Finance

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).

Vanguard has been a big part of building my net worth, and I’m always watching to see if they are keeping the culture. Barron’s last week ran the article Vanguard Conquered the ETF World. Where It’s Aiming Next, but it’s probably behind a paywall. Well, the three main areas are high-yield cash savings accounts, financial advice, and fixed-income investing. Let’s explore them all a bit.

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.