Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PENFED) is paying 1.62% on six month CDs and a little over 2% for longer term CDs. Perhaps creating a CD latter may be right for you. PENFED membership is available to the general public with a small donation to a millitary based charity. You might want to research tax certificates, discounted first residential mortgages taken as seller based financing, and purchasing discounted annuities. There is some work involved, but the risk adjusted return of these alternative investments may be worth it for you. The key with these alternative investments is being selective. However, the effort spent in learning about them will likely payoff in useful knowledge that can be applied profitability in other areas, not just these alternative investments.
Humble and Eves, thanks so much, sounds like the one month treasuries might be ideal, a good bit higher interest rate, very little downside risk (ignoring government default risk haha) very liquid so can get my cash out when needed. Max suffering, thanks as well, I was hoping someone would post some slightly outside the box products - will definately check those out!
@Saltynuts not giving advice about what to buy, of course, but also note that bonds you buy at IB (corporate bonds for example) don't have to be bought for the full duration. If you look at IB's bond explorer (browser ? scanner ? what the hell do they call it ?) you can find countless corporate bonds that will mature in 30 days, or 60, or 90, etc, even though they may have originally been for 10 years or more.
There is a thread on this question.... https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/what-do-you-do-with-your-excess-cash.320660/
About 1.8% short retail and most brokers offer around a 90% release to SMA. Institutional size they go up a bit, but your taking the bank/broker credit risk. You can enhance the bill a little with the listed option, but it's almost not worth the effort after all the friction. MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2018 Money Rates Latest Prev. Yr Ago Discount Rate (NY) 2 1/4 2 1/4 1 1/2 Prime Rate (base) 4 3/4 4 3/4 4 Fed Funds Rate Avg effective offer 1 18/25 1 22/31 8/9 Avg weekly auction-c 1.69 1.69 0.91 T-Bills Rate 13 weeks, Coupon Yield 1.864 1.792 0.833 13 weeks, Auction Rate 1.830 1.760 0.820 26 weeks, Coupon Yield 2.033 1.992 0.973 26 weeks, Auction Rate 1.985 1.945 0.955 Avg weekly auction-c 1.78 1.72 0.80 Broker Call Rate 3 1/2 3 1/2 2 3/4 Bankers Acceptances 1 month 1.78 1.78 0.95 2 months 1.93 1.93 1.03 3 months 2.08 2.08 1.13 6 months 2.23 2.23 1.28 Euribor Interbank Rate 3 months -0.329 -0.328 -0.329 6 months -0.269 -0.271 -0.249 12 months -0.189 -0.189 -0.121 Libor Interbank Rate 1 month 1.91 1.90 1.00 3 months 2.36 2.36 1.17 6 months 2.52 2.51 1.43 12 months 2.78 2.76 1.77 Foreign Prime Rates Canada 3.45 3.45 2.70 Germany 0.00 0.00 0.00 Japan 1.475 1.475 1.475 Switzerland 0.50 0.50 0.50 Britain 0.50 0.50 0.25 Other Money Rates Fannie Mae Home Loan: 30-Year Fixed Conv 4.19 4.14 3.57 Bank money market-z 0.18 0.18 0.11 Interest Checking-z 0.08 0.08 0.08 6-Month Certif-z 0.31 0.31 0.21 12-Month Certif-z 0.55 0.54 0.34 30 Month Accounts-z 0.76 0.76 0.54 5-Year Certificates-z 1.16 1.15 0.89 U.S. Savings EE Bonds: Long-Term (5yrs+) 0.10 0.10 0.10 c-Annualized yields, adjusted for constant maturity, reported by the Federal Reserve on a weekly average basis. Sources: Tullett Prebon information, Ltd. SIX Financial Information. z-Bankrate.com.
You can calculate here how much IB is paying you in interest: https://interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=1595 Click on the tab "Interest Paid to You" and search for your currency of choice.
Get 1 year UST bills instead of 1 month. That way you dont have the hassle of rolling over them and having to pay commissions several times a year
You might be able to allow Treasury Direct to access your account so you may Buy Bills and Notes from the Trade Account and have them replace the Funds upon Maturity.