You’re Giving Away Yield and Don’t Even Know It
Money-market funds have been jacking up their fees in recent months, eating into the returns that savers should be earning. Here’s what to do about it.
by Jason Zweig, The Wall Street Journal, 10/21/2022
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As of Sept. 30, 210 money funds—fully one-fourth of the total—were charging at least 0.5% in annual expenses, according to Crane. Nearly two dozen weighed in at 1% or more.
That helps explain why, with one-month Treasury bills and commercial paper yielding about 3.2% this week, the average money fund yielded just under 2.8%…
The recent rise in fees raises a larger question: Are money-market funds worth owning anymore?..
Brokerage firms may pinch even more of your pennies. So-called sweep options, where a brokerage automatically routes any cash you earn from dividends, interest or sales, generally yield under 0.5%…
You might have to keep some cash in money funds for the sake of convenience. But you can lift your return on cash above 3% by buying Treasury bills directly, investing in CDs from online banks or using a rate-shopping service like MaxMyInterest.com…[end quote]
Hmmm…I’m going to have to check all my cash-like accounts.
Wendy