Personal Finance Blog By MoneyRates - Government & Municipal Securities
Savings Bonds Which Have Stopped Earning Interest
November 12, 2008
The Treasury Department announced earlier this month the new rates for savings bonds. Purchasers of the Series I savings bond will earn a fixed rate of 0.70% and an inflation-adjusted rate of 4.92%. The inflation-adjustment is reset every six months. New buyers of the Series EE bonds will earn a rate of 1.30, while current [...]
Treasury Department Releases New Rates on Series I and Series EE Savings Bonds
November 6, 2008
The Treasury Department has released the new semi-annual rate adjustments on their Series I inflation bonds and the fixed-rate Series EE bonds. The Series I bond, which pays a fixed component and an inflation-indexed component, is set to pay an earnings rate of 5.64% for the next six months and purchasers of the Series EE [...]
U.S. Mint Halts Sales of American Buffalo Gold Coins
September 29, 2008
Last week the U.S. Mint temporarily halted the sale of one of their most popular gold coins due to consumer demand. Spokesman for the U.S. Mint, Michael White, announced the suspendedsales of the Buffalo 24-karat gold coin which was first introduced in 2006.Gold dealers have stated that demand for gold coins has skyrocketed in 2008 [...]
New Rates on Savings Bonds
May 8, 2008
Investors who purchased the Series I Savings Bonds a few years ago are just now realizing some good returns as their fixed-rate portion (as high as 3.60%) is combined with a current inflation-adjusted rate of 4.84%. If inflation continues in the economy Series I Savings Bond holders continue to benefit. However, a purchaser of the [...]
IRS Update on Stimulus Program Rebate Payments
April 21, 2008
The IRS has made the following information available on their website IRS.gov regarding the schedule of rebate payment checks for taxpayers who filed their 2007 tax return by April 15, 2008:Stimulus Payment Schedule for Tax Returns Processed by April 15Economic stimulus payments will be issued according to the last two-digits of the main filer's Social [...]
Mutual Fund Company Bailouts Don't Stop Increased Investor Inflows into Money Funds
April 12, 2008
Percent Change in Total Net Assets in Mutual Funds from January to February:Stock Funds -1.2%Hybrid Funds -1.2%Taxable Money Funds +0.8%Municipal Bond Funds -4.6%Taxable Money Market Funds +3.9%Tax-Free Money Market Funds -2.3%The biggest percent increase in mutual fund assets was in taxable money market funds which are at record levels according to data recently released by [...]
All About TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities)
March 27, 2008
A popular investment topic recently has been inflation and investments which provide a hedge to protect investors from inflation. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities commonly referred to as TIPS is a simple easy for an individual investor to buy inflation protection for their portfolio. For those who are not familiar with these products the Treasury Department [...]
Stimulus Payment Schedule from IRS
March 25, 2008
Below are the schedules for economic stimulus payments related to tax returns processed by April 15, 2008.Stimulus Payment Schedule for Tax Returns Received and Processed by April 15Direct Deposit PaymentsIf the last two digits of your Social Security number are 00-20Your economic stimulus payment deposit should be sent to your bank account by May 2If [...]
Government Bond Funds and Inflation-Protected Funds Outperform
February 29, 2008
Government bond funds are a favorite of investors due to the safety of the underlying holdings which are primarily securities issued by the Treasury Department or government-sponsored entities. While normal bond fund managers can buy riskier lower-rated bonds to boost yields, the government bond fund manager is heavily restricted to the type of holdings in [...]
Warren Buffett helps Interest Rates
February 12, 2008
Bond yields moved sharply higher today after news that Warren Buffett's firm Berkshire Hathaway has offered to assume liability for the municipal bonds of troubled bond insurers. US Treasuries have been a safe haven for investors since last summer when the credit and mortgage markets began to experience serious setbacks. So any news, like today's [...]
