the treasury direct service has been re-launched, and it’s now even easier to get an account set up to buy treasuries directly. last week i signed up, and on monday my first t-bill purchase was processed. the interest rate (it was a little over 4%) isn’t quite as good as the everbank cd, but because the interest on a t-bill is exempt from state and local taxes, the effective rate is better.

and it’s nice to have at least some money invested in a way that can’t possibly lose value. (assuming inflation doesn’t go raging out of control over the next three months.)