Following up on my earlier post this week about buying the 3-month T-bill at Schwab, I also used Treasury Direct to buy my first 4-week bill this week. T-bill rates are rebounding after a big dip in September, as you can see below:
This chart is based on data from Treasury Direct’s official auction results page. Keep in mind that “Investment Rate” is the same as APR, not APY. This week’s investment rates were 5.038% for the 28-day bill, 5.072% for the 91-day bill, and 5.132% for the 182-day bill, which are equivalent to APYs of 5.156%, 5.169%, and 5.198% respectively.
I’d linked an account at my credit union to Treasury Direct back in August, which was surprisingly easy to do. At one point, I managed to forget my password and get locked out of my account, so had to phone Treasury Direct to get help. Much to my surprise, my phone call was immediately answered by a woman who sounded like she was sitting at her desk in her office, not at a call center. That was by far the fastest service from the government that I’ve ever received!
So, kudos to Treasury Direct, though I still prefer to buy my 3- and 6-month bills via Schwab just because it saves me the hassle of moving money back and forth between my accounts. However, at some point, the difference in yields between the 4-week and 3-month and 6-month T-bills might be great enough that going through the hassle of transferring money to buy the 4-week might be worth it.
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