The Sun's Financial Diary

Even though the debt reduction deal reached just before the deadline prevented the United States from defaulting on its national debt, the crisis isn’t really over. There are still a lot of uncertainties going  forward. During uncertain times, investors often run towards the safest investments they can find.  Historically, that safe haven has been government [...]

The last time I wrote about I-Bond interest rate was last May when the Treasury Department set the total earning rate of Series I-Bond issued from May to November to 0.00% due to the negative annual inflation rate, which has already affected the contribution of 2010 401(k) plan. Even though that I-Bonds purchased in the past [...]

I hope you have bought some I-bonds before May 1, so you can still enjoy a little bit the 5.64% yield I-bond rate that was good till April 30. If you missed the deadline and bought some bonds yesterday, May 1st, then too bad because the rate for Series I Savings Bonds issued between May [...]

Will you buy an investment that gives you zero return? Under normal circumstance, I assume nobody will take such an investment. After all, investing is about return, right? Seeking return is what people normally do. However, now is not normal. Safety is on everybody’s mind. And when safety becomes the first priority, investors turn to [...]

Today, the Bureau of the Public Debt announced the interest rates for Series I-bond issued between November 2008 and April 2009. The total rate is set at 5.64%, including a fixed rate of 0.70% and an annualized rate of 4.92% adjusted based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U). The total rate [...]

It has been a long time since I updated 4-week T-bill rates late time (almost a year). The main reason for this once my favorite investment tool being totally abandoned is that, well, there isn’t much to buy right now. The bills are still being offered every week, but the rates has been terribly low [...]

Do you invest in Treasury bills, notes, and bonds? If you do, then there’s a good news. Starting early this week, Treasury Department has lowered the minimum purchase from $1,000 to $100. The change applies to Treasury bills, notes, and bonds with maturity from 4 weeks to 30 years, which means that 4-week T-bill is [...]

One year ago, I had a post discussing the return of 4-week T-bill, whether it’s APR or APY, and how to calculate the equivalent yield based on the state income tax. In that post, only the formulas on how exactly the calculations should be done were given. Though it isn’t difficult to put the formulas [...]