What is Your Favorite "Safe" Investment : CDs, Online Savings, etc...

[bln]

T-bills paying 2% together with interleaved Cash-Secured-Puts in SPY paying 3%.

So I earn 5% annually for idle cash holdings.

In the past I've used GSY and MINT, which are short term corp. bonds ETF's paying monthly dividends. But today with T-bills paying around 2% there is not much of a reason for using these.

https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/quotes/GSY

https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/quotes/MINT

 

[srinir]

T-bills paying 2% together with interleaved Cash-Secured-Puts in SPY paying 3%.

So I earn 5% annually for idle cash holdings.

I won't call cash-secured puts in SPY as "Safe" investment.

 

[bln]

I won't call cash-secured puts in SPY as "Safe" investment.

Statistically safe They are strikes -20% below current market. If the S&P 500 where to drop more than 20% during 3 months I will take delivery of the shares and sell them back at break-even on bounce.

 

[srinir]

Statistically safe They are strikes -20% below current market. If the S&P 500 where to drop more than 20% during 3 months I will take delivery of the shares and sell them back at break-even on bounce.

Then you have different definition of "Safe".

"Safe" investments is needed when you absolutely need safety, not tanking when the market is dropping. What you described is similar to profile of Junk (High-yield) bonds (Term risk + Credit risk). No one calls junk bonds as "Safe" investments

 

[bln]

Then you have different definition of "Safe".

"Safe" investments is needed when you absolutely need safety, not tanking when the market is dropping. What you described is similar to profile of Junk (High-yield) bonds (Term risk + Credit risk). No one calls junk bonds as "Safe" investments

Yeah, that is true. "absolute safety" is a whole different thing. T-bonds, T-notes, T-bills, TIPS, etc. should not be seen as safe either as the US Government could theoretically go bankrupt.

 

[Sig]

[cisatracurium QUOTE="bln, post: 4729396, member: 172250"]Yeah, that is true. "absolute safety" is a whole different thing. T-bonds, T-notes, T-bills, TIPS, etc. should not be seen as safe either as the US Government could theoretically go bankrupt.[/QUOTE]
At which point you have bigger problems on your hands than the safety of you investments. And my prepper friends have the last laugh on me, although as I like to point out I do have a sailboat that can take me to 2/3 of the Earth's surface with no fuel in pretty self-contained fashion!

 

[srinir]

Yeah, that is true. "absolute safety" is a whole different thing. T-bonds, T-notes, T-bills, TIPS, etc. should not be seen as safe either as the US Government could theoretically go bankrupt.

I think you misunderstood when i said "absolutely need safety".

When i used that term, I meant to have negative or atleast zero correlation with the market. Investors use "safe" investment to protect from vagaries from the market movements and not 100% correlated to market like short puts.

 

[digitalnomad]

At which point you have bigger problems on your hands than the safety of you investments. And my prepper friends have the last laugh on me, although as I like to point out I do have a sailboat that can take me to 2/3 of the Earth's surface with no fuel in pretty self-contained fashion!

Until some Somali pirates rape your family in front of you, then slice your throat and feed you to the fish.

 

[zghorner]

I just ended up putting my cash into my IB account. 1.4% idle interest and it is ready to go when I see an opportunity in the market. Thanks for all of the input everyone and by all means keep it going with suggestions.

 

[silver182]

My cash allocation is garbage. I have about 10% of my liquid in stocks and the rest sitting in bank accounts drawing little to nothing on interest. Looking for some safe places to be making money off of my money, What are some things I should be looking into? Thanks

And i have zero debt so paying off high interest debt isnt relevant to me...but for others reading this post that are paying ~20% on credit card debt that should be the very first "investment" made.

For many years now I have most of our families cash in CEF's (Closed end Funds) there are some very safe one's. Also some cash in Real estate. The CEF's pay consistently 7% or more. The share price does fluctuate but generally speaking you could cash out anytime and loose very little or gain some.
All are monthly payer's you can DRIP dividends back into itself or whatever you want to do with the dividends. Examples of what I we have invested in: DNP, GLAD, PTY, these last three are high payer's so more market flux ..CLM, CRF, OXLC......

CD's and treasures... pay little or nothing.

If you live in say the Denver area you "could" have quadrupled your money in Real Estate in the last 5-7 years....mabe still can buy anything hold, fix, rent, whatever then sell market is booming...I have some rentals in Colorado.

As for cash allocation in trading accounts...I borrow other people's money! Use your account value plus margin...to backup your option sales. I have discovered a way these trades are better than 95% winners...anyone can do it, the key is timing. The more resources (money) you have the more you can make...very little risk "if" you have the funds to cover...you've heard the saying "Money makes Money" it's true..