Page 1 of 1
Is this appropriate for my CASH holdings?
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 8:12 am
by fishdrzig
1/2 VFISX 1/2 BIL
I would prefer to be all in Vanguard but the Admiral share Treasury Money Market account(VUSXX)count (is closed to new investors and right now I have all my CASH in VMMXX. I would like to get a little yield anyway. Any advice here? Thanks
Re: Is this appropriate for my CASH holdings?
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 11:37 am
by buddtholomew
Are CD's an option or are you only interested in short-term treasuries? Have you considered SHY or SHV?
Re: Is this appropriate for my CASH holdings?
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 8:34 am
by hoost
VFISX is good. I use this for cash for all VG holdings and have for a few years. You can get check-writing privileges out of that fund, so it works well for emergency funds, too.
Re: Is this appropriate for my CASH holdings?
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 11:18 pm
by KevinW
fishdrzig wrote:
1/2 VFISX 1/2 BIL
Yes this seems fine.
I think 100% BIL and "scraps" of VMMXX would be better. IMO, keep it simple stupid (KISS), put practically all cash in T-bills as instructed, and move on.
In one of my accounts I have 100% of my cash in VMMXX, which is not ideal, but IMO is just barely acceptable. While not a pure T-bill fund, due to Vanguard's conservatism, it is about 40-50% US government bills and the remainder is high quality paper. I'll be switching this to Vanguard's T-bill fund as soon as it reopens.
Re: Is this appropriate for my CASH holdings?
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:22 am
by sophie
Fidelity's treasury money market fund is open if you can put in the $25K minimum balance. BTW I got a notice that this fund has now changed and is no longer treasury only, but they opened a new treasury only fund - so check your inbox if you're holding this.
I find T bill auto-roll to be lots easier. Which T bill duration did you pick? I debated between one and 3 months, and ended up with 3 months. There's little advantage in going out to 1 year.
Re: Is this appropriate for my CASH holdings?
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:06 am
by MachineGhost
VFISX has duration risk. The maximum drawdown is around -7.21% since 1991, which is very steep for cash. There are better ways to fry the cash management fish.
Re: Is this appropriate for my CASH holdings?
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:18 am
by hoost
Average maturity is 2.4 yrs, average duration 2.3 years. So 1% increase in interest rate will yield 2.3% loss. I'd rather be in treasuries than corporate paper, I want check-writing privileges, and my money is at vanguard. This seems to be the best option.
What happened in 1991?
When the treasury money market reopens, I would suggest switching to that, but for now with rates where they are, I think VFISX is acceptable. It's always important to understand the risks.
Re: Is this appropriate for my CASH holdings?
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 6:27 pm
by fishdrzig
KevinW wrote:
fishdrzig wrote:
1/2 VFISX 1/2 BIL
Yes this seems fine.
I think 100% BIL and "scraps" of VMMXX would be better. IMO, keep it simple stupid (KISS), put practically all cash in T-bills as instructed, and move on.
In one of my accounts I have 100% of my cash in VMMXX, which is not ideal, but IMO is just barely acceptable. While not a pure T-bill fund, due to Vanguard's conservatism, it is about 40-50% US government bills and the remainder is high quality paper. I'll be switching this to Vanguard's T-bill fund as soon as it reopens.
/can someone give me the ticker symbol for the above T-bill Vanguard fund? Thanks
Re: Is this appropriate for my CASH holdings?
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:28 pm
by KevinW
VUSXX. It has been closed since the Fed lowered T-bill rates to practically zero.
Re: Is this appropriate for my CASH holdings?
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:23 am
by lordmetroid
I hold my cash in normal debit accounts in various banks.
Thinking it might be wise to maybe open accounts in foreign banks as well but I do not like the currency exchange rate risks.