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 Once there is upswing in the market, this money can be withdrawn from money market funds and put back in equity.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 different types of money market instruments in which money can be invested. These include commercial paper, U.S. Treasuries, Certificate of deposits, repurchase agreement etc. The money market funds are available in two flavors which are taxable funds and tax free funds. As you can make out, the difference between the two flavors is the way tax is deducted. The taxable funds are taxed during maturity while the tax free money market funds are exempted from tax.
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 a variety of tax free money market funds existing in market today. Most of them have similar returns so there is not much difference between them. A few names from good and reputed fund houses are Fidelity AMT Tax-Free Money Fund (FIMXX), Vanguard Tax-Exempt MMF (VMSXX), American Century Tax-Free MMF (BNTXX), and T. Rowe Price Tax-Exempt Money (PTEXX). - 31391
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 different types of money market instruments in which money can be invested. These include commercial paper, U.S. Treasuries, Certificate of deposits, repurchase agreement etc. The money market funds are available in two flavors which are taxable funds and tax free funds. As you can make out, the difference between the two flavors is the way tax is deducted. The taxable funds are taxed during maturity while the tax free money market funds are exempted from tax.
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 a variety of tax free money market funds existing in market today. Most of them have similar returns so there is not much difference between them. A few names from good and reputed fund houses are Fidelity AMT Tax-Free Money Fund (FIMXX), Vanguard Tax-Exempt MMF (VMSXX), American Century Tax-Free MMF (BNTXX), and T. Rowe Price Tax-Exempt Money (PTEXX). - 31391
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