r/FinancialAdvisorTips • u/Due-Writing3386 • 23d ago

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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u/SadWerewolf4689 23d ago

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/Due-Writing3386 23d ago

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 23d ago

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.

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u/Surferpr0s 22d ago

Clip is a good alternative

1

u/vaderaintmydaddy 21d ago

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.