like you can only use wire/Plaid to deposit and wire transfers to withdraw funds?! CineFi (no min) is new at 4.50% APY, a division of First Entertainment Credit Union. OnPath FCU is at 4.40% APY with $25,000 minimum balance. CIT Platinum Savings is now at 3.75% APY with $5,000+ balance. There are many banks in between.
  • SoFi Bank is at 3.30% APY (new customers can get up to 4.00% APY for 6 months + $325 bonus with qualifying direct deposit. You must maintain a direct deposit of any amount (even $1) each month for the higher ongoing APY. SoFi has historically competitive rates and full banking features.
  • 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. This month they start at 3.30% APY on up.

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 13-month No Penalty CD at 3.95% APY ($500 minimum deposit). Farmer’s Insurance FCU has a 9-month No Penalty CD at 4.00% APY ($1,000 minimum deposit). USALLIANCE Financial CU has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 3.90% APY ($500 minimum deposit). CIT Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 3.75% APY ($1,000 minimum deposit).
  • Genisys CU has a 13-month certificate at 4.16% APY ($500 min). Early withdrawal penalty is a clearly-disclosed 90 days of interest (many places hide this info now). Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization Arthritis Foundation or Paint Creek Center for the Arts (one-time $5 fee).
  • Farmer’s Insurance FCU has a 12-month CD at 4.25% APY with new money required. $1,000 minimum to open. 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 a 7-day SEC yield of 3.59% (changes daily, but also works out to a compound yield of 3.65%, 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 (100% for 2025 tax year) exempt from state and local income taxes because it comes from qualifying US government obligations. Current 7-day SEC yield of 3.64% (compound yield of 3.70%).

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 2/11/26, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 3.69% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 3.47% annualized interest.
  • The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) has a 3.55% 30-day SEC yield (0.09% expense ratio) and effective duration of 0.10 years. The Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (VBIL) has a 3.55% 30-day SEC yield (0.06% expense ratio) and effective duration of 0.10 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 2025 and April 2026 will earn a 4.03% 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 2026, 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 post another update 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.

  • La Capitol Federal Credit Union pays 6.50% 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).
  • OnPath Federal Credit Union (my review) pays 6.00% 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 $150 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.
  • Oklahoma Central Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases (non-ATM) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union if they are “affiliated with another credit union”.
  • First Southern Bank pays 5.50% APY on up to $25,000 if you make at least 15 debit card purchases, 1 ACH credit or payment 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 5.25% APY (decreased) 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.
  • Capitol Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $15,000 if you make 12 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 ($5 to Wild Basin Wilderness).
  • 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.

  • United Fidelity Bank has a 5-year certificate at 4.15% APY ($1,000 minimum), 4-year at 4.10% APY, 3-year at 4.10% APY, 2-year at 4.15% APY, and 1.5-year at 4.05% APY. Early withdrawal penalties are not disclosed clearly online.
  • Mountain America Credit Union (MACU) has a 5-year certificate at 4.00% APY ($500 minimum), 4-year at 4.00% APY, 3-year at 4.05% APY, 2-year at 4.20% APY, and 1-year at 3.80% APY. Early withdrawal penalty for the 4-year and 5-year is 365 days of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization American Consumer Council (use promo code “consumer” when joining).
  • 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 brokered CD at 3.95% 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 (and will!) call back your CD if rates drop significantly later.

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 [none available] (non-callable) vs. 4.16% 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 2/11/26.

* I no longer recommend fintech companies due to the possibility of significant loss due to poor recordkeeping and the lack of government protection in such scenarios. The point of cash is absolute safety of principal.

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing // Tagged:

Vanguard Money Market & Target Retirement Funds: Claim Your State Income Tax Exemption (Updated 2026)

Posted on February 4, 2026 // 45 Comments

Updated for 2026. Tax time is here again, and if you earned interest from a money market fund, a significant portion of this interest may have come from “US Government Obligations” like Treasury bills and bonds, which are generally exempt from state and local income taxes. However, in order to claim this exemption, you’ll likely have to manually enter it on your tax return after digging up a few extra details.

(Note: California, Connecticut, and New York exempt dividend income only when the mutual fund has met certain minimum investments in U.S. government securities. They require that 50% of a mutual fund’s assets at each quarter-end within the tax year consist of U.S. government obligations.)

Vanguard has recently released the U.S. government obligations income information for Tax Year 2025 [pdf] for all their funds, which states:

This tax update provides information to help clients properly report state and local tax liability on ordinary income distributions received from mutual fund investments in 2025.

On the next page, you’ll find a list of Vanguard funds that earned a portion of their ordinary dividends from
obligations of the U.S. government. Direct U.S. government obligations and certain U.S. government agency
obligations are generally exempt from taxation in most states.1

To find the portion of Vanguard dividends that may be exempt from your state income tax, multiply the amount of “ordinary dividends” reported in Box 1a of your Form 1099-DIV by the percentage listed in the PDF. Note that on the IRS Form 1099-INT, there is a special Line 3 that includes “Interest on US Savings Bonds & Treasury obligations”. However, for the Vanguard funds, they report on 1099-DIV and not 1099-INT. My Vanguard 1099-INT was all zeros.

For the default cash sweep Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (VMFXX), this percentage was 66.61% in 2025. (For reference, it was 59.87% in 2024 and 49.37% in 2023.) Therefore, if you earned $1,000 in total interest from VMFXX in 2025, then $666.10 could possibly be exempt from state and local income taxes. If your marginal state income tax rate was 10% that would be a ~$67 tax savings for every $1,000 in total interest earned. For 2025, this fund DID meet the threshold requirements for California, Connecticut, and New York, which require that 50% of the fund’s assets at each quarter-end within the tax year consist of U.S. government obligations.

In comparison, the Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund (VUSXX) had a GOI percentage of 100% in 2025. (For reference, it was 100% on 2024 and 80.06% in 2023.) If your marginal state income tax rate was 10% that would be a $100 tax savings for every $1,000 in total interest earned.

The total income return for Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (VMFXX) was 4.22% and Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund (VUSXX) was 4.23% over the 12-month period of 2025, meaning the pre-tax return was basically the same. This is why many people chose to manually buy VUSXX instead of the default settlement fund as it can earn you a higher after-tax interest rate.

(Why doesn’t Vanguard let you use VUSXX as your cash sweep? Most likely due to the many inflow and outflows of a cash sweep, those liquidity concerns make it hard to hold everything in Treasury bonds. I’m guessing that repurchase agreements are more liquid.)

The following Vanguard funds and ETF equivalents have 100% of their interest from US government obligations:

  • 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (VBIL)
  • Ultra-Short Treasury ETF (VGUS)
  • Short-Term Treasury Index Fund (VGSH, VSBSX)
  • Intermediate-Term Treasury Index Fund (VGIT, VSIGX)
  • Long-Term Treasury Index Fund (VGLT, VLGSX)
  • Extended Duration Treasury Index Fund (EDV)
  • Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities
    Index Fund (VTIP, VTAPX)
  • Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (VIPSX, VAIPX)

Note that several other Vanguard funds have a lower but nonzero percentage of dividends from US government obligations, including the popular Vanguard Target Retirement 20XX funds (up to 33-34% for Target Retirement 2020 and Target Retirement Income!). Definitely worth a closer look for residents with high state/local income tax rates, especially those closer to retirement (holds more bonds).

To obtain these tax savings, you’ll have to manually adjust your state/local income tax return. I don’t believe that TurboTax, H&R Block, and other tax software will do this automatically for you, as they won’t have the required information on their own. (I’m also not sure if they ask about it in their interview process. You may need to click on certain spot.) If you use an accountant, you should also double-check to make sure they use this information. Here is some information on how to enter this into TurboTax:

  • When you are entering the 1099-DIV Box 1a, 1b, and 2a – click the “My form has info in other boxes (this is uncommon)” checkbox.
  • Next, click on the option “A portion of these dividends is U.S. Government interest.”
  • On the next screen enter the Government interest amount. This will be subtracted from your state return.

Standard disclosure: Check with your state or local tax office or with your tax advisor to determine whether your state allows you to exclude some or all of the income you earn from mutual funds that invest in U.S. government obligations.

[Image credit – Tax Foundation]

Filed Under: Banking, Investing, Taxes //
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