Selling Treasury Bills — TreasuryDirect (2024)

FAQs

Selling Treasury Bills — TreasuryDirect? ›

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.

You can sell a T-Bill before its maturity date without penalty, although you will be charged a commission. (With CDs, you pay a sizeable penalty for early withdrawals.)

You can hold a Treasury marketable security until it matures or sell it before it matures. To sell a Treasury marketable security, you must work through a bank, broker, or dealer.

Treasury Bills, or T-bills, are short-term debt obligations issued by the U.S. Treasury Department. They are considered safe investments because they are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. T-bills are sold at a discount from their face value and mature at face value.

Electronic I bonds can be cashed online through TreasuryDirect.gov. Paper I bonds can be cashed online, or they may be accepted by some banks. If you hold an I bond for less than five years, you'll lose three months' interest.

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.

Bills are sold at a discount. The discount rate is determined at auction. Bills pay interest only at maturity. The interest is equal to the face value minus the purchase price.

Are Treasury bills taxed as capital gains? Normally no. However, if you buy a T-bill in the secondary market and then achieve a profit, you may be liable for capital gains depending on your exact purchase price.

If you're saving for a goal less than a year away: If you're saving money for a goal with a short-time horizon, T-bills can make more sense than CDs. They provide a higher APY than savings accounts, and they're more liquid than CDs.

By contrast, if the Fed sells or lends treasury securities to banks, the payment it receives in exchange will reduce the money supply.

What happens if you sell a treasury bond before maturity? ›

Narrator: Please note that if you sell a bond before maturity, you may not receive the full principal amount and any future interest payments. A blue text box appears with the text: NOTE If you sell a bond before maturity, you may not receive the full principal amount and any future interest payments.

You just bought a security from the U.S. Treasury. Securities are generally issued to your account within two business days of the purchase date for savings bonds or within one week of the auction date for Bills, Notes, Bonds, FRNs, and TIPS.

We sell Treasury Bonds for a term of either 20 or 30 years. Bonds pay a fixed rate of interest every six months until they mature. You can hold a bond until it matures or sell it before it matures.

Narrator: Please note that if you sell a bond before maturity, you may not receive the full principal amount and any future interest payments. A blue text box appears with the text: NOTE If you sell a bond before maturity, you may not receive the full principal amount and any future interest payments.

Selling prior to maturity – Treasuries and CDs sold prior to maturity (as opposed to allowing the positions to mature according to the schedule) are subject to a trading mark-down, and may result in a substantial gain or loss due to interest rate changes and other factors.

By selling securities, the Fed attempts to raise rates, slow economic growth, and stem inflation. Unfortunately, contractionary economic periods like this also traditionally cause increases in unemployment.