Chapter 11
Money Market Funds: Beating the Bank
In This Chapter
Distinguishing money market funds from other mutual funds
Choosing the right fund for you
Getting a glimpse of the best money market funds around
Back in the days when Richard Nixon was President, folks had hundreds of alternatives for safely investing their spare cash — they could schlep around and shop among banks, banks, and still more banks. Although it may seem that safe-money investors had many alternatives, they really didn’t. As a result, yields weren’t all that great compared with what a large institutional investor with millions of dollars to invest could obtain by purchasing ultrasafe short-term securities.
Then in the early 1970s, money market mutual funds were born. The concept was fairly simple. The money market mutual fund invested in the same safe, higher-yielding financial instruments (which I discuss in the section “Grasping what money funds invest in,” later in this chapter) that only those with big bucks could buy. The money market fund then sells shares to investors who don’t have vast sums to invest. By pooling the money from thousands of investors, the fund offers investors a decent yield (after charging a reasonable fee to cover the operational expenses and make a profit). In their first years of operation, these “people’s” money funds had little cash flowing in. By 1977, less than $4 billion were in money market funds. But then interest rates rose sharply as inflation took hold. Soon, bank depositors found that the rates of interest they could earn could rise no more, because banks were limited by federal regulations to paying 5 percent interest.
As interest rates skyrocketed in the late 1970s and investors found that they could earn higher yields by switching from bank accounts to money market funds, money flooded into those funds. Within just four years, money market fund assets mushroomed more than fiftyfold to $200 billion. (Today, more than $1 trillion resides in retail money market funds.)
Money Market Funds 101
Money market mutual funds are a large and unique part of the mutual fund industry’s offering. Money market funds are the only type of mutual fund whose share price doesn’t fluctuate in value. The share prices of stock and bond mutual funds fluctuate from day to day depending on how the stock and bond markets are doing. Money market funds, in stark contrast, are locked in at $1 per share. This section gives you the lowdown on these funds.
Comparing money funds with bank accounts
You make money with money market funds by earning dividends, similar to the interest you earn on bank savings accounts. However, the best money market mutual funds offer several significant benefits:
Higher yields: What first attracted investors (including me as a young adult) to money market funds (back when interest rates zoomed up in the late 1970s and early 1980s) still holds true today. The best money market mutual funds pay a higher yield than equivalent bank accounts, despite the deregulation of the banking industry.
Multiple tax flavors: Besides their lower rate of return, another problem with bank savings accounts is that they come in one tax flavor: taxable. There’s no such thing as a bank savings account that pays you tax-free interest. Money market funds, however, come in a variety of tax-free versions, paying dividends free of federal or state tax or both. So, if you’re in a high federal or state (or both) income tax bracket, money funds offer you advantages that a bank savings account simply can’t.
Check-writing privileges: Money market mutual funds allow you to write checks, without charge, against your account. Most mutual fund companies require that the checks be written for larger amounts — typically at least $250 — and may limit the number that can be written per month. They don’t want you using these accounts to pay all your small household bills because checks cost money to process.
Convenient access to other mutual funds: After you’ve established a money market mutual fund at a particular fund company, investing in other funds offered by that company becomes a matter of placing a simple toll-free phone call or clicking your computer mouse. (And, as I discuss in Chapter 9, if your chosen fund company has a discount brokerage division, you may also be able to invest in mutual funds from other parent companies.) One centralized account eliminates the need to complete additional application forms every time and reduces the ongoing paperwork involved in tracking your funds. Paperwork nirvana!
No lines and traffic jams: Because you can invest and transact in mutual funds online, over the phone, and through the mail, you can save yourself considerable hassle. Even though most banks are becoming more technologically savvy, some bank transactions, including opening an account, require you to drive to a bank branch. When you deal with a fund, you’ve also eliminated the risk of being part of a crime scene, as numerous bank branches today still suffer from robberies and holdups.
Sometimes, you get put on hold for a short time when you call a mutual fund company. The better companies (the ones I recommend in this book) generally won’t leave you hanging for more than 15 to 30 seconds. If they do, please write me (you can drop me a note through my Web site at www.erictyson.com) and let me know so that together we can hassle them or delete them from the next edition!
Banks have developed money market deposit accounts (MMDAs) that are money fund wannabes. Banks set the interest rate on MMDAs, and it’s generally lower than what you can get from one of the better money market mutual funds. Check writing on MMDAs, if it’s available, is usually restricted to just a few checks monthly.
As latecomers to the mutual fund business, some banks now offer real money market mutual funds, including tax-free money funds. Again, the better money market mutual funds from mutual fund companies are generally superior (see my recommendations in the section “Finding the Recommended Funds,” later in this chapter) to those offered by banks. The reason: Most bank money market funds have higher operating expenses and hence lower yields than the best money funds offered by mutual fund companies.
Finding uses for money funds
The best money market funds are the ideal substitute for a bank savings account — offering equivalent safety to a bank, but a much better yield. Money market funds are well suited for some of the following purposes:
Your emergency cash reserve: Money market funds are a good place to keep your emergency cash reserve. Because you don’t know what the future holds, you’re wise to prepare for the unexpected — events such as job loss, unanticipated medical bills, or a leaky roof. Three to six months’ worth of living expenses is a good emergency reserve target for most people (for example, if you spend $3,000 in an average month, keep $9,000 to $18,000 reserved).
You may be able to get by with just three months’ living expenses if you have other accounts, such as a 401(k) or family members and close friends that you could tap for a loan. Consider keeping up to one year’s expenses handy if your income fluctuates wildly. If your profession involves a high risk of job loss, and if finding another job could take a long time, you also need a significant cash safety net.
Short-term savings goals: If you’re saving money for a big-ticket item that you hope to purchase within the next couple of years — whether it’s a fishing boat or a down payment on a home — a money market fund is a terrific place to accumulate and grow the money. With such a short time horizon, you can’t afford to expose your money to the gyrations of stocks or longer-term bonds. A money market fund offers not only a safe haven for your principal but also a yield that should keep you a step ahead of the inflation rate.
A parking spot for money awaiting investment: Suppose that you have a chunk of money that you want to invest for longer-term purposes but you don’t want to invest it all at once for fear that you may buy into stocks and bonds just before a big drop. A money market fund can be a friendly home to the money awaiting investment as you purchase into your chosen investment gradually over time. (This technique is known as dollar-cost averaging, which I explain in Chapter 10.)
Personal checking accounts: You can use money market funds with no restrictions on check writing for household checking purposes. Some discount brokerage services that offer accounts with a check-writing option downplay the fact that an investor is allowed to write an unlimited number of checks (in any amounts) on his or her account. You can leave your bank altogether — some money funds even come with debit cards that you can use at bank ATMs for a nominal fee! Later in this chapter (in the section “Finding the Recommended Funds”), I point out specific funds that offer unlimited check-writing privileges.
Business accounts: You can also open a money market fund for your business. You can use this account for depositing checks received from customers and holding excess funds, as well as for paying bills by means of the check-writing feature. Some money funds allow checks to be written for any amount, and such accounts can completely replace a bank checking account.
You can also establish direct deposit with most money market funds. You can have your paycheck, monthly Social Security benefit check, or most other regular payments you receive from larger organizations zapped electronically into your money market mutual fund account.
Refuting common concerns
Investors new to money market mutual funds sometimes worry about what they’re getting themselves into. It’s good to be concerned and educated before you move your money into securities you’ve never invested in. Most people don’t worry about the money they keep in the bank. They should — at least a little. First of all, banks get burglarized and defrauded more than mutual funds! (A thief created a bogus ID and visited five branches of my bank, posing as me, and succeeded in withdrawing $400 from my checking account. The bank covered the loss, but I chose to take my business elsewhere.)
The biggest risk of keeping extra money in a bank savings account is that inflation erodes your money’s purchasing power because of the paltry interest you’re getting. Remember: The FDIC insurance system is a government insurance system — not an ironclad, 100-percent safety guarantee. This section presents the concerns that I hear about money market funds, and the reasons I think that you shouldn’t worry about them.
I won’t have FDIC insurance
Some people are nervous about money market mutual funds because they aren’t “insured.” (One exception: Government insurance covered money funds by during the late 2000s financial crisis. See the sidebar: “The one year money market funds had insurance”.) Bank accounts, on the other hand, come with insurance that protects up to $250,000 you have deposited (assuming that your bank participates in the FDIC system). So, if a bank with FDIC insurance fails because it lends too much money to people and companies that go bankrupt or abscond with the funds, you should get your money back, up to $250,000.
But consider this: Part of the reason that money market funds aren’t insured is that they don’t really need to be. Mutual fund companies can’t fail because they have a dollar invested in securities for every dollar you deposit in their money funds. Banks, on the other hand, are required to have available just 12 cents for every dollar you hand over to them; that’s why they need insurance.
It’s possible that a money market fund’s investments may decline slightly in value — thus reducing the share price of the money market fund below a dollar. In a few cases, money market funds have held some securities that ended up tanking. However, in each and every case (except for one, which I discuss next), the money market fund was bailed out — that is, cash was infused into the money fund by the mutual fund company, thus enabling the fund to maintain a price of $1 per share.
One money market fund, however, did break the buck. A newspaper article dramatically headlined, “Investors Stunned as a Money Fund Folds,” went on to say, “The fund’s collapse is the latest blunder to shake investors’ confidence in the nation’s mutual fund industry.” Although such hype may help to fill readers with anxiety (and perhaps sell more newspapers), it obscures several important facts. This particular money fund didn’t collapse; it was liquidated because its investors, who were all small banks, owned the fund, and they decided to disband it. The fund didn’t hold money from retail investors like you and me. If it had, the fund company surely would’ve bailed it out, as other fund companies have done. You should also know that only 6 percent of the investing banks’ money was lost. Hardly a collapse — and I doubt that anyone was stunned!
If you have more than $250,000 in one bank and that bank fails, you can lose the money over the $250,000 insurance limit. I’ve seen more than a few cases where people had more than the insured amount— in one case, a person who came to me for advice had nearly $2 million — sitting in a bank account! Now that’s risk! Since 1980, more than 3,000 banks have failed. Because the government has taken a hard line on not going beyond the insurance limits in the 2000s, bank depositors have lost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Stick with larger mutual fund companies if you’re worried about the lack of FDIC insurance. They have the financial wherewithal and the most incentive to save a floundering money fund. Fortunately, the larger fund companies have the best money funds anyway.
The check may get lost or stolen
No one can legally cash a check made payable to you. Don’t mistakenly think that going to your local bank in person is safer — you could slip on some dog droppings or get carjacked.
If you’re really concerned about the mail, use a fund company or discount broker with branch offices. I don’t recommend spending the extra money and time required to send your check by way of registered or certified mail. You know if your check got there when you get the statement from the fund company processing the deposit. (In those rare cases where a check does get lost, know that checks can be reissued.) And when you’re depositing a check made payable to you, be sure to endorse the check with the notation “for deposit only” along with your account number under your signature.
I may have trouble accessing my money
Although it may appear that you can’t easily and quickly access your money market fund holdings, you can, in fact, efficiently tap your money market fund in a variety of ways (Note: You can use these methods at most fund companies, particularly the larger ones):
Check writing: The most efficient way to access your money market fund is to write a check. Suppose that you have an unexpectedly large expense that you can’t afford to pay out of your bank checking account. Just write a check on your money market mutual fund.
Electronic transfers: Another handy way to access your money (which may be useful if your money fund checkbook is hidden under a mountain of papers somewhere in the vicinity of your desk) is to call the fund company and ask it to have money sent electronically from your money market fund to your bank account or vice versa. (Such transactions can also be done on some fund companies’ Web sites.) Or if you prefer, you can have the fund company mail you a check for your desired amount from your money fund.
If you need money regularly sent from your money market fund to, say, your local bank checking account, you can set up an automatic withdrawal plan. On a designated day of the month, your money market fund electronically sends money to your checking account.
Wiring: If you need cash in a flash, many money market funds offer the option of wiring money to and from your bank. Both the money market fund and the bank usually assess a small charge for this service. Most companies also send you money via an overnight express carrier, such as Federal Express, if you provide them with an account number.
Debit cards: Brokerage account money funds that offer debit cards allow access to your money through bank ATMs.
Chapter 16 explains how to establish these account features. Unlike when you visit a bank, you can’t simply drop by the branch office of a mutual fund company and withdraw funds from your account. They don’t keep money in branch offices because they’re not banks. However, you can establish the preceding account features, if you didn’t set them up when you originally set up your account, by mailing in a form or by visiting the fund’s branch office.
Grasping what money funds invest in
Under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, money market funds can invest only in the most credit-worthy securities, and their investments must have an average maturity (when the short-term bonds pay off) of less than 60 days per new rules released by the SEC in 2010. The short-term nature of these securities effectively eliminates the risk of money funds being sensitive to changes in (short-term) interest rates.
The securities that money market funds use are extremely safe. General-purpose money market funds invest in government-backed securities, bank certificates of deposits (CDs), and short-term corporate debt issued by the largest and most credit-worthy companies and the U.S. government (although that may not be much comfort to some of you). The following sections explain the major types of securities that money funds hold.
Commercial paper
Corporations, particularly large ones, often need to borrow money to help make their businesses grow and prosper. In the past, most companies needing a short-term loan had to borrow money from a bank. In recent decades, issuing short-term debt or IOUs — commercial paper — directly to interested investors has become easier. Money market funds buy high-quality commercial paper that matures typically within 60 to 90 days and is issued by large companies (such as Boeing, Exxon Mobil, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart), banks, and foreign governments.
If you had hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest, you could purchase commercial paper yourself instead of buying it indirectly through a money market fund. If you do have a lot of money to invest, I don’t recommend this approach. You incur fees when you purchase commercial paper yourself, and you most likely lack the expertise to know how to evaluate credit risks and what a fair price to pay is. The best money funds charge a small fee to do all this analysis for you, plus they offer perks, such as check-writing privileges.
Certificates of deposit
You can go to your local bank and invest some money in a certificate of deposit (CD). A CD is nothing more than a specific-term loan that you make to your banker — ranging anywhere from a month to some number of years.
Money market funds can buy CDs as well. The only difference is that they invest a lot more money — usually millions — in bank CDs. Thus, they can command a higher interest rate than you can get on your own. Money funds buy CDs that mature within a few months. The money fund is only insured up to $250,000 per bank CD, just like the bank insurance that customers receive. As with other money fund investments, the money fund does research to determine the credit quality of banks and other institutions that it invests in. Remember that money funds’ other investments aren’t insured.
Money market funds may hold some other types of CDs. U.S. branches of foreign banks issue Yankee CDs. Foreign banks or the foreign branches of U.S. banks issue Eurodollar CDs.
Government debt
McDonald’s has signs in many locations saying that billions and billions have been served. Well, the federal government also serves up trillions and trillions — of dollars in debt, that is — in the form of Treasury securities. A truckload of federal government debt is outstanding — about $12 trillion.
Most money market funds invest a small portion of their money in Treasuries soon to mature. Money funds also invest in short-term debt issued by government-affiliated agencies, such as the Federal Home Loan Bank, which provides funds to the nation’s savings and loans.
Government agency debt, which money funds also invest in, unlike Treasuries, isn’t backed by the “full faith and credit of the U.S. government.” However, no federal agency has ever defaulted on its debt. The folks back in Washington are certain to avoid the loss of faith in government-issued debt that would surely follow should such a default be allowed to occur.
As I discuss in more detail later in the chapter, some money market funds specialize in certain types of government securities that distribute tax-free income to their investors. Treasury money market funds, for example, buy Treasuries and pay dividends that are state-tax-free, but federally taxable. State-specific municipal money market funds invest in debt issued by state and local governments in one state. The dividends on state money funds are federal- and state-tax-free (if you’re a resident of that state).
Other types of securities
Other types of securities typically make up small portions of a money fund’s holdings. These types include the following:
Repurchase agreements (repos) are overnight investments that money funds send to dealers (banks and investment banks’ securities divisions), and the money fund receives Treasury securities overnight as collateral.
Bankers’ acceptances are more complex: They’re issued by banks guaranteeing corporation debt incurred from trade. For example, if Sony sends televisions from overseas to the United States by freight but doesn’t want to wait for its money until the ship comes in and the stores pay for the televisions, Sony can get paid right away by borrowing from a bank based on the expected delivery of the televisions. The stores get the televisions and pay for them, and then Sony’s loan gets repaid.
Choosing a Great Money Market Fund
A money market fund is probably the easiest type of mutual fund to select. To save you time and make you the most money, the following sections describe the major issues to consider when selecting money funds.
Why yield and expenses go hand in hand
Within a given category of money market fund (general, Treasury, or municipal), money fund managers are investing in the same basic securities. The market for these securities is pretty darned efficient, so superstar money fund managers may eke out an extra 0.1 percent of yield over their competitors but not much more.
However, money funds can differ significantly from one another in yield due to expenses. For money market funds more than for any other kind of fund, operating expenses are the single biggest determinant of return. All other conditions being equal (which they usually are with money market funds), lower operating expenses translate into higher yields for you.
For money market funds, you shouldn’t tolerate annual operating expenses greater than 0.5 percent. Top quality funds charge 0.25 percent or less annually. Remember, lower expenses don’t mean that a fund company is cutting corners or providing poor service. Lower expenses are possible in most cases because a fund company has been successful in attracting so much money to invest. As I discuss in Chapter 12, fund companies with consistently low expenses on their money funds also generally offer good bond funds.
Looking at your tax situation
You’ve perhaps heard the expression, “It’s not what you make; it’s what you keep.” What you keep on your investment returns is what’s left over after the federal and state governments take their cut of your investment profits. If you’re investing money held outside of a retirement account and you’re in a high tax bracket (particularly the federal 28 percent or higher bracket), you may come out ahead by investing in tax-free money market funds instead of taxable ones. If you’re in a high-tax state, a state-specific money market fund (if a good one is available in your state) may be a sound move. (See “Finding the Recommended Funds” section for specific fund recommendations.)
Tax-free refers to the taxability of the dividends paid by the fund. Don’t confuse this term with the effective tax deductions you get on contributions to a retirement account, such as a 401(k).
Deciding where you want your home base
Convenience is another important factor in choosing where to establish a money market fund. For example, if you’re planning on investing in stock and bond mutual funds at T. Rowe Price, that may be the best place for you to open up a money market fund as well. Although you may get a slightly higher money market yield from another fund company, opening up a separate account may not be worth the administrative hassle, especially if you don’t plan on keeping much cash in the money fund.
If you don’t mind the extra paperwork, you can go for the extra yield. Calculate (based on the yield difference) the costs of keeping a lower-yielding money fund. Every tenth (0.1) of a percent per $10,000 invested costs you $10 in lost dividends annually.
Keeping your investments close to home
Most mutual fund companies don’t have local branch offices. Generally, maintaining few offices helps fund companies keep their expenses low and their yields higher. You may open and maintain your money market mutual fund through the fund’s toll-free phone line, the mail, and the Internet.
Except for psychological security, selecting a fund company with an office in your area doesn’t offer much benefit. But I don’t want to downplay the importance of your emotional comfort level. Fund providers Fidelity, Schwab, TIAA-CREF, and TD Ameritrade have larger branch networks. Depending on where you live, you may be near one of the fund companies I recommend. (See the Appendix.)
Considering other issues
Most, but not all, money market funds offer other useful services, such as free check-writing privileges, fund exchange and redemption via telephone and the Internet, and automated, electronic exchange services with your bank account. The fund companies I recommend generally offer these features, so these shouldn’t be deciding factors when debating among fund options. As I mention earlier in this chapter, most money funds require that you write checks for at least $250 or $500. Some funds don’t have this restriction, which may be important if you want to pay smaller bills out of the account.
Another potentially important issue is the initial minimum investment required to open an account. Most funds require a minimum investment of $3,000 or so, although some require heftier amounts. If you drop below the minimum at most money market funds, it’s no big deal, and no charge is assessed. Some money funds do, however, charge small fees for use of certain features. I discuss these fees in the next section.
Finding the Recommended Funds
In this section, I recommend the best money market funds, based on the criteria I discuss in the previous section,. Due to the financial crisis and severe recession in the late 2000s, short-term interest rates plummeted to near zero and continued that way into the new decade. As a result, the yield on many money market funds was near or even at zero. Many money funds had to absorb a portion of their fund’s expenses so that the yield would not become negative. Some money funds closed to new investors because allowing new investors would have driven a fund’s yield down even further because the fund manager would be forced to buy lower yielding bonds. Please see Chapter 12 for information on short-term bond funds as an alternative to low yielding money funds.
Taxable money market funds
Money market funds that pay taxable dividends are appropriate for retirement account funds awaiting investment as well as nonretirement account money when you’re not in a high federal tax bracket and not in a high state tax bracket. Here are the best taxable money market funds to consider (call the fund companies for current yields):
Vanguard’s Prime Money Market (VMMXX) has an operating expense ratio of 0.25 percent per year. Like most Vanguard funds, it requires $3,000 to open. www.vanguard.com; 800-662-7447
TIAA-CREF Money Market (TIAXX) has an annual expense ratio of 0.47 percent. Minimum to open an account is $2,500. www.tiaa-cref.org; 800-223-1200
Fidelity Cash Reserves (FDRXX) has an operating expense ratio of 0.39 percent. $2,500 minimum initial investment. www.fidelity.com; 800-544-8888
T. Rowe Price Summit Cash Reserves (TSCXX) has a minimum initial investment of $25,000 and an expense ratio of 0.47 percent per year. If you’re doing the bulk of your investing through a fund company other than heavyweights Vanguard or Fidelity, it’s your call whether you should do your money fund investing there as well. www.troweprice.com; 800-638-5660
U.S. Treasury money market funds
U.S. Treasury money market funds are appropriate if you’re not in a high federal tax bracket but are in a high state tax bracket. Check out these funds:
Vanguard Admiral Treasury Money Market (VUSXX) has a slim 0.12 percent annual expense ratio. Due to the very low yields on Treasury notes, this fund was closed to new investors in 2009. www.vanguard.com; 800-662-7447
USAA’s Treasury Money Market (UATXX) has a 0.44 percent operating cost and a $3,000 minimum initial investment. www.usaa.com; 800-531-8181
Fidelity’s Government Money Market (SPAXX) has an expense ratio of 0.45 percent. This fund’s minimum initial investment is $25,000 for nonretirement accounts. This fund charges a $2 fee per check written (waived if your balance is greater than $50,000). www.fidelity.com; 800-544-8888
You can bypass Treasury money market funds and their operating fees by purchasing Treasury bills directly from your local Federal Reserve Bank for no fee. Buying Treasuries direct especially makes sense during periods of low interest rates like we had in the late 2000s and into the new decade. Although you save yourself expenses by going this route, you lose convenient access to your money. You have no check-writing privileges: If you need to tap the Treasuries before they mature, it’s a bit of an administrative hassle and will cost you a brokerage fee. With Vanguard’s expense ratios on their Treasury money funds, it costs you $12 per year with a $10,000 balance; $60 per year with a $50,000 balance.
Municipal tax-free money market funds
Municipal (also known as muni) money market funds invest in short-term debt issued by state and local governments. Dividends from municipal money funds are generally free of federal taxes. Those investors who limit their investing to just one state are generally free of state taxes as well (provided you live in that state).
You may be saying to yourself that state-specific muni funds are the way to go. Not so fast. You may not have to worry about shielding your dividends from state taxes if you live in a state that meets any of the following criteria:
Doesn’t impose any income tax, such as Florida (you lucky dog)
Charges a lower income tax (less than 5 percent), such as Michigan
Has a higher income tax but no decent state-specific money market funds to invest in
If you live in any of those states and if you’re in a high federal tax bracket, you may be better off with a national money market fund, whose dividends are free of federal but not state tax. (Call the fund companies for current yields.) Check out these funds:
Vanguard Tax-Exempt Money Market (VMSXX) has a 0.17 percent annual expense ratio and requires a $3,000 minimum initial investment to open. www.vanguard.com; 800-662-7447
T. Rowe Price Summit Municipal Money Market (TRSXX) has a 0.47 percent annual expense ratio and requires a $25,000 minimum initial investment to open. www.troweprice.com; 800-638-5660
USAA Tax-Exempt Money Market (USEXX) has a 0.51 percent annual expense ratio and requires a $3,000 minimum initial investment to open. www.usaa.com; 800-531-8181
State-specific money market funds, whose dividends are free of both federal and state taxes if you live in the specified state, are appropriate when you’re in a high federal and state tax bracket. The major fund providers highlighted elsewhere in this chapter for having good money funds (Fidelity, USAA, Vanguard) offer competitive funds for states such as California, Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. If you can’t find a good state-specific money fund for your state or you’re only in a high federal tax bracket, you need to use one of the nationwide muni money markets just described.