10 Best Interest Rate Ideas for 2019
Many institutional investors are saying that cash may be the best investment in the coming year, especially after the recent volatility in the stock and bond markets at the end of 2018 and early 2019.
“We forecast S&P 500 will generate a modest single-digit absolute return in 2019. The risk-adjusted return will be less than half the long-term average. Cash will represent a competitive asset class to stocks for the first time in many years,” analysts at Goldman Sachs, led by David Kostin, wrote in a research reported dated Nov. 19.
Regardless of whether you plan to shift more of your investments into cash, you should have an emergency fund at least and a portion of your investment portfolio already allocated to cash.
Here are 10 ideas for earning better interest rates in 2019. My favorite of these is the first one, investing directly in 4 week US Treasury Bills. I have included links to the websites (Disclosure: I don't receive any referral fees from these companies if you click the link).
TreasuryDirect (4 week US Treasury Bills) - 2.36%
PNC Bank - 2.35%
Investors Bank eAccess - 2.35%
Goldman Sachs Bank USA - 2.25%
State Farm Bank - 2.25%
HSBC Direct Savings - 2.22%
Sallie Mae - 2.20%
American Express National Bank - 2.10%
ETrade Bank - 2.10%
Capital One - 2.00%
I recommend having at least 20% of your investment portfolio in cash at all times in order to buffer against unplanned events (emergency funds) and also to take advantage of investing opportunities that may come up. For more information about my recommended portfolio strategy to guard against volatility, see my prior post on the "5-20 Rule."
I hope this post helps you earn more in 2019!
For my personal finance books, click here.