U.S. government-backed securities like Treasury bills (T-bills) provide a way to invest with minimal risk. These debt instruments are one of several different types of Treasury securities including Treasury notes (T-notes) and Treasury bonds (T-bonds).
Unlike other treasuries, however, T-bills don’t pay interest. Rather, investors buy T-bills at a discount to par (the face value).
Investors looking for a low-risk investment with a short time horizon and a modest return may find T-bills an attractive investment. T-bills have minimal default risk and maturities of a year or less. But Treasury bill rates are typically lower than those of some other investments.
Key Points
• T-bills are short-term investments that offer a guaranteed rate of return.
• Investors don’t receive coupon, or interest, payments. The return is the discount rate.
• T-bills have a near-zero risk of default.
• Investors can buy T-bills directly from TreasuryDirect.gov, or on the secondary market using a brokerage account.
What Is a Treasury Bill (T-Bill)?
Treasury bills are debt instruments issued by the U.S. government. They are short-term securities and are issued with maturity dates ranging from 4 weeks to one year. It may be possible to buy T-bills on the secondary market with maturities as short as a few days.
How Treasury Bills Work
Essentially, when an individual buys a T-bill, they are lending money to the U.S. government. In general, T-bills are considered very low risk, since they are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, which has never defaulted on its debts.
T-bills are sold at a discount to their par, or face value. They are essentially zero-coupon bonds. They don’t pay interest, unlike other types of Treasuries (and coupon bonds); rather the difference between the discount price and the face value is like an interest payment.
T-Bill Purchase Example
While all securities have a face value, also known as the par value, typically investors purchase Treasury bills at a discount to par. Then, when the T-bill matures, investors receive the full face value amount. So, if they purchased a treasury bill for less than it was worth, they would receive a greater amount when it matures.
Example
Suppose an investor purchases a 52-week T-bill for $4,500 with a par value of $5,000, a 5% discount. Since the government promises to repay the full value of the T-bill when it expires, the investors will receive $5,000 at maturity, and realize a profit or yield of $500.
In the example above, the discount rate of the T-bill is 5% — and that is also the yield. But examples aside, the actual 52-week Treasury bill rate, as of Feb. 1, 2024, is 4.46%.
Recommended: How to Buy Treasury Bills, Bonds, and Notes
T-Bill Maturities
Understanding the maturity date of a T-bill is important. This is the length of time you’ll hold the bill before you redeem it for the full face value. Maturity dates affect the discount rate, with longer maturities generally offering a higher discount/return, but interest rates will influence the discount.
The government issues T-bills at regular auctions, in four-, eight-, 13-, 17-, 26-, and 52-week terms, in increments ranging from $100 to $10 million. The minimum T-bill purchase from TreasuryDirect.gov is $100.
Some investors may create ladders (similar to bond ladders), which allow them to roll their T-bills at maturity into more T-bills. Although T-bill rates are fixed, and because their maturities are so short, they don’t have much sensitivity to interest rate fluctuations.
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How to Purchase T-Bills
You can purchase T-bills at regular government auctions on TreasuryDirect, or on the secondary market, from your brokerage account.
Buying From Treasury Direct
Noncompetitive bids: With a noncompetitive bill, the investor accepts the discount prices that were established at the Treasuries auction, which are an average of the bids submitted.
Since the investor will receive the full value of the T-bill when the term expires, some investors often favor this simple technique of investing in T-bills.
Competitive bid: With a competitive bid, all investors propose the discount rate they are prepared to pay for a given T-bill. The lowest discount rate offers are selected first. If investors don’t propose enough low bids to complete the entire order, the auction will move onto the next lowest bid and so on until the entire order is filled.
Buying and Selling on the Secondary Market
Another option is to purchase or sell T-bills on the secondary market, using a standard brokerage account.
Investors can also trade exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that may include T-bills that were released in the past.
Redemption and Interest Earnings on T-Bills
As noted above, although T-bills are debt instruments and an investor’s loan is repaid “with interest,” T-Bills don’t have a coupon payment the way some bonds do. Rather, investors buy T-bills at a discount, and the difference between the lower purchase price and the higher face value is effectively the interest payment when the T-bill matures.
When a T-bill matures, investors can redeem it for cash at Treasury.gov.
T-bill purchases and redemptions are now fully digital. Paper T-bills are no longer available.
Tax Implications for T-Bill Investors
Gains from all Treasuries, including T-bills, are taxed at the federal level; i.e. they are taxed as income on your federal income tax return.
Treasury gains are exempt from state and local income tax.
Comparing T-Bills to Treasury Notes and Bonds
The U.S. government offers a number of debt instruments, including Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds. The difference between them is their maturity dates, which can also affect interest rates and discount rates.
Treasury Notes
Investors can purchase Treasury notes (or T-notes) in quantities of $1,000 and with terms ranging from two to 10 years. Treasury notes pay interest, known as coupon payments, bi-annually.
Treasury Bonds
Out of all Treasury securities, Treasury bonds have the most extended maturity terms: up to 30 years. Like T-notes, Treasury bonds pay interest every six months. And when the bond matures the entire value of the bond is repaid.
Recommended: How to Buy Bonds: A Guide for Beginners
Considerations When Investing in T-Bills
Like any other investments, it’s important to understand how T-bills work, the pros and cons, and how they can fit into your portfolio.
What Influences T-Bill Prices in the Market?
Although any T-bill you buy offers a guaranteed yield at maturity, because T-bills are short-term debt the discount rates (and therefore the yield) can fluctuate depending on a number of factors, including market conditions, interest rates, and inflation.
The Role of Maturity Dates and Market Risk
Generally, the longer the maturity date of the bill, the higher the returns. But if interest rates are predicted to rise over time, that could make existing T-bills less desirable, which could affect their price on the secondary market. It’s possible, then, that an investor could sell a T-bill for lower than what they paid for it.
Federal Reserve Policies and Inflation Concerns
It’s also important to consider the role of the Federal Reserve Bank, which sets the federal funds target rate, for overnight lending between banks. When the fed funds rate is lower, banks have more money to lend, but when it’s higher there’s less money circulating.
Thus the fed funds rate has an impact on the cost of lending across the board, which impacts inflation, purchasing power — and T-bill rates and prices as well. As described, T-bill rates are fixed, so as interest rates rise, the price of T-bills drops because they become less desirable.
By the same token, when the Fed lowers interest rates that tends to favor T-bills. Investors buy up the higher-yield bills, driving up prices on the secondary market.
How Can Investors Decide on Maturity Terms?
Bear in mind that because the maturity terms of T-bills are relatively short — they’re issued with six terms (four, six, 13, 17, 26 and 52 weeks) — it’s possible to redeem the T-bills you buy relatively quickly.
T-bill rates vary according to their maturity, so that will influence which term will work for you.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of T-Bills
Advantages of T-Bills
• They are a low-risk investment. Since they are backed in the full faith of the U.S. government, there is a slim to none chance of default.
• They have a low barrier to entry. In other words, investors who don’t have a lot of money to invest can invest a small amount of money while earning a return, starting at $100.
• They can help diversify a portfolio. Diversifying a portfolio helps investors minimize risk exposure by spreading funds across various investment opportunities of varying risks and potential returns.
Disadvantages of T-Bills
• Low yield. T-bills provide a lower yield compared to other higher-yield bonds or investments such as stocks. So, for investors looking for higher yields, Treasury bills might not be the way to go.
• Inflation risk exposure. T-bills are exposed to risks such as inflation. If the inflation rate is 4% and a T-bill has a discount rate of 2%, for example, it wouldn’t make sense to invest in T-bills—the inflation exceeds the return an investor would receive, and they would lose money on the investment.
Using Treasury Bills to Diversify
Investing all of one’s money into one asset class leaves an investor exposed to a higher rate of risk of loss. To mitigate risk, investors may turn to diversification as an investing strategy.
With diversification, investors place their money in an assortment of investments — from stocks and bonds to real estate and alternative investments — rather than placing all of their money in one investment. With more sophisticated diversification, investors can diversify within each asset class and sector to truly ensure all investments are spread out.
For example, to reduce the risk of economic uncertainty that tends to impact stocks, investors may choose to invest in the U.S. Treasury securities, such as mutual funds that carry T-bills, to offset these stocks’ potentially negative performance. Since the U.S. Treasuries tend to perform well in such environments, they may help minimize an investor’s loss from stocks not performing.
The Takeaway
Treasury bills are one investment opportunity in which an investor is basically lending money to the government for the short term. While the return on T-bills may be lower than the typical return on other investments, the risk is also much lower, as the US government backs these bills.
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