Ask Money

A money market mutual fund clarification

Chris Farrell Oct 10, 2008

A clarification: There has been some confusion about an answer I gave last week about money market mutual funds. The Treasury stabilization fund only backs money that was in a money market mutual fund as of September 19. Plus, the money market fund has to decide to participate in the Treasury program. If you transfer money from a money market mutual fund that isn’t participating in the program into one that is you won’t get the Treasury backing since the funds had to be deposited before September 19.

However, I do think that the odds of a run on a money market mutual fund that is part of the program dramatically shrinks. There is an extra layer of safety even for money deposited after September 19.

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