Reinvest or cash out at maturity
Maturity is not automatic. Treat each roll as a micro decision with a short checklist.
Default roll
Auto-roll keeps you invested without calendar babysitting. It fails when a tuition bill, tax payment, or home repair was the real reason for that rung.
Three questions before you click reinvest
Do you need the cash inside 30 days? Did after-tax rankings change after a rate move? Are you near a tax-year boundary where realizing interest this year vs next matters for brackets?
If any answer is messy, park in cash for a week and re-run the after-tax comparator with updated yields before locking a new tenor.
Emergency sleeve exception
The immediate tier of an emergency ladder is often meant to stay liquid. Rolling it into a long bill for a few extra basis points can defeat the sleeve’s purpose.
On this wire
General information, not personalized advice.