Another federal funds rate increase last week and uncertainty about how Congress will increase (or suspend) the debt ceiling has resulted in higher short-term treasury bill yields. The good news for conservative investors is you can generate a portfolio yield between 5.0% to 5.5% using short-term t-bills which can be purchased at no cost via TreasuryDirect.gov or at most major brokerages.
One noteworthy savings product we recommend for excess cash is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (Symbol: VMFXX) which has a 7-day SEC yield approaching 5%. Per Vanguard, VMFXX “invests at least 99.5% of its total assets in cash, U.S. government securities, and/or repurchase agreements that are collateralized solely by U.S. government securities or cash (collectively, government securities). As such it is considered one of the most conservative investment options offered by Vanguard”.
U.S. TREASURY YIELD CURVE — MAY 8 2023 VS APRIL 30 2022
Below are some of the best CD rates (annual percentage yield - APY) available nationwide today, sorted by maturities from three months to five years. You can click here to check if a bank is FDIC insured. In addition, you can click on the institution name in the CD list below to go directly to the bank’s website for more information regarding CD purchase minimums, etc. We always recommend individual CDs purchases are within the $250,000 FDIC insurance limit.
3-months:
WaFd Bank 5.00%
UmbrellaBank 4.75%
TotalDirectBank 4.76%
6-months:
TotalDirectBank 5.02%
iGoBanking 5.00%
CIT Bank 5.00%
12-months:
Brio Direct 5.25%
TotalDirectBank 5.16%
18-months:
Sallie Mae Bank 5.00%
Limelight Bank 4.95%
2-years:
Merrick Bank 4.70%
First Internet Bank 4.70%
Sallie Mae Bank 4.65%
3-years:
PopularDirect 4.55%
First Internet Bank 4.54%
4-years:
First Internet Bank 4.54%
Barclays 4.40%
5-years:
Barclays 4.50%
PopularDirect 4.50%
VMFXX 5.0% yield
https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vmfxx