Category: Cash and Savings

Should Money Market Funds Be Able to Break the Buck?

Posted by: Lauren Young on June 25

Should money market funds be allowed to “break the buck”? The Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled its money market fund recommendations yesterday. If there is any controversy to be found,…

Best and Worst 529 Plans

Posted by: Karyn McCormack on April 23

If you’re enrolled in a 529 college savings plan, you’re probably feeling some angst when looking at the plans’ performance given the market’s horrible returns last year. “Unfortunately, the past…

UBS Auction Rate Security Holders Don’t Get More Relief, Judge Says

Posted by: Aaron Pressman on March 31

You remember the whole auction rate securities mess? These long-term bonds and shares of preferred stock were sold as cash-equivalent, short-term investments because their interest rates were reset at weekly…

A Run of Money Fund Redemptions

Posted by: Tara Kalwarski on February 18

Retail money fund assets dropped for the sixth consecutive week, to $1.35 trillion, as of Feb. 12, according to the Investment Company Institute. Treasury and municipal money market funds felt…

Congress Suspends Mandatory IRA Withdrawals for 2009

Posted by: Tara Kalwarski on December 16

A bit of good news for Americans age 70 1/2 and older: Last week the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008—effectively…

Investors are expecting a lot of deflation

Posted by: Aaron Pressman on December 09

The U.S. Treasury completed a remarkable auction of four-week Treasury bills today. No surprise that there was a ton of demand for the only investment still viewed as a safe…

The Credit Crunch Hits Money Funds (Again)

Posted by: Lauren Young on September 18

Will the credit crunch decimate money-market funds next? Money-market funds are considered one of the safest places to park cash. But that, like everything else in this wild market, is…

More Ways To Stash Your Cash: V

Posted by: Lauren Young on July 29

Looking for places to stash cash? Here’s today’s asset allocation plan from Dan Crimmons, President and Founder of DPC Wealth Management in Ramsey, New Jersey. Amount Instrument $500,000 DFA One-Year…

Ways to Stash Your Cash: Part IV

Posted by: Lauren Young on July 28

I will continue posting more cash asset allocation plans this week. As a reminder, advisers were asked how they would invest $1 million for an investor with a one-year time…

Leave room for interest when relying on $100,000 deposit insurance

Posted by: Aaron Pressman on July 28

Colleague Lauren Young has posted some advisors’ suggested cash protection investment plans for $1 million. I’d just add one caveat. The FDIC’s standard deposit insurance coverage of $100,000 per account…

Ways to Stash Your Cash: Part III

Posted by: Lauren Young on July 27

This cash advice comes from Lyn Dippel at Financial Advantage , a wealth management firm in Columbia, Md. Dippel’s two biggest concerns for cash investors are that inflation will outpace…

Ways to Stash Your Cash: Part II

Posted by: Lauren Young on July 26

Here’s another plan for an investor with $1 million who is look for a safe place to park cash for the next year. This recommendation comes from Stacy Francis…

More Ways To Stash Your Cash

Posted by: Lauren Young on July 25

Clarification: Rydex CurrencyShares are actually exchange-traded products (grantor trust structure)—not exchange-traded notes. I’ve updated this post to reflect the changes. Over the past few months, I’ve fielded lots of questions…

Auction Rate Securities Mess is Worse than You Thought

Posted by: Aaron Pressman on May 22

The auction rate securities mess has often been portrayed in the press as rich people’s problem. Oh, those billionaires and their financial woes. Turns out, that’s completely wrong. Thousands, tens…

From the Mail Bag: How Safe is Your Cash?

Posted by: Lauren Young on March 31

I recently received this email from a reader: Read your article on the safety of my money with my broker. It was quite interesting and necessary as I myself have…

Economic Indicator: Camp

Posted by: Howard Silverblatt on February 16

Then, the summer of 2002 My children are six and eight and have been in the summer day camp mode for two years now. That means that every morning at…

Cash Cows

Posted by: Lauren Young on January 08

According to Asian calendars, 2008 will be the Year of the Rat. But for investors, it may well be the Year of the (Cash) Cow. “Funds are flowing into cash…

Where to Stash Cash

Posted by: Lauren Young on August 24

The WSJ had a story today that money is pouring out of bank loan funds amid troubles in the bank-loan market. Bank loans have been traditional safehavens for investors since…

Sticker Shock for Tots

Posted by: Karyn McCormack on February 12

I’ve just made a huge investment: Preschool for my 2-year old daughter. Starting September, she’ll go to school for the first time for two days a week for almost 3…

No need to be stashing cash in the mattress

Posted by: Aaron Pressman on August 16

With the Fed finally on hold after a zillion straight interest rate hikes, it’s a good time to review where you’re keeping your stash of cash. Bank savings rates at…

$mart Kid$

Posted by: Lauren Young on April 27

On Wednesday, I blogged on the Working Parents website about the plethora of programs available to teach kids about money, which elicited offline comments from some readers. I’ve since learned…

Virtual Piggy Banks, Part Two

Posted by: Adrienne Carter on April 10

My co-blogger Lauren wrote a couple of weeks ago about the advantages of the new Citibank Direct account—a high-yield savings account with an interest rate currently running at about 4.5%….

Nickle and Dimed on Cash

Posted by: Roben Farzad on January 17

After years of relative cash-yield generosity, my online bank E*Trade has quietly slashed the interest it offers on its checking account…and has similarly skimped on its money market rates. All…