Articles
Selected category: Savings
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February 2020 Update – Five Ways to Improve Your Online Savings Rate in 2020
January 2020 ended with more than enough headlines to scare anyone into cash. Between Coronavirus spreading in China and the possibility that it may be a generation before the U.S. has a president not named Trump, there is a lot to be... Read →
Image David Faber Image, Courtesy CNBC
Putin, North Korea, David Faber, Jim Stewart and Your Savings and Brokerage Accounts
There are very few things or people that get my attention on CNBC. I usually find myself switching over to Bloomberg when Joe Kernen or Jim Cramer start rambling. I guess neither were around on Christmas Eve morning because I ended up... Read →
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Financial Advice from a 50-Year Old Who Last Saw a Market Like This in 1999
As I turn 50, I feel it is appropriate to look back and give some advice to a 30-year old me who was encountering a crazy bullish stock market like the current one in 1999. Twenty years ago, I had just turned 30. I was a newly-minted... Read →
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Fed Leaves Fed Funds Target Rate Unchanged at 1.50% to 1.75%, Plans to Take 2020 Off
The Federal Reserve voted unanimously today to leave the Fed Funds rate unchanged at 1.50% to 1.75%. This move was widely expected after Chairman Jerome Powell and other Fed governors signaled that they were comfortable with where... Read →
Image Delicate Arch, Courtesy NPS.org
December 2019 Savings and CD Account Update – Cash Is Safe
I began BestCashCow’s November newsletter by saying that it was hard to get excited about cash. It is still hard to get excited about cash with the Fed Funds target remaining at a range of 1.50% to 1.75%. But, in the last month,... Read →
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Bask Bank, American Airlines AAdvantage Miles, Silliness?
Editor's Note: This article was originally written in December 2019 when Bask Bank had a soft launch of its new American AAdvantage product. In January 2020 after Bask Bank released the full details of the product, the author realized... Read →
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Be Careful With Savings Products from Credit Karma, Wealthfront, Betterment and SoFi
The last few months have seen the emergence of non-bank savings products that purport to be FDIC-insured often to amounts higher than the FDIC limits that online banks are able to offer ($250,000 for individuals, $500,000 for... Read →
November 2019 Update – Getting Harder and Harder to Get Excited About Cash
The Federal Reserve lowered the Fed Funds target to 1.50% to 1.75% on October 31, marking its third rate cut this year and causing many of the most recognized online banks to lower their savings’ offers below 2%. The paradox is... Read →
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The Federal Reserve Lowers The Fed Funds Rate to A 1.50% to 1.75% Target
The Federal Reserve moved to lower the Fed Funds target rate today by 25 basis points to a range of 1.50% to 1.75%. This move marks the third rate cut this year. The Federal Reserve has now "reversed" three of its four hikes... Read →
October 2019 Update - Hard to Get Excited About CDs and Even Harder to Get Excited About Savings
This time last year, everyone was getting very excited about savings rates moving well above 2%, about 1-year CDs at 2.85% and above, and 5-year CDs at 3.50%. Those with cash were finally finding risk-free opportunities for their savings... Read →
The Federal Reserve Lowers The Fed Funds Rate by 25 bps to a 1.75% to 2.00% Target
The Federal Reserve acted today to lower the target Fed Funds rate by a quarter point. This follows the July 31 quarter point reduction of the rate. The Fed Funds rate had stood at a post-crisis high of 2.25% to 2.50% earlier this year,... Read →
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Hot Money - A Defense
A well-known online bank recently dropped its savings rate by 15 basis points, and that action prompted me to close my account there and move the entire balance into a one-year CD at another bank. When the bank’s manager called to... Read →
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Trump Is Preparing to Fire Jay Powell and Replace Him with Jim Cramer
Trump tweeted at 8:22 AM this morning: "I agree with @jimcramer, the Fed should lower rates. They were WAY too early to raise, and Way too late to cut - and big dose quantitative tightening didn’t exactly help either. Where... Read →
Steer Far Away from Long Bonds and Preferred Stock Right Now (and from Anyone Pushing These Securities)
A good friend of mine in money management who I ordinarily think very highly of told me this weekend that he likes the 15-year US Treasury bond. I’ve also seen this same endorsement of the longer term US Treasuries from money... Read →