Buying a tax free money market fund is a fine method to balance your portfolio particularly when there is more percentage of equity in the portfolio. In present scenario when there is economic slowdown happening, it makes sense to put money in debt instruments like government securities and money market funds which are considered to be more stable and equity.
A money market fund is essentially a mutual fund which puts its assets in short term debt instruments. These instruments are usually like cash or cash equivalent securities. These money market mutual funds are commonly used as short term investments till the time you are able to find a better option to invest your money. This is specially a good alternative in current scenario when the investors are waiting for the markets to improve. Once there is upswing in the market, this money can be withdrawn from money market funds and put back in equity.
There are many kinds of money market securities like Certificate of deposits, U.S. Treasuries, repurchase agreements, commercial paper etc. The money market funds come in two types which are taxable funds and tax free funds. As the name implies, the taxable funds are taxed when they get matured while the tax free money market funds are not.
When you see them first, you will certainly choose a tax free fund instead of table fund due to obvious tax related reasons. But the fact is that tax free funds have lower returns than taxable funds. When you compare these 2 funds, you should look at the return on investments as well. Usually, the returns are higher in taxable funds. You can use the formula (Taxable Equivalent Yield = Tax-Free Yield / (1 - Marginal Tax Rate)) to find the difference.
There are many tax free money market funds obtainable in market today. Most of them have similar returns therefore there is not much difference between them. A few names from good financial institutions are Vanguard Tax-Exempt MMF (VMSXX), Fidelity AMT Tax-Free Money Fund (FIMXX), American Century Tax-Free MMF (BNTXX), and T. Rowe Price Tax-Exempt Money (PTEXX).
The author writes articles on various topics related to personal finance including best tax free money market funds and money market certificates.
A money market fund is essentially a mutual fund which puts its assets in short term debt instruments. These instruments are usually like cash or cash equivalent securities. These money market mutual funds are commonly used as short term investments till the time you are able to find a better option to invest your money. This is specially a good alternative in current scenario when the investors are waiting for the markets to improve. Once there is upswing in the market, this money can be withdrawn from money market funds and put back in equity.
There are many kinds of money market securities like Certificate of deposits, U.S. Treasuries, repurchase agreements, commercial paper etc. The money market funds come in two types which are taxable funds and tax free funds. As the name implies, the taxable funds are taxed when they get matured while the tax free money market funds are not.
When you see them first, you will certainly choose a tax free fund instead of table fund due to obvious tax related reasons. But the fact is that tax free funds have lower returns than taxable funds. When you compare these 2 funds, you should look at the return on investments as well. Usually, the returns are higher in taxable funds. You can use the formula (Taxable Equivalent Yield = Tax-Free Yield / (1 - Marginal Tax Rate)) to find the difference.
There are many tax free money market funds obtainable in market today. Most of them have similar returns therefore there is not much difference between them. A few names from good financial institutions are Vanguard Tax-Exempt MMF (VMSXX), Fidelity AMT Tax-Free Money Fund (FIMXX), American Century Tax-Free MMF (BNTXX), and T. Rowe Price Tax-Exempt Money (PTEXX).
The author writes articles on various topics related to personal finance including best tax free money market funds and money market certificates.
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