Exactly. That's why so many people have taken a beating in bonds the past 18 months. They owned bond ETF's or Bond mutual funds whose value changes every day. The individual investor in the fund has nothing to hold until maturity because that date never arrives for the fund.

Thanks White17. Always appreciate your insight

My 2cents for anyone. Get an account on Treasury Direct Site. I have had an account since 2006. Started with I Bonds. Then last year EE Bonds.

Then T Bills this spring. Minimum is $100.00. You can do a 4 week auction or Longer.

Great way to save and let your money grow overtime.

My bank is PNC. There money market savings account is 4.30%. Lots of ways to save and earn with little risk.

I keep seeing to.enter NON COMPETITIVE BID in the advice given advice here, but see it nowhere on Treasury Direct when buying.

When I searched for it, it said that buying via Treasury Direct is ONLY via non competitive bid.

Am.i missing something???

I think that is in the original application Dave. The competitive bids are all submitted directly to the Treasury Department

Thanks for the replies, White and all. I understand it a bit better now but still not fully. I'll be taking some finance classes soon (if I can ever get all the prerequisites out of the way, lol) so hope to have a much better understanding of how everything works together in the next couple years.

Interest from government bonds is free from state income tax. Good value to the investors who live in states that have an income tax.

Ken, does "interest" compound on multi-year bonds compound

Thanks!

Now, all the legalese on the last page before closing the deal scares me, lol.

PNC only offers that in SOME locations, not here.
Recommended some 1.4 or 1.5% account instead.

Looks like Navy Federal is getting a new customer

My broker is currently paying 4.83% on settled cash. The cash is still immediately available for use and no hassles moving it around, They offer a debit card too. I don't use that particular feature but it does make a handy package of tools.

It is compounded on Ibonds.

But regular Treasuries pay out their interest every six months so there is nothing to add to the principal.

These guys have a pretty well stocked website. If you search on here I am sure you will find more info on UST and other investments

https://www.bankrate.com/

Don't hesitate to ask the questions Angela. We may not have the answers, but without a doubt someone else has the same question.

I used a portion of savings that was basically sitting idle in a bank account and took advantage of the current inverted curve situation to develop a two year CD ladder. Doing this significantly improved the interest earning power over what the bank was offering. The ladder still gives me access to part of the funds every 6 months but takes advantage of the two year rate.

Did the same recently, but at that time, 2 year rate was lower than 1 year, which was lower Tthan 6 months!
Crazy times...

The inversion has been rapidly shrinking the past few days

So what's settled cash?

I really can’t see the advantage of a bond fund over buying bonds, unless current bond yields are real low. Not the case now. It seems to me bonds are mostly a safe investment looking for interest earnings that may or may not be a tax avoidance. I suppose since bond fund prices are down, there is the possibility of making interest and selling shares later for an improved price?

Thanks Ken, I know the answers just stirring conversation.