How to invest in Treasury bonds
There are three common ways to invest in Treasury bonds, depending on how hands-on you want to be.
1. Buy Treasury bonds directly from the government
You can purchase Treasury bonds through TreasuryDirect, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s official website. This option allows you to buy bonds directly at auction, often in $100 increments, without paying brokerage fees.
This approach works well if you plan to hold bonds until maturity and don’t expect to trade them. The main drawback is flexibility. Bonds purchased through TreasuryDirect generally must be held for at least 45 days, and selling early requires transferring them to a brokerage account.
2. Buy Treasury bonds through a brokerage account
Many of thebest online brokers let you buy and sell Treasury bonds just like stocks. This gives you more control and the ability to sell before maturity if your plans change.
The trade-off is that brokers often require a minimum purchase of $1,000 per bond, which can be a higher hurdle for newer investors.
3. Invest through Treasury bond ETFs
Another option is investing through Treasury bond ETFs, which hold baskets of government bonds in a single fund.
Treasury bond ETFs can make it easier to:
- Diversify across many bonds at once
- Manage interest rate risk
- Buy and sell without tracking individual maturity dates
This option is often the simplest starting point for investors who want Treasury exposure without managing individual bonds.