Schwab SCHD To 4 Week T-Bill Ladder And Chill Progress.

Now, I’ve covered much of what my plans park my money(T-Bill Ladder and Chill), with this ‘over-priced’ stock market, and all the economic indicators(including the bond market) suggest there will be a burst.

Now, down to executing moving money out of Charles Schwab from my SCHD dividends and parking the money into a 4-week t-bill ladder, I will build on Treasury Direct.

These are the steps I did, and you can learn from my experience. How to appreciate the ETF: SCHD, benefit from Schwab’s excellent account interface, and how I build a 4-run 4-week T-Bill Ladder from my dividends. Do your research, and nothing of this is financial advice. But, if you are offering financial advice, leave a comment below.

Schwab Account Changes, Before Dividends.

I had to make these changes before the latest SCHD’s dividends appeared in my account since I had to reinvest turned “On.”

BTW, SCHD is Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF and is one of my favorite passive income generators.

My Charles Schwab Account ETF Settings Changes

First, Turn Off Dividend Re-Investments for My SCHD ETF Holdings.

I logged into my Charles Schwab account and clicked on “Positions” tab.

Charles Schwab positions tab.

I scroll down to my SCHD ETF row under the column that reads “Reinvest?” I click the “Yes” Link.

Charles Schwab Positions page with divident reinvestment setting showing.

This results in opening a popup, changing auto invest from “Yes” to “No,” and then clicking the “Update” button.

Changing Charles Schwab divident reinvestment option.

I received a confirmation message:

Charles Schwab Dividend Reinvestment change recieved.

Once closed, I can see on the SCHD ETF row under the “Reinvest?” column that it reads “No”

Charles Schwab confirmed dividend reinvestments is turned off.

Waiting For SCHD Dividends To Be Distributed.

I logged into my Fidelity and Vanguard brokerage accounts and turned off their Dividend reinvestment. As mentioned, I’ll leave the dividends inside those accounts, which will automatically be held in a money market sweep account. So, there’s little left to do with them.

Money will remain in those retirement accounts, earning a decent interest and remaining tax-exempt or tax-deferred.

It’s my Charles Schwab account, which is taxable; I’m working against an eroding force, the fed, so I’m trying to utilize tools I have, T-Bills(Remember T-Bills Are Zero Coupon Bonds when considering interest return, How To Calculate A T-Bill Yield tool I built), to protect the buying power of this money for later stock/ETF purchases when prices become more reasonable.

This is why there are so many steps; the government needs to make money passively easily. 😀

In the meantime, I just waited for the dividends to appear in my account.


Withdraw Money From Charles Schwab.

Now that my ETF dividends have shown up in my balance, it is time to move the money over to a bank account I can use to fund the t-bill ladder.

Log Into My Schwab Account

I click the “Move Money” tab from the Account Summary Page.

Charles Schwab move money tab.

This expands, and you can see and click on the “Transfers and Payments” option.

Charles Schwab Transfers and Payments.

The Transfers and Payment page opens, and I select “Online Transfers” since my bank account is already linked to my Schwab account. This will forward you to the “Set up your transfer” page.

Charles Schwab select online transfers.

On the “Set up your transfer,” I selected “Cash Only” since I only moved the cash balance I received from dividends.

Charles Schwab withdrawal setup page.

The “From” account will be the account with the dividend balance.
The “To” account will be my bank account.
For the “amount,” I selected a nice round number to build my 4-week t-bill ladder later.
The “frequency” is defaulted to “one-time,” which was good for me.
The “transfer date” was defaulted to today’s date. So I can get the money ASAP.
Click the “Continue” button.

Afterwards, I was presented with a “Review and Transfer” page:

Charles Schwab  Transfer submit page.

I confirmed money from, money to, total amount, frequency, and date for transfer. All were correct, so I clicked on the “Submit” button.

Presented with a confirmation page that my transfer request was recieved and now I wait. ZZZZzzzzz…..


Dividends Arrive, Time To Build A T-Bill Ladder.

It only took one day for the money from Schwab to show up in my bank Account. That was fast.

Now, the bank I had Schwab transfer money to is also linked to my Treasury Direct Account. Using a shared bank account between the two will make buying T-bills easier.

Also, when the market starts pricing more favorably, I can reverse this operation and buy more stocks and ETFs. I’m crossing my fingers, but I’m just doing the T-Bills and chill now.


How I Finally Build This 4-Week T-bill Ladder

The focus was to make the most money from this money while keeping it available.

So, I continue with the the idea of dividing this money(dividends and other saved money) into four sequential T-Bill maturity dates. This way, a T-bill matures every week, and if not needed yet, it just auto-reinvests.

From My Treasury Direct Dashboard.

After logging in, I am in my dashboard.

So, to create a 4-week T-bill ladder with this parked money, I click on the “Buy Direct” menu item at the top.

Treasury Direct BuyDirect Link.

Picking T-Bills, “Bills” Option.

I selected “Bills” on this page and then clicked the “Submit” button.

Treasury Direct Security Selection

Picking T-bill Maturity Dates.

Now, this T-bill ladder will have four rungs. Each with a maturity date one week apart.

Treasury Direct T-bill Maturity Dates.

I will select #1, enter my settings at the bottom of the page:

  • The Amount To Invest.
  • Source of money, where to take money from.
  • Reinvestment, turned to “Yes”.
  • How Many times, 24, since up to 2 years.
  • Where to deposit funds from the T-Bill maturing.

Then click the “Submit” button.

Treasury Direct T-Bill Settings.

Review Your T-Bill Settings And Conditions.

I saw the settings I entered to confirm them and a long list of information I agreed to when I clicked the “Submit” Button.

Treasury Direct T-Bill Purchase Information Review.

Confirmation Of My T-Bill Purchase Order

Here I get a confirmation, with all the necessary information, of the T-Bill I just purchased.

Treasury Direct T-Bill Purchase Order Confirmation.

Rinse And Repeat.

I repeat these steps till all four rungs of this new ladder are complete.

View Account Security History.

When completed, I checked my security history, which was security as in investment securities. I saw the four new T-Bills I just purchased.

Treasury Direct Security History.

Final T-Bill And Chill Note!

The orders I placed were just that.

Orders to purchase T-bills on their scheduled auction date. Once the money is pulled from my bank, the source of funds for the T-bill purchase and the purchase is complete.

Until then, keeping the money in my High Yield Savings account with SoFi is best. I have till needed each week. When I ensure the money is moved into my checking account, Treasury Direct will withdraw money for my new purchase.

Little Side Note.

I might link the HYSA to Treasury Direct, so I don’t have to move money around, and each time a T-bill matures, money is returned to my HYSA. Maximizing interest returns. I’ll be sure to update you guys on what I do.

For now, Thanks!

Tom, Growing His Passive Income Generators.
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!

Leave a Comment