Like everyone else and their second aunt, I applied for this month's SSB with a 10-year average interest rate of 2.71%. I expect to be allocated about $15k. Next month's interest rate is expected to be even higher... and the allocation even lower, so if you need to accumulate SSBs, this is a good time to start.
Given the limited supply of SSBs whenever interest rates are 'good', I have decided to start accumulating a bit more Astrea V and Astrea VI.
Astrea V's first call is 2024 while Astrea's VI first call is 2026. The low "interest" payments the fund has to make 3.85%/3.00% are relatively undemanding which reduces the risk that there will not be enough cash flow to pay the class A-1 bonds. As V and VI have been on the market for some time, they have already built up their reserves account. Coupled with the short time to first call date, these look safe enough to buy more and hold to maturity (safer than say, a BBB investment grade corporate)
But like I said from the start, first priority is to buy SSB. If I don't get my target SSB amount, excess can be used to buy Astrea V and VI.
Update: Received $18,000 allocation for SSB, more than expected, which is a pleasant surprise.
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