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Treasury Bills

T-bills are arguably the safest dollar-denominated investment in the world. They're sold at a discount and pay face value at maturity — the difference is your return.

Why people search for treasury bills

Park cash for under a year in a government-backed, state-tax-exempt instrument.

Every listing below is editorially independent — MoneyMoodBoard does not earn commissions on any of them. Numeric fields cite primary sources (regulator filings, operator pricing pages) on the individual listing page.

41 listings as of June 2026

Key attributes for treasury bills

Yield·Maturity·Minimum·Tax

What to look for in treasury bills

Use this checklist before committing to any treasury bills listed above: editorial criteria that consistently separate well-run products from the rest. Each point applies to most listings in the category, including those we have not yet reviewed in detail.

Effective after-tax yield

The headline T-bill rate is comparable to a HYSA, but the federal-only taxation makes a real difference for residents of states with income tax. Compute the tax-equivalent yield using your combined state and local rate before deciding between a T-bill and a savings account or CD.

Purchase channel

TreasuryDirect has zero fees but a clunky 1990s interface and no easy way to sell before maturity. Brokerage platforms (Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard) often participate in Treasury auctions at no commission and let you sell on the secondary market with minimal markup.

Maturity selection

Pick the maturity that matches when you'll need the cash. Buying a 52-week bill for money you may need in three months exposes you to a small price loss if rates rise. Buying a 4-week bill for cash you won't touch for a year forces you to reinvest at unknown future rates.

Auto-rollover support

If you don't want to manage auctions yourself, confirm your broker supports auto-rollover into the next equivalent T-bill. TreasuryDirect supports this natively. Without auto-rollover, matured proceeds sit in cash earning nothing until you act.

What are treasury bills?

Treasury Bills are us government securities. The five short sections below walk through how they work, who they suit, the main risks, where they fit in a broader plan, and the US regulatory rules that govern them today.

How T-bills work

T-bills mature in 4, 8, 13, 17, 26, or 52 weeks. You buy at a discount to face value and receive face value at maturity. Interest is exempt from state and local income tax.

Who they suit

Savers parking cash, building a Treasury ladder, or holding an emergency fund without giving up real yield to inflation.

Key risks

Credit risk is effectively zero, but reinvestment risk is real: when rates fall, the next T-bill at maturity may yield much less. T-bills are not FDIC insured — they don't need to be.

Fit in a broader plan

T-bills work well for known near-term spending — a planned tax bill, a home down payment, the cash portion of an emergency fund in high-tax states. Beyond a year, the yield premium on intermediate Treasuries can be worth the small additional rate risk for money that won't be touched.

US regulatory context

Issued by the US Treasury through weekly auctions and sold directly via TreasuryDirect.gov or through any broker. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income tax — a meaningful boost for residents of California, New York and other high-tax states. They are full-faith-and-credit obligations of the federal government.

Treasury Bills glossary

These are the terms you will see most often across treasury bills listings, statements, prospectuses and support docs. Skim them once so the rest of the page, and every product page in this category, reads cleanly the next time you visit.

Discount yield
The traditional quoting convention for T-bills — annualized return based on a 360-day year and face value.
Investment yield
T-bill return restated on a 365-day basis comparable to other bonds and savings products.
Auction
Weekly Treasury sale where competitive and non-competitive bids determine the issued rate.
Non-competitive bid
An order to buy a T-bill at whatever auction rate clears. Retail buyers almost always use these.
TreasuryDirect
The federal government's direct retail purchase platform at TreasuryDirect.gov.
Secondary market
Where T-bills change hands between investors after issuance, accessed through a broker.
Reinvestment risk
The risk that proceeds at maturity must be reinvested at a lower rate than the bill being replaced.
State tax exemption
T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income tax under federal law.

Related listings in other categories

Investors comparing treasury bills often weigh adjacent categories that solve a similar job from a different angle. The cards below jump to sibling sections of the directory where the same money could plausibly be put to work or compared.

Bonds

Loans you make to a government or company in exchange for scheduled interest payments.

Banks & Neobanks

Federally insured checking and savings accounts from traditional banks and digital-only challengers.

ETFs

Baskets of securities that trade on a stock exchange like a single share.

Treasury Bills: common questions

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