Glossary · Bonds and rates
Treasury bonds (Treasuries)
Treasuries are the bonds, notes and bills the US government sells to borrow money. They are seen as the safest investment in dollars.
Also called: Treasuries, US government bonds, T-bonds, T-notes, US Treasury securities
November 10, 2026. 30-year: 5.35%.
Debt held by the public, November 9, 2026: about 99% of a year’s GDP.
In plain words
When the US government spends more than it collects in taxes, it borrows the difference by selling IOUs called Treasury securities, or Treasuries. You lend it $1,000; it pays you interest and gives the $1,000 back on a fixed date.
They come in three lengths. Treasury bills last a year or less, Treasury notes 2 to 10 years, and Treasury bonds 20 or 30 years. Strictly, only the last are “Treasury bonds”, but people use the name for all of them.
Investors, banks, the Federal Reserve and foreign governments hold about $32.8T of them (November 9, 2026). Because the US government taxes and borrows in its own currency, Treasuries are treated as the safe asset that every other dollar investment is measured against.
Example
Buying a Treasury note
- You buy a 10-year Treasury note with a $10,000 face value at auction. Its coupon is set close to the auction’s yield; at today’s 10-year yield of 4.98% that would be about $498 a year.
- Every six months the Treasury pays half the coupon into your account.
- The interest is taxed by the federal government but not by states or cities.
- After 10 years you get your $10,000 back. Sell earlier and you get the market price that day, which can be higher or lower.
As of 2026, the minimum purchase is $100, directly from the Treasury (TreasuryDirect) or through a broker.
One level deeper
Treasuries are sold at auctions held almost every week. Big banks called primary dealers must bid, and anyone can put in a bid that simply takes the auction’s yield. Afterwards they trade in the world’s largest and busiest bond market.
Their yields are the base of the financial system. The Treasury yield curve is the “risk-free” rate on which corporate bonds, mortgages and stock valuations are built. Besides ordinary notes and bonds, the Treasury sells TIPS, whose principal rises with prices, and floating-rate notes.
“Safe” means safe from default, not from price swings. A 30-year Treasury can lose a large share of its value when rates rise. In 2022, even 10-year Treasuries returned −15.0% including interest. The US government no longer has the top AAA credit rating from any of the three big agencies: S&P lowered it in 2011, Fitch in 2023 and Moody’s in 2025.
Treasuries held by investors since 2001
The Treasury debt held outside the government itself: by investors, banks, funds, the Federal Reserve and foreign governments. It grew fastest after the 2008 crisis and in 2020.
The numbers behind the chart
| Date | Debt held by the public |
|---|---|
| Oct 2001 | $3.33T |
| Dec 2010 | $9.31T |
| Dec 2020 | $21.4T |
| Dec 2022 | $24.5T |
| Dec 2023 | $26.9T |
| Dec 2024 | $28.9T |
| Dec 2025 | $30.8T |
| Nov 2026 | $32.8T |
Why it matters
Treasuries set the floor for dollar interest rates: almost nobody lends to a company or a home buyer for less than the US government pays.
In a crisis investors rush into them (a “flight to safety”), so they often rise when stocks fall. That makes them a steadying part of many portfolios.
Their amount grows with the national debt, and the interest on them is a growing item in the federal budget.
A common mistake
Myth: Treasuries cannot lose money.
In fact: Held to maturity, they pay back exactly what they promise. Sold early, they can lose a lot: when rates rise, prices fall, and the longer the bond, the bigger the fall. A new 30-year Treasury would lose about 13.3% of its price if rates rose by just 1 point.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between Treasury bills, notes and bonds?
Only the maturity. Bills are sold for up to a year and pay no coupon (they are sold at a discount instead); notes run 2 to 10 years and bonds 20 or 30 years, and both pay interest every six months.
Who owns US Treasuries?
Mostly American investors (funds, banks, pension funds, households) and the Federal Reserve, with a large share held by foreign governments and investors. Together they hold $32.8T of debt held by the public (November 9, 2026).
Are Treasury bonds taxed?
Their interest is taxed by the federal government but is exempt from state and local income taxes.
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About the numbers
- The numbers on this page are recalculated from the data every night; the sources are listed at the end of the page.
- US recessions (NBER business cycle dates): National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee: US Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions.
- US 10-year Treasury bonds, total return index: Robert J. Shiller, Online Data (shillerdata.com), ie_data.xls, sheet "Data": "Long Interest Rate GS10", checked against "Monthly Total Bond Returns" and "Real Total Bond Returns".
- US federal debt (Debt to the Penny): U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Fiscal Data: Debt to the Penny.
- Gross domestic product (current dollars): U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts, Table 1.1.5, series GDP; retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
- US Treasury par yield curve rates: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates (Interest Rate Statistics).
- Debt held by the public includes a small amount of savings bonds and other securities that cannot be traded; most of it is marketable Treasuries.
- This page explains a term. It is not investment advice.