As I stated in earlier posts( Build T-Bill Ladder Emergency Fund ), I’ve been figuring out how to grow my 6-month Emergency fund into more of a passive income generator(or at least prevent inflation erosion).
I found information about T-Bill Ladders and figured with their tax incentives(no State or Local Income Tax), using T-Bills would offer benefits over building a CD ladder or continuing to use my High Yield Savings Account or Money Market Mutual Fund alone. I picked 8 weeks as the maturity period, so I built an 8-week T-bill Ladder for my Emergency fund.
Understand the steps I took to create this 8-week T-Bill Ladder, instead of the original 13-week T-Bill Ladder, and here is why: Emergency Fund In An 8-Week T-Bill Ladder, My Thoughts. As you can tell, I’m a Financial Student of the School of Hard Knocks, so consult your professional before making any financial decisions.
Note: I use Treasury Direct, https://www.TreasuryDirect.Gov, for my Treasury securities.
From my research, your money is constantly working with Treasury Direct, with no delays in T-Bills, T-Notes, and T-Bonds maturing and being immediately reinvested.
Also, with pre-purchases, money is deducted from your bank account once the security is purchased.
Building My 8-Week T-Bill Ladder.
I already have an account created on Treasury Direct and have linked one of my banking accounts to this service.
1.- Go To TreasuryDirect.Gov and Click “Log In “.
2.- This is the second page; click “Next” again.
In the past, I also used the “Create a New Account” link to set up my account.
3.- Entered My Account Number and Click “Submit “.
After entering your account number, click the “Submit” Button.
4.- Entered My One Time Passcode (OTP), and Click “Submit” Button.
My OTP, One Time Passcode, was sent to my registered email address. It’s a pain, and I want to use an Authenticator App or FIDO key (like Yubi Key), but I have to accept this level of security. I am keeping my Email account safe.
5.- Entered My Password And Then Clicked “Submit” Button.
Note that an image I picked during my account setup is displayed with a note.
This is your way of ensuring you are interfacing with Treasury Direct. An old way to prevent Website Spoofing, but works. As long as you remember the photo you picked and your message is about the persona and the picture.
6.- Logged In, I Verified My Information, Then Clicked “Verify ” Button.
Of course, if any of my information needed to be updated, I would have edited it before moving forward.
7.- From My Dashboard, I Clicked “Buy Direct “.
As you can see from my Dashboard, I’ve never purchased T-Bills; this is my first time, and I hope you can learn from my experience.
8.- Selected A T-Bill, and Clicked “Submit” Button.
9.- Select The T-Bill I Wanted, Then Clicked “Submit”
In this step, I selected the first one, but I am concentrating on the first few 8-week T-Bills, creating a four-rung ladder with maturities two weeks apart.
Turning on the auto reinvest, I’ll make a t-bill ladder that creates weekly passive income.
10- Scroll-Down, Turn On Auto Reinvest, Check Money Settings, And Then Click the “Submit” button.
I have more than one account, so I was presented with a drop-down for where the money came from and where the money goes as each T-Bill matures. I verified these accounts were correct.
I turned on Reinvestments by selecting Yes, and you can max out the intervals to equal two years.
I selected eight reinvestment times for this Ladder.
11.- Verify My T-Bill Selection And Settings, Then “Submit” Button.
I checked who it’s registered to: My Name.
What type of T-Bill: a 8-week T-Bill.
Auction date (purchase date).
The purchase amount, in this case, is $3000.
Source of purchase money.
Where to send maturity money.
I reviewed the Terms before clicking Submit, so I understood what I thought I was doing.
12.- T-Bill Purchase Submission Confirmation Message.
I got this T-Bill confirmation page. It showed me what I selected.
This was my first ever T-Bill purchased. Leaving money in a HYSA, or Money Market Mutual Fund, seems easier with fewer steps. Still, the higher return with exemption from State and Local Taxes makes this worth it.
I have purchased 1 of the 4 4-week T-Bill rungs in my Ladder, so I clicked “Buy Direct” and purchased the remaining 3 T-Bills.
13.- Repeat Steps To Purchase Additional T-Bills And Review The Purchase Summary From The Dashboard.
My Dashboard still doesn’t show any held 8-WeekT-Bills, Yet. However, at the bottom of the Dashboard is an “Account Activity” section, and when I clicked on the link, I see a list of my recent planned purchases.
14.- Review All My Rungs In My 8-Week T-Bill Ladder.
I reviewed my purchases, 4 rungs on my 8-week T-Bill ladder with each setup for reinvestment with the correct amount. FYI: How To Calculate A T-Bill Yield tool will help me keep track of my yields and make comparisons of my T-Bills to other investments.
What’s Next?
This stage in my financial independence is scary for me; it took a long time to save this amount of money, and something feels safe about a savings account or money market fund versus investing it into securities. However, these are Treasury Securities, and if anything goes wrong, I have more to fear than what happened to my money.
I would love to hear your feedback; please leave a comment.
 Myself with an interesting Bull Sculpture. Notice: No Lambo’s. :/ | Hi I’m Tom, A Blogger And A PIG Farmer. PIG Farmer as in I grow Passive Income Generators(PIG’s). I’ve been playing with stocks, mutual funds, and options for decades, as well as always working on my side hustle stacks. Unlike what you read online, I’ve yet to find a way to get rich quickly. Get Rich Quick isn’t happening for me. My journey has been long and continues. I hope to have so many PIGs I can stop working at my current job and volunteer as a medical worker overseas. Still waiting, but getting there. I still am a family man, and while on this Journey of Growing PIGs. I wanted to share my adventures(ups and downs), hoping you will contribute with your feedback and comments. Fun Fact: In my spare time, I am a Band-Dad! |