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Barclays Bank Delaware has a Select Savings account (currently at 4.00% APY on all balance tiers) as part of their “AARP® Digital Banking” package which also offers Select CDS (with currently subpar rates) that is only available to AARP members with an active membership number. (AARP membership regular price is $15 for the first year when you sign up for automatic renewal, with no age requirement. You can turn off the renewal later.)

Right now there is a $400 bonus for new members that deposit $40,000+ in new funds. You must fund within 30 days of opening, and maintain the balance of at least $40,000 for another 120 consecutive days after funding. Bonus arrives after another 60 days. You must be a new Select Savings from Barclays customer. Note that they have other flavors of savings accounts, so be sure to apply for the right one. Direct deposit is not required. Offer expires 7/31/26. Thanks to reader Bill from Wisconsin for the tip.

Bonus math. This is a 1% bonus on $40,000 if you keep it there for 120 days, which makes it the equivalent of 3% APY annualized. Bonus will be paid around Day 180 and the account must be open at that time, but you only need to maintain full balance through Day 120 after funding. The bonus is on top of the standard interest rate, currently 4.00% APY.

The equivalent of roughly 7.00% total APY over 120 days makes it a decent offer for those with compatible balances looking for short-term place to hold their cash for a few months. Might be worth paying $15 for an AARP membership.

Last month, I mentioned that Morningstar had bought the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) from the University of Chicago. CRSP started out as a non-profit, but was later converted to an LLC and sold for $375 million. Vanguard used these low-cost indexes to keep their expense ratios extremely low, and I expressed concern over this as Morningstar is a for-profit, publicly-traded corporation. This contrasts with Vanguard’s famous “at-cost” structure.

Vanguard just announced that starting in July 2026, Vanguard will add the “Morningstar” brand to 13 different US stock index funds (across 51 different share classes). Just a few examples:

• Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)
• Vanguard Morningstar Large-Cap ETF (VV)
• Vanguard Morningstar Value ETF (VTV)
• Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF (VBR)

Was this a strategic blunder on Vanguard’s part? CRSP basically only had one client: Vanguard. According to RIABiz, “Vanguard funds accounted for 97% of all assets tracking CRSP indices” at the time of sale.

Vanguard should have either bought CRSP themselves or switched to in-house indexes. In-house indexes are exactly how Fidelity offers their ZERO fund line with 0.00% expense ratio. The Four Fidelity ZERO Funds:

• Fidelity ZERO Total Market Index Fund (FZROX) tracks the Fidelity U.S. Total Investable Market Index.
• Fidelity ZERO Large Cap Index Fund (FNILX) tracks the Fidelity U.S. Large Cap Index.
• Fidelity ZERO Extended Market Index Fund (FZIPX) tracks the Fidelity U.S. Extended Market Index.
• Fidelity ZERO International Index Fund (FZILX) tracks the Fidelity Global ex U.S. Index.

I don’t think poorly of Morningstar, but at the same time they did not create these indexes out of some exceptional skill or store of knowledge. Morningstar does make other (not so popular) indices, but they just bought these from a university that needed money.

I can only speculate that Morningstar went to Vanguard and said something like “We own these indexes now. We’ll keep the price the same so your expense ratios don’t blow up… IF you add our name to every fund that uses them.” They get name recognition in lieu of bigger cash payments. Here’s what RIABiz says:

A Vanguard spokesman confirms better economics in the form of “cost certainty,” is part of the “agreement,” following the rebrand. “Consistent with our longstanding commitment to low-cost investing, our agreement includes long term cost certainty for Vanguard,” he says, in an email.

“Cost certainty” may prove a polite way to say that Morningstar can’t use its monopsonistic market power to ask for a bigger cut of revenues over time.

Overall, seems like a clever move my Morningstar, not so much from Vanguard. Vanguard does use other index providers like Russell and FTSE, but historically do not use their name on their flagship low-cost index funds.

The 2026 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting occurred on May 2nd, 2026. Here is the full 5-hour meeting (pseudo-transcript) and a 7-minute highlight reel from CNBC from Omaha. This is the first one where Warren Buffett was not on stage answering questions as the CEO, but it still felt very similar to past meetings. I think they are lucky that both Buffett and Abel don’t have enormous egos and are allowing for a gradual transition. In addition to the main meeting, there was also a ~25 minute CNBC interview with Warren Buffett (transcript). Did you also know that Bill Murray was also interviewed as a shareholder since the 1970s and regular meeting attendee?

In a way, this meeting was a throwback in the way that focus was more the details of BRK as a company instead of Buffett and Munger talking about worldly wisdom. I still enjoyed watching and listening to the entire Q&A session with new CEO Greg Abel, Vice Chairman Ajit Jain, BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer, and NetJets CEO Adam Johnson. Of course, Charlie Munger’s unfiltered honesty was still sorely missed. It does get a bit sleepy when everyone is so polite.

Here are a few personal takeaways and notes.

Transition is going well, still lots of cash because they see prices as too high, and are still holding cash for the next inevitable crisis. From the Buffett interview, I thought this was a nice summary of the current situation.

Well, I think it’s all working. It’s all working. It isn’t our ideal surrounding area or environment, I should say, in terms of deploying cash for Berkshire, but in terms of how we got the right management, we got the right arrangement, and you know, we can pick our spots, and nobody can tell us what to do exactly. And so sometimes we’re doing nothing, but other times we get quite active.

Gambling is everywhere. I’m seriously disturbed by the amount of people who think that zero-day options are their path to financial freedom. More truth from Buffett:

Well, it feels like, you know, I’ve compared the markets to a church with a casino attached. And people can move between the church and casino. And I would say there are more people in the church and more people in the casino, but the casino has gotten very attractive to people. If you’re buying one day options, or selling them, I mean that is – that’s not investing, it’s not speculating, it’s gambling.

Investing and insurance both involve saying “no” a lot. From Ajit Jain:

You know, insurance, like investing, is a game of patience. It’s extremely difficult to get people to sit idle and do nothing. When I recruit people, my usual approach is to tell them upfront. I say, your job is to say ‘no.’ You will be bombarded day after day with various deals, but your fundamental responsibility is to say ‘no.’ I tell them, occasionally you’ll come across a deal that hits you like a plank, shouting ‘money here,’ and that’s when you come to me, and then we’ll decide together whether to proceed.

You know, joking aside, when everyone else is being hustled by brokers and taken to London, it’s really hard to just sit there and do nothing. I believe that in the insurance industry, and certainly in the investment field, the true test of success lies in the ability to say ‘no.’

This feels similar to what individuals face these days. There are so many things that will gladly take your money. Crypto memecoins, sports betting, prediction markets, risky options, Buy Now Pay Later debt, margin leverage.

As a shareholder, I feel that we’ll have to be patient as well to see what happens as Abel takes a more active role in improving the internal operations.

Past BRK meetings:

• 2025 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting Video, Transcript, and Notes
• 2024 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting Video, Transcript, and Notes
• 2023 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting Video, Transcript, and Notes
• 2022 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting Video, Transcript, and Notes
• 2021 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting Video, Transcript, and Notes

Ally Invest has a new $200 bonus offer for opening a new brokerage account with them, however it is specifically targeted to existing Ally Bank and Ally Auto customers who have never had an Ally Invest account before. (Some of us may have Ally Invest accounts that were previously TradeKing.)

This offer is only available to current active Ally Bank and Ally Auto customers who do not have, nor previously had, an account with Ally Invest.

If you don’t have an Ally Bank account yet, check out this $100 new Ally Savings account bonus first.

Here are the details for their traditional self-directed brokerage account, with zero commissions on trades and no minimum balance requirement. (I wouldn’t recommend opening their Robo account, too complicated to unwind later with all those tax lots).

• Open an eligible new Self-Directed Trading account by selecting Open Account on this page by 12/31/2026.
• Transfer in a minimum of $1,000 in cash and/or securities within 30 days of opening it. (FYI: It’s OK to do so over multiple transfers.)
• Once at least $1,000 has posted to your account, you’ll need to keep it there for a minimum of 90 days.
• We’ll pay your cash bonus within 30 days of all steps being completed — including the 90 day minimum.

Note that the $1,000 must come from a non-Ally account to get the $200 bonus. If you transfer from an Ally Bank account, you’ll only get a $100 bonus.

Still, this is a pretty easy bonus if you qualify. Move over $1,000, get $200. The promo is scheduled to run until end of 2026, so there should be time to open a new Ally Savings account first for $100 and then stack this bonus on top. Then I’d wait to see if the $300 Ally Checking account bonus comes back.

Bonus extended. Ally Bank is one of my favorite banks in terms of user interface, practical features, customer service, and reliability. They were my primary checking account for years (the checking can auto-draft from the savings). Unfortunately, their savings account rates have been lagging the top rates recently. Despite that, I still keep maintain active accounts there because I use them as my central hub connecting all my many different bank accounts with fast transfers and a clear schedule of exactly when the money will be withdrawn and deposited.

Ally is running a $100 new account bonus by referral only (that’s mine, thanks if you use it). You must first enroll with your name and address by 12/31/26, and then using the same e-mail address open one of two possible account types (Ally Spending, Ally Savings) within 30 days of enrollment and make qualifying transfers to get the $100 bonus. You are not eligible if you are a current customer (with any Ally product), or has had any Ally account open since January 1, 2024.

Thus, my recommendation is to first open a Savings account with this offer (which works for both Savings and Checking but only works if you have no Ally accounts at all) and if you can, wait until their Spending account bonus comes back (last year it was for $300).

Here are the details for the Savings Account. Taken from full terms and conditions [pdf].

Ally Bank Savings Account

1. Once your Savings Account is open, setup (within your new account) a monthly automated recurring transfer of any amount and have it start within 30 days of account opening.
2. Complete an automated recurring transfer at least once a month for at least three months in a row.
3. Your $100 Welcome Bonus will be deposited within 30 days of receiving your third consecutive monthly recurring transfer. To be paid, make sure you keep your Savings Account open and in Good Standing through the Payout Date.

What do they mean by “automated recurring transfer”? I tried it out in my Ally account it just means setting up as little as a $1 transfer every month into your savings account. You can connect an external bank account to fund the transfer.

Overall, the requirements are pretty easy for a $100 bonus and it has useful characteristics noted above. I personally use this account nearly every week to manage my interbank transfers. I even hit their maximum limit of 20 linked external accounts.

May 2026 update: Savings I Bonds bought from May 1, 2026 to October 31, 2026 will have a fixed rate of 0.90% and inflation rate of 3.36%, for a total composite rate of 4.26% for the first 6 months. For comparison, the current Treasury yields are 1-year @ ~3.7% and 5-year @ ~4.0%, while TIPS real yields are 5-year @ ~1.33%.

Every existing I Bond will earn this inflation rate of ~3.36% eventually for 6 months; you will need to add your own fixed rate that was set based the initial purchase month. See you again in mid-October for the next early prediction for November 2026.

Original post from 4/12/2026:

Savings I Bonds are a unique, low-risk investment backed by the US Treasury that pay out a variable interest rate linked to inflation. With a holding period from 12 months to 30 years, you could own them as an alternative to bank certificates of deposit (they are liquid after 12 months) or bonds in your portfolio.

New inflation numbers were announced at BLS.gov, which allows us to make an early prediction of the May 2026 savings bond rates just before the official announcement on the 1st. This also allows the opportunity to know exactly what an April 2026 savings bond purchase will yield over the next 12 months, instead of just 6 months. You can then compare this against a November 2025 purchase.

New inflation rate prediction. September 2025 CPI-U was 324.800. May 2026 CPI-U was 330.213, for a semi-annual inflation rate of 1.67%. Using the official composite rate formula:

Composite rate formula: [Fixed rate + (2 x semiannual inflation rate) + (fixed rate x semiannual inflation rate)]

This results in the variable component of interest rate for the next 6 month cycle being ~3.34 to 3.39%, depending on the fixed rate.

Tips on purchase and redemption. You can’t redeem until after 12 months of ownership, and any redemptions within 5 years incur an interest penalty of the last 3 months of interest. A simple “trick” with I-Bonds is that if you buy at the end of the month, you’ll still get all the interest for the entire month – same as if you bought it in the beginning of the month. It’s best to give yourself a few business days of buffer time. If you miss the cutoff, your effective purchase date will be bumped into the next month. (You should always sell at the very beginning of the month.)

Buying in April 2026. If you buy before the end of April, the fixed rate portion of I-Bonds will be 0.90%. You will be guaranteed a total interest rate of 0.90 + 3.13 = 4.03% for the next 6 months. For the 6 months after that, the total rate will be 0.90 + 3.36 = 4.26%.

Buying in May 2026. If you buy in May 2026, you will get ~3.36% plus a newly-set fixed rate for the first 6 months. The new fixed rate is officially unknown, but is loosely linked to the real yield of short-term TIPS with some reductions. In the previous 10 days, 5-year TIPS real rates have ranged from 1.34% to 1.42%. If I had to guess, I’d put a new fixed rate somewhere between 0.9 to 1.0%, for a total rate of about 4.26%. Every six months after your purchase, your rate will adjust to your fixed rate (set at purchase) plus a variable rate based on inflation.

If you have an existing I-Bond, the rates reset every 6 months depending on your specific purchase month. Everyone will eventually get this variable rate. Your bond rate = your specific fixed rate (based on purchase month, look it up here) + variable rate (total bond rate has a minimum floor of 0%).

Buy now or wait? Between those two options, if you are a long-term holder, you may consider waiting until May or even October to see if the fixed rate goes up a little. You may also think higher inflation is coming, and you’ll get that next inflation rate sooner if you buy in May. See below for why I am buying TIPS instead.

Unique features and benefits! There are definitely reasons to own Series I Savings Bonds, including inflation protection, tax deferral, exemption from state income taxes, and potential tax benefits if used toward qualified educational expenses.

Unique drawbacks! You can only buy new savings bonds through TreasuryDirect.gov, which is limited in its customer service resources and features. There is also no option for paper tax forms nor statements (or even online monthly statements), so your heirs may never know they exist! If they do find it, it may take them several months and a lot of effort to close out all the estate paperwork. If you forget your password, it may take weeks or longer to unlock your account.

If you become a victim to theft or fraudulent activity, they will not replace any lost or stolen savings bonds. They explicitly accept no liability:

§ 363.17 Who is liable if someone else accesses my TreasuryDirect ® account using my password?

You are solely responsible for the confidentiality and use of your account number, password, and any other form(s) of authentication we may require. We will treat any transactions conducted using your password as having been authorized by you. We are not liable for any loss, liability, cost, or expense that you may incur as a result of transactions made using your password.

The juice may not be worth the squeeze when you can own individual Treasury bonds or TIPS within any full-service brokerage account. It’s sad that they’ve basically let this investment decay away due to neglect.

I also used to believe that the government would not tamper or attempt to politically influence these BLS CPI statistics that are at the core of many important functions, including Social Security inflation adjustments, TIPS, and these Savings Bonds. Now I’m not so sure. I found this guest article from TIPSWatch to offer some perspective: A historical look at political influence over the BLS.

Personally, I sold all my savings bonds in 2024 and do not plan to buy any more. I’m older now and I feel the small potential benefit just doesn’t outweigh the small possibility that I could lose the entire amount due to estate-handling mistakes or online hack. I’d rather own TIPS and US Treasuries directly in a full-service brokerage account. As a long-term holder, I can lock in a 2 to 2.7% real yield with a longer term TIPS bond.

Annual purchase limits. The annual purchase limit is now $10,000 in online I-bonds per Social Security Number. For a couple, that’s $20,000 per year. You can only buy online at TreasuryDirect.gov, after making sure you’re okay with their poor service. (No more tax refund savings bonds.) Technically, the purchase limits are per Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number. For those looking for another way to expand their purchasing power, that means you can also buy for a child, grandchild, LLC, or a trust.

Bottom line. Savings I bonds are a unique, low-risk investment that are linked to inflation and only available to individual investors. You can now only purchase them online at TreasuryDirect.gov. They have both unique benefit and drawbacks. For more background, see the rest of my posts on savings bonds.

[Image: US Savings Bond advertisement – source]