Is it safe to invest in Treasury bills now?
While interest rates and inflation can affect Treasury bill rates, they're generally considered a lower-risk (but lower-reward) investment than other debt securities. Treasury bills are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. If held to maturity, T-bills are considered virtually risk-free.
“T-Bills are an attractive option for investors today because their yields are higher than longer Treasuries that have maturities ranging from 2 to 30 years.
The Potential Downside
Taxes: Treasury bills are exempt from state and local taxes but still subject to federal income taxes. That makes them less attractive holdings for taxable accounts. Investors in higher tax brackets might want to consider short-term municipal securities instead.
The biggest downside of investing in T-bills is that you're going to get a lower rate of return compared to other investments, such as certificates of deposit, money market funds, corporate bonds or stocks. If you're looking to make some serious gains in your portfolio, T-bills aren't going to cut it.
3 Month Treasury Bill Rate is at 5.23%, compared to 5.22% the previous market day and 4.59% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 4.19%. The 3 Month Treasury Bill Rate is the yield received for investing in a government issued treasury security that has a maturity of 3 months.
Compared with Treasury notes and bills, Treasury bonds usually pay the highest interest rates because investors want more money to put aside for the longer term.
When the bill matures, you are paid its face value. You can hold a bill until it matures or sell it before it matures.
T-bills may be a good investment depending on your situation and goals. T-bills can play a role in a diversified portfolio as a safe place to park cash that provides some returns while preserving liquidity and principal. However, they generally provide low returns compared to other fixed income products.
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.
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.
Is a Treasury bill better than a CD?
In every case where we've compared purchasing Treasuries vs. CDs, Treasuries have been the better option. An investor would be better off rolling over 6-month Treasuries yielding ~5.4% than buying a 5-year CD yielding 5.4% that becomes callable starting in 6 months.
Money-market funds are considered a low-risk investment, and one that's easy to sell if you need cash. Note that the highest-yielding variety are taxable, and they're not FDIC-insured. Treasury bonds offer higher yields, but can gain or lose value based on market shifts.
There are several ways to buy Treasuries. For many people, TreasuryDirect is a good option; however, retirement savers and investors who already have brokerage accounts are often better off buying bonds on the secondary market or with exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
1 Year Treasury Rate is at 4.82%, compared to 4.87% the previous market day and 4.85% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 2.93%.
Yield on the T-bills hit a 30-year high of 4.4 per cent in December 2022, but it has hovered mostly around the 3.7 to 3.8 per cent range since March 2023. Meanwhile, the latest one-year tranche of the bills, which closed on Jan 25, offered a cut-off yield of 3.45 per cent.
Treasury bills, or bills, are typically issued at a discount from the par amount (also called face value). For example, if you buy a $1,000 bill at a price per $100 of $99.986111, then you would pay $999.86 ($1,000 x . 99986111 = $999.86111). * When the bill matures, you would be paid its face value, $1,000.
You can hold Treasury bills until they mature or sell them before they mature. To sell a bill you hold in TreasuryDirect or Legacy TreasuryDirect, first transfer the bill to a bank, broker, or dealer, then ask the bank, broker, or dealer to sell the bill for you.
- Open 5.247%
- Day Range 5.233 - 5.279.
- 52 Week Range 0.005 - 5.603.
- Price 5 1/32.
- Change 0/32.
- Change Percent 0.00%
- Coupon Rate 0.000%
- Maturity Aug 8, 2024.
Both Treasury bonds and Treasury bills are low-risk debt securities issued by the federal government. T-bonds are designed for long-term investing, while T-bills have much shorter maturity periods. Both can help diversify your investment portfolio while shielding you from state and local taxes.
You can buy or sell SGS bonds or T-bills through DBS, OCBC or UOB by visiting their main branches. You should indicate whether you are using cash, SRS or CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) funds.
How long does it take for a Treasury bill to settle?
Bonds and stocks are settled within two business days, whereas Treasury bills and bonds are settled within the next business day.
You can only buy T-bills in electronic form, either from a brokerage firm or directly from the government at TreasuryDirect.gov. (You can also buy Series I savings bonds through TreasuryDirect.gov.) The most common maturity dates are four weeks, eight weeks, 13 weeks, 26 weeks and 52 weeks.
T-bills are considered risk-free because you can be certain you'll get your money back. But risk and return are directly proportional, and T-bills offer very low returns on investment. Consequently, if you invest in T-bills, there's a risk you're foregoing the opportunity to earn a higher return elsewhere.
Buying in TreasuryDirect. TreasuryDirect is the official United States government application in which you can buy and hold savings bonds and Treasury marketable securities (Notes, Bonds, Bills, TIPS, and FRNs).
Bonds | Yield | Month |
---|---|---|
US 52W | 4.84 | 0.002% |
US 2Y | 4.42 | 0.078% |
US 3Y | 4.19 | 0.081% |
US 5Y | 4.05 | 0.098% |
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