What Are The Differences Between Bonds, Notes, And Bills?
Technically, bills, notes, and bonds are all bonds. They are all backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. They are all issued electronically (you don’t get a fancy piece of paper as you do with savings bonds). They can all be purchased either directly from the Treasury or through a broker.
The major difference among them is the time you need to wait to collect your principal:
Treasury bills have maturities of a year or less.
Treasury notes are issued with maturities from two to ten years.
Treasury bonds are long-term investments that have maturities of 10 to 30 years from their issue date.
The bills, like savings bonds, are sold at a discount from their face value. You get the full amount when the bill matures. The notes and bonds, on the other hand, are sold at their face value, have a fixed interest rate, and kick off interest payments once every six months. The minimum denomination for all three is $1,000, and you can buy them all in any increment of $1,000.
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