Since I don’t believe anyone here is washing or staining for the fun of it, I thought I would mention a super easy way to make a couple of dollars. T bills - Treasury Bills - through the U.S. government using your bank account. Their website will answer a lot of questions. https://www.treasurydirect.gov/
How it works is pretty simple, but lets say you don’t want your money tied up very long. Easy, get a shorter term Tbill. a 17 week T bill was paying 5.2% and a 13 week was paying 5.245 at last auction (rates have been high for awhile). Now that isn’t 5.2 in 13-17 weeks, that is 5.2 over a year. What really happens is this, you give the gov (example) $98.75 and then in 13-17 weeks the government gives you $100 for every $98.75 you gave them. It doesn’t sound like at lot, but it adds up by the end of a year. It likely pays a lot more than your average savings account or CD, and you don’t have to learn the markets or worry about commissions. Some of your profit isn’t taxed, but consult your laws and regulations. You can reroll it into another tbill or cash out to your bank account. I do this often checking the latest auction rates here: Announcements, Data & Results — TreasuryDirect
I won’t get into all the schemes people have for these. Simply put, check and see if it is worth your time. I love it. I can’t see why anyone in the U.S. would have a savings account probably paying 1% and get fully taxed on it at the end of the year by the fed, state, and local. Some people will get better savings rates, but the vast majority of U.S. banks pay almost no interest on savings accounts and don’t even get me started on checking accounts. What the banks do is take the money you deposited, then lend it to someone else at a higher rate (for a house, car, bike loan). They give you a paltry 1% and keep all the profits for themselves. My local bank, that I only use for cashing checks, gives a whopping .05 percent interest for savings accounts. Yep, several percentages lower than the rate of interest which means you are losing money by saving it in their bank. Plus, the paltry sum you receive in interest is fully taxable. Talk about a slap in the face, no wonder I only use them for cashing checks. I belong to a credit union, mine is much more favorable than a bank.
Anywho, thought I would throw this out here since it is the offseason and I’m just procrastinating on shoveling snow right now. I just bought more 13 and 17 week bills and thought I would mention it. I do stocks and other stuff, but this is just so easy. Get it while the gettin is good, rates may go down.
I’m just self taught, read a couple of books, used the investing tools available through the brokerage, and listened to the business channels everyday (just to learn their language). I was poor, lived in public housing and was on welfare for awhile growing up. Just made a decision that that life wasn’t for me and I was going to do something about it. It didn’t happen overnight, and there were some pretty lean years, but nothing in life worth having comes easy.
