What's better than T-bills?
Treasury bills (T-bills) have shorter maturities and do not pay regular interest payments, while bonds have longer maturities and pay periodic interest. T-bills are highly liquid and low-risk, ideal for short-term investments, while bonds offer potentially higher returns over a longer time horizon.
Treasury bonds—also called T-bonds—are long-term debt obligations that mature in terms of 20 or 30 years. They're essentially the opposite of T-bills as they're the longest-term and typically the highest-yielding among T-bills, T-bonds, and Treasury notes.
CDs are paying higher rates than Treasury bills and Treasury notes for terms of one to five years. Treasuries are exempt from state income taxes, which is an important advantage when rates are nearly the same.
T-bills pay a fixed rate of interest, which can provide a stable income. However, if interest rates rise, existing T-bills fall out of favor since their return is less than the market. T-bills have interest rate risk, which means there is a risk that existing bondholders might lose out on higher rates in the future.
The types of Treasury bonds include Treasury bills, Treasury notes, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), and Floating-rate notes (FRNs). The different types of Treasury bonds differ in maturity dates, interest payments, and where they are sold.
CDs and Treasurys are both safe, relatively riskless investments. Since CDs are considered deposit accounts, they're covered by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) insurance, up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank. You can check if a bank is FDIC-insured on the BankFind Suite website.
If you're looking for a short-term investment with low risk, Treasury bills are a great choice. However, if you're looking for a longer-term investment that yields semiannual income with a consistent interest rate, buying Treasury bonds is likely the better choice.
Like Treasury bonds and notes, T-bills have no default risk since they're backed by the U.S. government.
Key Takeaways
Interest from Treasury bills (T-bills) is subject to federal income taxes but not state or local taxes. The interest income received in a year is recorded on Form 1099-INT. Investors can opt to have up to 50% of their Treasury bills' interest earnings automatically withheld.
Currently, Treasuries maturing in less than a year yield about the same as a CD. Therefore, all things considered, it likely makes more sense to choose Treasuries over CDs, depending on your situation, because of the tax benefits and liquidity when considering very short-term maturities.
How much does a $1000 T-bill cost?
To calculate the price, take 180 days and multiply by 1.5 to get 270. Then, divide by 360 to get 0.75, and subtract 100 minus 0.75. The answer is 99.25. Because you're buying a $1,000 Treasury bill instead of one for $100, multiply 99.25 by 10 to get the final price of $992.50.
Buffett reportedly prefers T-bills to other options because he never wants to worry about whether or not Berkshire's pile of cash is safely invested. Meanwhile, yields have jumped so much in the past two years that Berkshire is actually earning a pretty penny on this cash hoard.
When the bill matures, you are paid its face value. You can hold a bill until it matures or sell it before it matures.
| Face Value | Purchase Amount | 20-Year Value (Purchased May 2000) |
|---|---|---|
| $50 Bond | $100 | $109.52 |
| $100 Bond | $200 | $219.04 |
| $500 Bond | $400 | $547.60 |
| $1,000 Bond | $800 | $1,095.20 |
Basic Info. 1 Year Treasury Rate is at 5.17%, compared to 5.19% the previous market day and 4.64% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 2.94%. The 1 Year Treasury Rate is the yield received for investing in a US government issued treasury security that has a maturity of 1 year.
- Yield Open5.379%
- Yield Day High5.411%
- Yield Day Low5.339%
- Yield Prev Close5.366%
- Price5.14.
- Price Change-0.015.
- Price Change %-0.291%
- Price Prev Close5.155.
When you buy T-bills through your bank, it may charge you additional fees and expenses such as sales commissions or transaction charges. These extra costs can add up over time and eat into your returns on your investment.
Are CDs safe if the market crashes? Putting your money in a CD doesn't involve putting your money in the stock market. Instead, it's in a financial institution, like a bank or credit union. So, in the event of a market crash, your CD account will not be impacted or lose value.
The drawback is that interest rates can change in the future, depending on the actions of the Federal Reserve. While CDs maintain a fixed interest rate, the interest rate you receive from a high-yield savings account could increase or decrease over time.
Treasury bonds are widely considered a risk-free investment because the U.S. government has never defaulted on its debt. However, investors should understand that even U.S. government bonds have interest rate risk. That is, if market interest rates rise, the prices of these bonds will fall, as they did throughout 2022.
What's the downside of I bonds?
The cons of investing in I-bonds
There's actually a limit on how much you can invest in I-bonds per year. The annual maximum in purchases is $10,000 worth of electronic I-bonds, although in some cases, you may be able to purchase an additional $5,000 worth of paper I-bonds using your tax refund.
- Report interest each year and pay taxes on it annually.
- Defer reporting interest until you redeem the bonds or give up ownership of the bond and it's reissued or the bond is no longer earning interest because it's matured.
When short term T bills mature, the interest income is mistakenly shown as capital gains in tax reports. The interest is taxable on Fed, tax exempt on most states. T bills are short term zero coupon purchased at a discount and paid at face vale at maturity.
Basic Info. 3 Month Treasury Rate is at 5.45%, compared to 5.45% the previous market day and 5.10% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 2.70%.
Interest income from Treasury bills, notes and bonds - This interest is subject to federal income tax, but is exempt from all state and local income taxes.
