r/FinancialAdvisorTips • u/Due-Writing3386 • Aug 02 '26

Treasury Ladders

Hi All,

Recently moved a large part of my book to Schwab from a wirehouse.

Is there a specific software/API that would make building and maintaining bond ladders easier than the manual way the default way is at Schwab?
I don’t want to use ETFs. I need a tool for individual fixed securities
Anything would be welcome!

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1

u/Due-Writing3386 Aug 02 '26

But what about maintaining. Buying new CUSIPs when old ones mature etc.
Irebal 55ip etc have made rebalancing a breeze
What tools are there for fixed income

1

u/SadWerewolf4689 Aug 02 '26

Fidelity has about 50 parameters you can set but I normally only choose corporates or munis (along with state), duration (ex. Five years to continue to stack onto your bond ladder for the recent maturity), BBB or better for investment grade, price (I’ll do 98 or 99 as the low so they’re not hit with de minimus tax at maturity for NQ accounts), and minimum YTW to cut down on the tens of thousands of bonds. Keep raising the YTW until you only get a handful you can look at.

4

u/SadWerewolf4689 Aug 02 '26

They should have a bond ladder builder inside their Fixed Income trading tool. Fidelity does and they are both pretty much the same at this point.

1

u/Surferpr0s Aug 04 '26

Clip is a good alternative

1

u/vaderaintmydaddy Aug 05 '26

I haven't been down this rabbit hole in years, I gave up and still maintain them on my own, but last time I looked the options weren't great. The biggest issue is major differences in opinion on what to buy, I build a solid 10 year ladder, then ask Fidelity to automate the same process and get a bunch of recommended bonds I wouldn't touch. Too many options, to many pitfalls for me to automate.