Short term $
I have ~$100k that I will need in 12-18 months. What kind of bond or securities should I purchase to take advantage of the current interest rate environment?
Terry Says
You could either open a money market deposit account at your bank, or go to Fidelity or Vanguard and use one of their government-only money market mutual funds, yielding about 3.5%, or actually buy 6-month Treasury bills. (Read this on how to buy T-bills). Both 3 and 6-month T-bills are currently yielding around 4%. But they are not liquid, so you need to choose your maturities carefully. You cannot cash them in before maturity.