GalaxyOne is a fintech super-app that combines a checking account, stock trading, and crypto. Checking account is through Cross River Bank, FDIC. Brokerage is through FIN2, a FINRA/SIPC member firm. Digital assets are held in custodial wallets with Paxos Trust Company, a New York State-chartered trust company. Previously known as Fierce App.

Right now they are offering a $1,000 new customer bonus. Hat tip to DoC. You must open a new account using promo code AUGUST1000 and deposit $10,000 or more in cash or crypto within 30 days, and hold it for 120 days to earn the $1,000 sign-up bonus. Must open by August 31, 2026, and then you have 30 days to make the deposit. You get the bonus 30 days after meeting these terms.

The fact that this is a fintech makes it a little concerning, and I don’t keep my money long-term in fintechs, but might be okay with the short-term since the bonus is effectively 30% annualized. You can hold your deposit at Cross River Bank and earn an additional 3.50% APY (would be my choice), or go nuts and hold it in crypto earning 8% yield (backed by Galaxy Digital).

Financial advice. I find this the most interesting area of change. Can Vanguard find a way to provide high-quality advice to the masses at a low cost? They have gathered a lot of assets into what they have built already, even though I don’t see it as a high-quality tool yet. Too rigid, and too pricey for what you get.

Vanguard just announced that they are acquiring Altruist, a start-up firm supporting independent financial advisors, for over $4 billion (WSJ gift article, official Vanguard press release). A big move by new CEO Ramji.

“Altruist’s mission to make financial advice more accessible, more affordable, and help advisers scale their practices, that very much rhymes with what we’re trying to do here at Vanguard,” Ramji said. “That’s really how this acquisition was born.”

Will Vanguard work more directly with independent advisors now? Will they successfully incorporate all this new technology and AI stuff into their in-house advice platform? Will it be a shocking amount cheaper than the competition, spreading the “Vanguard Effect” to portfolio management?

High-yield cash savings. I opened a Vanguard Cash Plus Account a while back, but so far it’s been sitting empty. The current yield is 3.35% APY as of 8/24/26, which is okay in the world of online savings accounts but not special. I know it’s FDIC-insured, but personally I feel equally as safe with a Vanguard money market fund, especially those that are 99%+ made of US Treasuries. The Barron’s article suggests that the main purpose for Cash Plus seems to be to draw in new customers that don’t already have a Vanguard brokerage account.

The current 7-day SEC yield (as of 8/24/26) on the default brokerage sweep is Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (VMFXX) is 3.62% with a compound yield of 3.68% (best comparison to APY). I can do even better with Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund (VUSXX), which is exempt from state income taxes. There’s also now Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (VBIL, see below). All of these options are better than Cash Plus.

Will Vanguard expand back into cash management and checking again? Maybe it’s best they don’t.

Fixed-income investing. This also makes sense, especially with a higher yield environment making people branch out to various bond segments, as with fixed income the easiest way to get a higher return without taking on more risk is to simply lower the expense ratio. The math just maths, for both cash and bonds.

Vanguard’s active bond funds charge an average annual fee of 0.10%, compared with an industry average of 0.45% (excluding Vanguard funds), according to data from Morningstar. And 83% of Vanguard active bond funds beat peer 10-year average returns, according to Morningstar.

VBIL has closed its bid/ask spread gap with SGOV and is now also at 0.01%. So you can trade it easily with minimal loss whenever you want a cash sweep option in any brokerage. On top of that, VBIL expense ratio was lowered 0.06%, while SGOV is still at 0.09%. VBIL is the new SGOV replacement in all my various brokerage spaces.

One of the company’s biggest fund launch success stories is the Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (ticker: VBIL), which reached $5 billion in assets less than a year after debuting in February 2025. That makes it the fastest-growing Vanguard ETF—fixed income or equity. Devereux notes that as VBIL grew, the company took a page from its traditional playbook and cut the expense ratio from 0.07% to 0.06%. It’s an example, she says, of how, while a lot is changing at Vanguard, “our core mission and focus on clients aren’t.”

Groupon has brought back their limited-time deal on new Costco Gold Star or Executive Memberships. There are two options.

$65 for Gold Star Membership Package

• 1-year Gold Star Membership (normally $65 by itself)
• Membership card for the Primary Cardholder and one additional Household Card for anyone living at the same address, over the age of 18.
• $40 Digital Costco Shop gift card Valid in-store and online. The Digital Costco Shop Card will be emailed within two weeks of sign-up.

$130 for Executive Membership Package

• 1-year Executive Membership (normally $130 by itself). Executive membership includes an annual 2% reward (up to $1,250) on eligible Costco and Costco Travel purchases.
• Executive membership now also includes early shopping hours from 9 a.m.
• Membership card for the Primary Cardholder and one additional Household Card for anyone living at the same address, over the age of 18.
• $40 Digital Costco Shop gift card Valid in-store and online. The Digital Costco Shop Card will be emailed within two weeks of sign-up.

They’ve made it a bit more restrictive in that both the Primary and Household/Affiliate member must not have had a membership in the last 18 months. I know that some people like to alternate between a Costco and Sam’s Club membership.

Valid only for new members and those whose previous memberships (Primary and Affiliate) have been expired for at least 18 months or more. Not valid for renewal or upgrade of an existing membership.

Save even more on your Groupon with a cashback shopping portal. The Rakuten $50 bonus now excludes the Costco offer, but others are actually paying an increased bonus. For example, BeFrugal has a $10 bonus when you join as a new member and earn $10 in rewards, plus 8% cash back on this Costco Groupon offer. If you buy the $130 offer, 8% of $130 is $10.40, enough to trigger the bonus.

In this Morningstar market brief, it is revealed that the average self-directed Vanguard investor (7 million accounts!) held an asset allocation of 65% stocks, 24% cash, and 10% bonds. That’s a lot more cash than I expected as well.

Then this WSJ article comes up, Wealth Management Has a $3 Trillion Problem: Investors Are Keeping Too Much Cash (gift article). A self-directed investor and former pilot is profiled that keeps 85% in stocks and 15% in a “a money-market fund yielding 3.62%”, which suggests a Vanguard money market fund or another very-low cost money market.

He is keeping 85% of his portfolio in stocks and the rest in a money-market fund yielding 3.62%. Ross looked at historical bear markets and determined they typically don’t last longer than three years. He keeps enough of his portfolio in cash to comfortably get himself through that period, and he sells stocks when he needs to replenish his cash pile.

The rest of the article is about financial advisors thinking this is wrong and suggesting all sorts of alternatives, from muni bonds to private credit to buffer ETFs.

Now wealth and asset managers, eager to prove their worth and in many cases earn more fees, are trying to persuade investors to put it to work. Search for the phrase “too much cash” and you will find numerous articles penned by the likes of JPMorgan Chase and Charles Schwab, warning about the risk of being underinvested.

I found myself siding with the pilot. Maybe an alternative bond fund would give you a slightly higher yield, but the yield curve right now is still not very steep. As long as you are smart with your cash holdings (“cash sort”) and avoid crappy default sweep options with low yield from brokerages (like *cough*, JPMorgan Chase at 0.01% and Charles Schwab at 0.01%!) and instead buying SGOV, VBIL, or a Vanguard money market fund, you won’t be losing that much to a riskier bond alternative. Perhaps that is also partially why the cash allocation of Vanguard investors is so high. Their money market funds are quite good.

Switching to other bonds types can be fine, but be aware of the additional risk you are accepting for that higher yield. You may be taking on principal risk (buffer ETFs can lose money), duration risk (longer-term bonds can lose money), credit risk, or liquidity risk (private credit may limit withdrawals).

Finally, cash is simply a very safe, very short-term bond. Bonds are broken down by maturity, and Treasury bills with under 30 days of maturity are considered cash (“cash equivalents”). I see nothing wrong with taking your risk with stocks and keeping your “bonds” the safest flavor of bonds possible.

Keeping track of TIPS yields is useful because it provides a baseline of the return you can get by taking minimal risk. Beyond just the reliability of US Treasury bonds paying out their interest and return of principal at maturity, TIPS are US government-backed bonds that also address the risk of unexpectedly high inflation.

The real yield on 30-year TIPS has been at ~3% for weeks now as of August 2026, which is the first time since 2008, nearly 20 years ago. At the same time, the 30-year regular Treasury is at 5.3%, making the break-even annual inflation rate roughly 2.3%. This situation has motivated a new article by Edward F. McQuarrie and William J. Bernstein, Long TIPS Yield 3%. Time to Buy?. Only 2.3% inflation for the next 30 years? As the authors state, “Good luck with that.”

I would recommend reading it in full for their blunt and snarky writing style, but here are my major takeaways:

• Long-term TIPS real yields at 3% or above are not common, and they usually don’t last long when they do show up.
• “Regular” nominal bonds are more likely than not to have a 30-year rolling average real return below 3%. One long-term average provided is only 1.5% real (above inflation). They do sometimes, but it’s not guaranteed and it can be a lot lower than 3%.
• Stocks historically do provide 30-year rolling average real returns above 3% (see chart below). But your time horizon must be that long, as the short-term returns can be very different.
• As a result, this may be a good opportunity for a near-retiree or retiree to lock in some guaranteed, inflation-protected income via a ladder of individual, long-term TIPS. Near-retirees might sell other bonds and buy TIPS. Younger folks should still own mostly stocks.
• Per TIPSLadder.com, you can currently get a 4.9% real withdrawal rate by building such a ladder. That means with $1,000,000 invested, you can get $49,000 every year in today’s dollars every year for the next 30 years, adjusted upwards each year exactly to match CPI inflation.

What if you live past 30 more years? Remember, you don’t need to put every penny you have into a TIPS ladder. For example, if you carve out just 10% and put it into stocks instead, after 30 years those stocks will have grown quite a lot, most likely enough to fund another 7-10 years of annual income. Or you could split your portfolio up between stocks and TIPS however you like, knowing that the TIPS will provide a stable sleeve of income.

Here’s my monthly survey of the best interest rates on cash as of August 2026, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Banks and brokerages love taking advantage of idle cash, and you can often earn more interest while keeping the same level of safety by moving to another FDIC-insured bank or NCUA-insured credit union. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you could earn from switching. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 8/16/26.

TL;DR: Savings account interest rates dropped slightly overall, while rates on longer-term CD rose slightly. You can get 4.34% APY if you accept certain hoops/restrictions, but most are under 4% now. Short-term T-Bill rates ~3.7%. Top 5-year CD rates are ~4.5% APY, while the 5-year Treasury rate is ~4.4%.

High-yield savings accounts*
Since the huge megabanks still pay essentially zero interest, everyone should at least have a separate, no-fee online savings account to piggy-back onto your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates and solid user experience. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

• The top saving rate at the moment: Elevault (no min) is at 4.34% APY, a division of Southern Bancorp Bank. CIT Platinum Savings held at 3.75% APY with $5,000+ balance, with a new 4.10% APY for 6 months Boost promotion; open your account by 8/31. There are many banks in between.
• SoFi Bank is at 3.10% APY (new customers can get up to $475 in bonuses with qualifying direct deposit. You must maintain a direct deposit of any amount (even $1) each month for the higher ongoing APY. SoFi has historically competitive rates and full banking features.
• Here is a limited survey of high-yield savings accounts. They aren’t the top rates, but a group that have historically kept it relatively competitive such that I like to track their history. This month they start at 3.00% APY on up.

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
A common question is what to do with a big pile of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (plan to buy a house soon, just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple and take your time. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

• No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. Marcus has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 4.00% APY ($500 minimum deposit). CIT Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 3.90% APY ($1,000 minimum deposit). Farmer’s Insurance FCU has a 9-month No Penalty CD at 4.00% APY ($1,000 minimum deposit). USALLIANCE Financial CU has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 4.00% APY ($500 minimum deposit).
• CFG Bank has a 12-month CD at 4.30% APY (no minimum deposit). Early withdrawal penalty is not clearly disclosed, I would assume at least 180 days of interest.

Money market mutual funds
Many brokerage firms that pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). Note: Money market mutual funds are highly-regulated, but ultimately not FDIC-insured, so I would still stick with highly reputable firms.

• Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (VMFXX) is the default sweep option for Vanguard brokerage accounts, which has a 7-day SEC yield of 3.61% (changes daily, but also works out to a compound yield of 3.67%, which is better for comparing against APY). Odds are this is much higher than your own broker’s default cash sweep interest rate.
• Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund (VUSXX) is an alternative money market fund which you must manually purchase, but the interest will be mostly (100% for 2025 tax year) exempt from state and local income taxes because it comes from qualifying US government obligations. Current 7-day SEC yield of 3.68% (compound yield of 3.74%).

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks and are fully backed by the US government. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes, which can make a significant difference in your effective yield.

• You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 8/14/26, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 3.70% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 3.97% annualized interest.
• The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) has a 3.60% 30-day SEC yield (0.09% expense ratio) and effective duration of 0.10 years. The Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (VBIL) has a 3.62% 30-day SEC yield (0.06% expense ratio) and effective duration of 0.10 years.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. The annual purchase limit for electronic I bonds is $10,000 per Social Security Number, available online at TreasuryDirect.gov.

• “I Bonds” bought between May 2026 and October 2026 will earn a 4.26% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More on Savings Bonds here.
• In mid-October 2026, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will post another update at that time.

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops which usually involve 10+ debit card purchases each cycle, a certain number of ACH/direct deposits, and/or a certain number of logins per month. If you make a mistake (or they judge that you did) you risk earning zero interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others would rather not bother. Rates can also drop suddenly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling.

• La Capitol Federal Credit Union pays 6.50% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases of at least $5 each per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization, Louisiana Association for Personal Financial Achievement ($20).
• OnPath Federal Credit Union (my review) pays 6.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and login to online or mobile banking once per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization. You can also get a $150 Visa Reward card when you open a new account and make qualifying transactions.
• Genisys Credit Union pays 6.75% APY on up to $7,500 if you make 10 debit card purchases of $5+ each per statement cycle, and opt into online statements. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
• Oklahoma Central Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases (non-ATM) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union if they are “affiliated with another credit union”.
• First Southern Bank pays 5.50% APY on up to $25,000 if you make at least 15 debit card purchases, 1 ACH credit or payment transaction, and enroll in online statements.
• Credit Union of New Jersey pays 6.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit, online bill payment, or automatic payment (ACH) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
• Andrews Federal Credit Union pays 5.25% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit or ACH transaction per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization.
• Capitol Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $15,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit or ACH transaction per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($5 to Wild Basin Wilderness).
• Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
CDs offer higher rates, but come with an early withdrawal penalty. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD to keep the ladder going. Some CDs also offer “add-ons” where you can deposit more funds if rates drop.

• NASA Federal Credit Union has a 5-year certificate at 4.38% APY ($1,000 minimum), 4-year at 4.30% APY, 3-year at 4.25% APY, 2-year at 4.20% APY, and 1-year at 4.15% APY. Early withdrawal penalty for the 5-year is 365 days of interest. Anyone nationwide can join via a complimentary membership to the National Space Society (NSS).
• Advancial Federal Credit Union has has a 5-year certificates at 4.28%/4.39%/4.49% APY APY based on either a $1,000/$25,000/$50,000 opening balance. Early withdrawal penalty for the 5-year is 365 days of interest. Anyone nationwide should be able to join via membership with partner organization US Dog Agility Association, but I would call to verify first.
• Popular Direct has a 5-year certificate at 4.50% APY ($10,000 minimum) but with a huge early withdrawal penalty of 730 days of interest.
• You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Right now, I see a 5-year non-callable brokered CD at 4.50% APY (callable: no, call protection: yes). Be warned that both Vanguard and Fidelity will list higher rates from callable CDs, which importantly means they can (and will!) call back your CD if rates drop significantly later.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk (tbh, I don’t use them at all), but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

• Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year CDs at 4.65% APY (non-callable) vs. 4.67% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs where they can call your CD back if interest rates drop.

All rates were checked as of 8/16/26.

* I no longer recommend fintech companies due to the possibility of significant loss due to poor recordkeeping and the lack of government protection in such scenarios. The point of cash is absolute safety of principal.

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Limited-time offer is back. The Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard is the co-branded American Airlines card from Citi. The sign-up bonus varies, but since you can only get it once every 48 months, right now is a good time with an elevated 80k bonus and the annual fee being waived. Here are the updated card highlights:

• 80,000 American Airlines miles after $3,500 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening.
• First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to 4 travel companions on the same reservation – savings of up to $500 per round trip.
• 2X AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent at gas stations
• 2X AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent at restaurants
• 2X AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases*
• 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage(R) mile earned from purchases.
• $125 American Airlines Flight Discount after you spend $20,000 or more in purchases during your cardmembership year and renew your card.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees*
• Preferred boarding on American Airlines flights
• 25% savings on inflight food and beverage purchases when you use your card on American Airlines flights
• $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99.

Bonus details. Note the following language for the personal card, which has been changed from 24 to 48 months. Having the business version is okay.

American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® account in the past 48 months or if you converted another Citi credit card account on which you earned a new account bonus in the last 48 months into a Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® account.

To clarify, you can have one of both the consumer version of this card and the CitiBusiness® version designed for businesses under your name. The bonuses are also separate.

Baggage fee value. American Airlines now charges a whopping $50 one-way for the first checked bag if you don’t prepay online ($45 if you prepay online). That’s $100 roundtrip for a single checked bag, per person. With this card, your first checked bag is free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to four companions traveling with you on the same reservation. $100 roundtrip x 5 people = $500 potential benefit.

Bottom line.  The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum® Select® World® Elite® Mastercard® has® a® nice® bonus® offer®. As with most of these co-branded cards, a lot of the ongoing value comes when you fly on American and utilize the free first checked bag benefit for you and up to 4 companions (value of up to $100 per person, round-trip).

Here’s an article about the question “Do married couples efficiently allocate their retirement contributions across their retirement accounts?” Since employer match rates differ, even if you both for example set aside 5% of salary, that may not be the most efficient usage of your potential bonus money.

Roughly 20% of couples are not efficiently using their employer match. Of these couples, the average could have earned $757 more in employer match simply by shifting some of the deferral amount from the account of the spouse with the lower match rate to the account of the spouse with the higher one. Legally, retirement account wealth accumulated during marriage is treated as a marital asset that is equally divided in divorce regardless of which spouse made contributions. Practically, perhaps a household with separate finances will prefer keeping 401k balances separate even if happily married? Is that worth the lost money? Perhaps something worth discussing at the next money talk.

Here are their main findings:

– Employer 401(k) matches vary in generosity, so couples can get the most bang for their buck by prioritizing the more generous match.
– But, about 1 in 5 couples leave employer matching money on the table by failing to coordinate their contributions – forgoing $760 per year, on average.
– Half of forgone matches appear to be accidental; the other half reflect deliberate choices related to low marital commitment and/or misperceptions about how assets are treated in divorce.
– These findings suggest that employers and financial advisors could boost couples’ savings by alerting them to the value of coordination.

As of 9/27/26, most Discover cards were transitioned to Capital One. Capital One cards work with Paze, so now you might have some new sources of $10 credits! My family just ordered another 3 x $10 of Domino’s last week. To add them, log into Paze at www.paze.com, look to add a new card, click on Capital One, and log into your Capital One account.

Paze is a new online checkout shortcut where you don’t have to type in your credit card number and billing address details repeatedly (think of how “Apple Pay” or “Google Pay” are so convenient), this time backed by a bunch of different banks and credit unions. In order to build a habit, Paze is running a Spend $10, Get $10 promo that works up to 10 times per linked card. That means it could be worth $100 per linked card, and so if you have 5 linked cards for example, that’s up to $500 in credits. Here is a list of current Paze merchants.

Between June 15, 2026 and September 10, 2026, each time you spend $10 or more using Paze® in a single transaction at a participating merchant, you’ll receive a $10 statement credit.

You can earn this credit up to 10 times, for up to $100 back per card in your Paze wallet. Paze is accepted at a growing list of online merchants – see the full list here.

Note: Chase Sapphire and Freedom cards are also offering a separate promo for 10X points per $1 spent on Paze purchases right now. You can verify this in your Chase App under the Benefits section for your Sapphire Preferred/Reserve and Freedom Flex/Unlimited cards. A nice stacking opportunity. You can also link them to Paze directly in your Chase App under “More” in the bottom right corner and then “Digital Wallets”.

Here are a few ideas on how to spend this credit efficiently. Remember, each purchase just has to total $10 to trigger the credit, so you want to get as close to that minimum as possible.

• $10 Dunkin gift cards. Dunkin App, Scan/Pay, Pay Another Way, Add A Dunkin Card, No, Next, $10, Paze. You now need to wait 24 hours per $10 load.
• $10+ Domino’s pizza for carry-out. You can’t buy a $10 gift card through their app, but you can make multiple takeout orders for just over $10 and just pick them up all at once.
• $10 Fanatics gift card (limited). I was able to buy one but not a second immediately after. According to a commenter on Reddit who contacted customer support, there is a cooldown period. But since this promo lasts until September, you could still accumulate a decent amount of gift cards over time.
• Meals just over $10 from Wendy’s. Order in the app or online.
• Items just over $10 from Sephora. Order in the app or online.
• Items just over $10 from Newegg.com Gift cards are no longer a good option.
• Any other ideas?

Source: Ways to Wealth via Early Retirement forum.

If you just go off this chart, you might get a different takeaway than if you used the default answer on free sites like Social Security Optimizer by T. Rowe Price or Open Social Security. Note that the default discount rate for real return is currently 2.7% for Open Social Security; changing this number may alter your results.

People are usually quite willing to accept a discount if they get the money now, and in this case the discount doesn’t even seem that high at less than 10% (again, using the assumptions provided). If you don’t live to 85, claiming at 62 actually puts you ahead.

There are many other factors to consider, like your other income which can increase the tax rates on Social Security income, Roth conversion concerns, spousal situation, health status, and so on. Social Security is still the only way to “purchase” (by waiting to claim) additional income that is both guaranteed to increase with inflation and last for the rest of your lifetime. But if you are retired and in a cashflow crunch, waiting another 5+ years to claim may not be worth the theoretical possible extra money you might get if you live past age 80-85.

I came across this r/FidelityInvestment Reddit post today about how a Fidelity user had their account compromised (and also eventually restored). In the discussion about how the hackers might have gained access to the account, I learned about some new dangers. I’m not a security expert, but this is my understanding after reading about “pass the cookie” or “cookie hijacking” attacks. The FBI also put out this alert Cybercriminals Are Stealing Cookies to Bypass Multifactor Authentication.

First, obviously phishing is a very common attack nowadays, and for example, if you enter your Fidelity password on a website that looks like the Fidelity login page, then they have your password. But if you have 2FA, you are still protected, right?

A different danger is that malware or a malicious website may use “cookie hijacking” to steal the cookies in your browser that make it appear that you have logged in before. If you use the “trusted device” feature where they bypass the 2FA/MFA (2-Factor Authentication/Multi-Factor Authentication) requirements since you are logging in from a supposedly “trusted device”, then they can now access your account without needing that text message or Authenticator code.

In some cases, if you are actively logged into your account already, malware or a malicious website can even steal your “active session” cookie that makes it appear that you’ve already logged in and passed the authentication checks. Because the website thinks you’ve already logged in, they don’t ask for anything at all.

Here are some actionable steps to maintain the highest security:

1. Only log into sensitive financial accounts using devices where you know the operating system and web browser are secure and updated.
2. Don’t log in from public WiFi, even with https://. If you do, at least use a VPN.
3. Turn off the “trusted device” feature that removes 2FA or MFA if you are logging in from a “trusted device” with the proper browser cookie. This is more hassle, but basically you always want to require more than one factor.
4. Don’t check the “Remember me” box when you log in on a sensitive site.
5. Log in to do your financial business, and then immediately manually click “log out” to delete that active session cookie on both your browser and the external server. Do not stay logged in while you visit other websites, or wait for the system to automatically log you out after 15 minutes or so.

Turning off the “trusted device” feature was the last thing I needed to do in order to score an “Excellent” score on my Vanguard security profile as well. 😎

New deal July 21st, 2026. The US Mint regularly releases limited-edition coins to collectors. The coin sets are often limited to one per household, but end up with a market value greater than the initial cost. PFS Buyers Club is a website broker that recruits regular folks to buy their allotted coin set with a set markup amount, with the agreement that they will sell only to PFS Buyers Club. For example, you might pay $300 for a coin and they’ll agree to pay you $350 for it – a fixed profit of $50.

On Tuesday, July 21st at 12:00 pm Noon Eastern Time, there is a new guaranteed profit opportunity. A limited edition American Eagle 2026 One Ounce Silver Enhanced Uncirculated Coin will be released then, with a purchase limit of ten (10) per household.

PFS will pay you a fixed commission of $104.05 for 10 coins (must be exactly 10), on top of your cost for the set. The total paid is $1,800. The cost of each order of ten coins will be $1,690. After including the $5.95 shipping charge, each order’s total will be $1,695.95. If you subscribed to these or have already made three purchases with the Mint this year, you should get free shipping.

You’ll also earn credit card rewards on your ~$1,700 purchase (worth another ~$34 at 2% cash back), or also possibly satisfying the requirements for some $500+ value credit card bonuses. This makes the total net profit safely around $138.

Note that the eventual value of the set may exceed that elsewhere – you may see a higher bid on eBay, for example – but if you want to make that bet, don’t promise to sell to PFS Buyers Club. Just buy it on your own and try to sell it yourself. Keep in mind that eBay seller fees can be quite high (13.25%+ of the final selling price + PayPal fees), and you’ll be responsible for other costs like the proper shipping with adequate insurance. PFS Buyers Club will send you a free prepaid mailing label (including tracking and insurance) and pay you via eCheck, paper check, or PayPal. Even as an experienced eBay seller, I still prefer a low-stress experience when dealing with these types of valuables. You don’t have the risk of a price drop, or a random eBay user who claims never to have received your coin.

My past experience. I have used PFS successfully several times since 2021. Everything has gone smoothly each time and I have been paid my money in full without issue. The amount of communication was great and in fact better than expected; I was kept up-to-date every step of the way.

The total time commitment was the stop at the Fedex store to drop off the box with prepaid label. The eCheck option worked great – I printed the check out at home and deposited immediately via mobile app. PFS has a very solid reputation online. Their success has spawned many competitors, and some may offer you more money than PFS. I have nothing positive or negative to say about the competitors, as I have never used them. As always, I try to write based on my own personal experience. However, if this is your very first deal, I would consider PFS because they have the longest reputation and a time-tested process. I think it’s a good setup for beginners (well, those who are good at following directions) and folks who want minimal risk like myself.

If this interests you, you can sign up to join PFS Buyers Club here to see the details on the current offers (there may be another deal coming up soon on 7/16). Sometimes these deals fill up, so I would sign-up (it’s free) and opt-in sooner rather than later. You can still opt out of the deal until an hour prior to the coins going on sale. They will provide very detailed instructions. Follow them carefully, and it was pretty easy for me as a first-time buyer. If you use that link, I will receive a referral fee the first time you successfully sell your coin for a profit. Thanks for those that use it, and for those that already used it years ago! You’ll also be notified for future deals, some of which have very little upfront notice.

(p.s. I don’t write about coin deals often, the last one I wrote about was back in 2022 I think, this one just seemed to be a good mix of profit and spend. Some deals require a huge upfront purchase, and others the profit is under $100 and not worth my time.)

Here’s my 2026 2nd Quarter income update as a companion post to my 2026 1st Quarter asset allocation & performance update. Even though I don’t focus on high-dividend stocks or covered-call strategies, I still track the income from my portfolio as an alternative metric to price performance. The total income goes up much more gradually and consistently than the number shown on brokerage statements, which helps encourage consistent investing. Here’s a quote from Jack Bogle (source):

The true investor will do better if he forgets about the stock market and pays attention to his dividend returns and to the operating results of his companies. – Jack Bogle

Stock dividends are a portion of profits that businesses have decided to distribute directly to shareholders, as opposed to reinvesting into their business, paying back debt, or buying back shares. They have explicitly decided that they don’t need this money to improve their business, and that it would be better to distribute it to shareholders. The dividends may suffer some short-term drops, but over the long run they have grown faster than inflation.

Here is the historical growth of the S&P 500 total dividend, which tracks roughly the largest 500 stocks in the US, updated as of 2026 Q1 (via Yardeni Research):

Admittedly, share buybacks have grown as a popular way to deal with extra cash, as shown in these charts (Yardeni). Many companies like that buybacks are not expected to continue forever, unlike dividends. This helps explain why the dividend yield on the S&P 500 is only around 1% now. This is why I also track the totals of both (buybacks + dividends), also shown below.

Tracking the income from my portfolio. Three of the primary “trees” that produce “fruit” in my portfolio are Vanguard Total US Stock ETF (VTI), Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS), and Vanguard Real Estate Index ETF (VNQ).

In the US, the dividend culture is somewhat conservative in that shareholders expect dividends to be stable and only go up. Thus the starting yield is lower, but grows more steadily with smaller cuts during hard times. Companies do buybacks as well, often because they are easier to discontinue. Here is an updated chart of the trailing 12-month (ttm) dividend per share over the last 15 years paid by the Vanguard Total US Stock ETF (VTI) via WallStNumbers.com.

European corporate culture tends to encourage paying out a higher (sometimes even fixed) percentage of earnings as dividends, but that also means the dividends move up and down with earnings. The starting yield is currently higher but may not grow as reliably. Here is an updated chart of the trailing 12-month (ttm) dividend per share over the last 15 years paid by the Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS).

In the case of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), they are legally required to distribute at least 90 percent of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends. Historically, about half of the total return from REITs is from this dividend income. Here is an updated chart of the trailing 12-month (ttm) dividend per share over the last 15 years paid by the Vanguard Real Estate Index ETF (VNQ).

The dividend yield (dividends divided by price) also serve as a rough valuation metric. When stock prices drop, this percentage metric usually goes up – which makes me feel better in a bear market. When stock prices go up, this percentage metric usually goes down, which keeps me from getting too euphoric during a bull market.

Finally, the last income component of my portfolio comes from interest from bonds and cash. Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF (VGSH) and Schwab US TIPS ETF (SCHP) are example holdings, with the actual amount varying with the prevailing interest rates, the real rates on TIPS, and the current rate of inflation.

Dividend and interest income yield. To estimate the income from my portfolio, I use the weighted “TTM” or “12-Month Yield” from Morningstar (checked 7/7/26), which is the sum of the trailing 12 months of interest and dividend payments divided by the last month’s ending share price (NAV) plus any capital gains distributed (usually zero for index funds) over the same period. My TTM portfolio yield is now roughly 2.44%.

In dividend investing circles, there is a metric called yield on cost, which is calculated by dividing the current dividend by the original purchase price. In other words, while my portfolio yield today is may be lower than say a target withdrawal rate of 3%, that is because the current market price is also a lot higher. Due to increasing dividends on average over time, my yield-on-cost based on my portfolio value from 10 years ago is over 5%.

What about the 4% rule? For big-picture purposes, I support the simple 4% or 3% rule of thumb, which equates to a target of accumulating roughly 25 to 33 times your annual expenses. I would lean towards a 3% withdrawal rate if you want to retire young (closer to age 50) and a 4% withdrawal rate if retiring at a more traditional age (closer to 65). It’s just a quick and dirty target to get you started, not a number sent down from the heavens!

During the accumulation stage, your time is better spent focusing on earning potential via better career moves, improving your skillset, networking, and/or looking for asymmetrical (unlimited upside, limited downside) entrepreneurial opportunities where you have an ownership interest.

Our dividends and interest income are not automatically reinvested. They are simply another “paycheck”. As with our other variable paychecks, we can choose to either spend it or invest it again to compound things more quickly. You could use this money to cut back working hours, pursue a different career path, start a new business, take a sabbatical, perform charity or volunteer work, and so on. You don’t have to wait until you hit a magic number. Our life path has been very different because of this philosophy. FIRE is Life!

Here is my 2026 2nd Quarter portfolio update that includes 401k/403b/IRAs and taxable brokerage accounts but excludes our house and small side portfolio of self-directed investments. Following the concept of skin in the game, the following is not a recommendation, but a sharing of our real-world, imperfect DIY portfolio.

“Never ask anyone for their opinion, forecast, or recommendation. Just ask them what they have in their portfolio.” – Nassim Taleb

How I Track My Portfolio
Here’s how I track my portfolio across multiple brokers and account types:

• The Empower Personal Dashboard real-time portfolio tracking tools (free) automatically logs into my multiple accounts, adds up my various balances, tracks my performance, and figures out my overall asset allocation across the entire portfolio. Formerly known as Personal Capital.
• Once a quarter, I also update my manual Google Spreadsheet (free to copy, instructions) because it helps me calculate how much I need in each asset class to rebalance back towards my target asset allocation. I also create a new sheet each quarter, so I have a personal archive of my portfolio dating back many years.

2026 2nd Quarter Asset Allocation and YTD Performance
Here are updated performance and asset allocation charts, per the “Holdings” and “Allocation” tabs of my Empower Personal Dashboard.

The major components of my portfolio are broad index ETFs. I do mix it up a bit around the edges, but not very much. Here is a model version of my target asset allocation with sample ETF holdings for each asset class.

• 35% US Total Market (VTI)
• 5% US Small-Cap Value (AVUV)
• 20% International Total Market (VXUS)
• 5% International Small-Cap Value (AVDV)
• 5% US REITs (VNQ)
• 20% US “Regular” Treasury Bonds and/or FDIC-insured deposits (VGSH)
• 10% US Treasury Inflation-Protected Bonds (SCHP)

Big picture, the target is 70% businesses and 30% very safe short-term bonds/cash:

By paying minimal costs including management fees, transaction spreads, and tax drag, I am trying to essentially guarantee myself above-average net performance over time.

I do not spend a lot of time backtesting various model portfolios. You’ll usually find that whatever model portfolio is popular at the moment just happens to hold the asset class that has been the hottest recently.

The portfolio that you can hold onto through the tough times is the best one for you. I’ve been pretty much holding this same portfolio for 20 years. Check out these ancient posts from 2004 and 2005. Every asset class will eventually have a low period, and you must have strong faith during these periods to earn those historically high returns. You have to keep owning and buying more stocks through the stock market crashes. You have to maintain and even buy more rental properties during a housing crunch, etc. A good sign is that if prices drop, you should feel the urge to buy more of that asset instead of less. I don’t have strong faith in the long-term results of commodities, gold, or bitcoin – so I don’t own them.

Performance details. Here’s an updated YTD Growth of $10,000 chart courtesy of Testfolio for some of the major index ETFs (total US stock, total international stock, total US bond) that shows the difference in performance in the broad indexes:

First quarter of 2026, the US broad indexes (VTI) dropped, but came back and then some in the 2nd quarter. International stocks (VXUS) are slightly ahead for the year. I’m getting a bit too stock-heavy so will be directing rebalancing funds towards bonds. I’ll share about more about the income aspect in a separate post.

Vanguard recently rolled out a new “Security Score” that encourages folks to activate all of the various security features they have available, and included is a new feature called “Outgoing Transfer Lock”. This is an important and useful option that I think all Vanguard customers should activate immediately.

Background on ACAT transfer scams. Instead of hacking your Vanguard account directly, a thief will obtain enough of your personal information to open a new brokerage account somewhere else, say E*Trade, and then they will request an ACAT transfer of the entire contents of your existing brokerage account (ex. Vanguard) to that new fake E*Trade account which they control. At this point, they can quickly liquidate the account and send the money elsewhere. The key here is that they just need to be able to open an empty, new brokerage account in your name plus find your Vanguard account numbers from somewhere. They don’t need your Vanguard username and password (or pass two-factor authentication, etc).

This loophole, ironically, comes from FINRA Rule 11870, which was created to protect consumers from a broker not letting you leave them. If you request a transfer, the old broker has one business day to validate the authenticity, and then they only have 3 business days to complete the transfer. If they don’t complete the transfer in a timely manner, the old broker gets into trouble with the regulatory agency FINRA. Thus, the pressure is actually on your old broker to approve it quickly. They are not even required to notify you of the transfer. In fact, with nearly every legitimate ACAT transfer I’ve completed, the old broker never made a peep.

Fidelity was the first major brokerage to create a Money Transfer Lockdown feature in response, where you can opt-in to an extra layer of verification to prevent unauthorized transfers (both ACAT and certain bank transfers). Vanguard’s “Outgoing Transfer Lock” applies to ACATs only, with a different option called “Full Transfer Lock” that includes bank transfers coming later. Here’s the wording taken directly from the Vanguard website:

What is an outgoing transfer lock?
An outgoing transfer lock prevents ACAT, or Automated Customer Account Transfer. This is a standard system brokerages use to transfer assets between institutions. Another brokerage institution should only initiate ACAT after you’ve opened an account with them and asked them to transfer your assets from Vanguard.

Locking your accounts for outgoing transfers protects your assets from being moved to an outside brokerage institution without your consent—a common type of fraud. It doesn’t apply to bank transfers you initiate, so you still have access to your money.

What is a full transfer lock? (Coming soon)
A full transfer lock prevents all money movement into and out of your account, including fund transfers to and from other brokerage institutions. Additional details about specific limitations will be provided once this account lock is available.

Essentially, this means that for someone to steal your assets, they would also need to be able to log into your brokerage account and disable the transfer lock. You can still move your assets when you really want to, it’s just harder to fake. Therefore, I believe this is should be turned on by basically everyone.

Activation instructions. Here’s how to find it on the website:

• Log in at Vanguard.com
• Click on “Profile” at the top-right corner, and then “Security Profile”
• Scroll down to “Outgoing transfer lock” and click on “Manage”
• Enable for all or selected accounts.

This also works in the app:

• Log into your Vanguard app
• Click on “Profile” at the bottom-right corner, and then “Security Profile”
• Scroll down to “Fraud Prevention Tools” and click on “Lock your account”
• Enable for all or selected accounts.

While you’re there, you can review all of your other security settings as well.