CD or Treasury? Five Factors to Consider

Two of the historically safest types of fixed income investments are certificates of deposit (CDs) and Treasury bonds. Both CDs and Treasuries can be a good choice when you want steady, predictable investment income—but how should an investor decide between them?

Before choosing CDs or Treasuries, we suggest you first start with your objectives. Not considering your objectives before investing is like taking a road trip and only being concerned about the tires on the car—not where you're going. The benefits of both CDs and Treasuries are that they can generate income, protect your principal, and help diversify your portfolio. Additionally, Treasuries can have tax benefits when compared to CDs. However, CDs and Treasuries are fixed income investments and subject to similar risks as other fixed income investments. For example, if interest rates rise, the price of a CD or Treasury will fall and if you need the investment prior to maturity and have to sell it, you may lose money.

When considering between the two investment options, there are five factors that investors should consider.

1. Security: Both CDs and Treasuries are very high-quality investments. CDs are bank deposits that pay a stated amount of interest for a specified period of time and promise to return your money on a specific date. They are federally insured and issued by banks and savings-and-loans institutions. CDs are backed by FDIC insurance up to $250,000 per bank per depositor. There are bank-issued CDs and brokered CDs. The two are similar but have some important differences.

You can purchase multiple CDs from different banks while still holding them in the same account type to protect more than $250,000. For example, if you own two CDs in your brokerage account, $250,000 from one bank and $250,000 from a second bank, and you have no other deposits at those banks, you're covered for $500,000 even though they’re held in the same account. We suggest that if you're investing more than $250,000 in CDs, be sure that you're not exceeding the FDIC insurance limits at each individual bank.

Treasuries, on the other hand, are issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government to an unlimited amount. Like CDs, they pay a stated amount of interest for a specified period of time and promise to return your money on a specific date. There's generally ample availability of Treasury bonds, whereas the availability of CDs can be limited and depends on the bank's capital needs and other factors. Therefore, there can be instances where there aren't enough CDs to insure an amount greater than the $250,000 FDIC insurance limits. In these instances, Treasuries could be the more appropriate option.

2. Yields: Yields, as represented by the 10-year U.S. Treasury, are near the highest levels in roughly 15 years,¹ making both CDs and Treasuries a much more attractive option than in prior years. Currently, Treasuries maturing in less than a year yield about the same as a CD.² Therefore, all things considered, it likely makes more sense to choose Treasuries over CDs, depending on your situation, because of the tax benefits and liquidity when considering very short-term maturities.

3. Taxes: Treasuries can offer tax benefits that CDs do not. Treasuries are exempt from state income taxes, whereas CDs are subject to both federal and state income taxes. As a result, investors who are choosing between the two options should start with what account type they are investing in, and then consider what their state tax rate is. If investing in a tax-sheltered account, like an individual retirement account (IRA) or a 401(k), the tax benefits that Treasuries provide disappear, because earnings in these types of accounts are not subject to income taxes.

However, if investing in a taxable account, like a brokerage account, the impact of state income taxes can tip the scales one way or the other. For investors in high-tax states, like New York or California, after considering the impact of state taxes, investors may be able to achieve a higher after-tax yield with Treasuries.

For example, assume a two-year CD currently yields 5.35%, compared to a two-year Treasury that yields 5.12%.¹ For an investor in the top tax bracket in California, which has a 13.3% state tax rate, after the impact of taxes, the CD yields 2.46%. In this instance, the investor can achieve a higher after-tax yield with the Treasury versus the CD.

For investors in other states, it takes a roughly 4%-6% state tax rate for a CD that matures between two and five years to equal the yield on a Treasury of similar maturity.

4. Maturities: Treasuries have maturities ranging from as little as four weeks to as long as 30 years. In fact, between 2023 and 2053, the only years where a Treasury is not available is 2034 and 2035. On the other hand, the availability of CDs beyond five years is limited in many instances. For investors that desire a greater selection of maturities, Treasuries can make more sense. 

5. Liquidity: We usually recommend holding a CD or Treasury to maturity, but situations can arise where an investor needs to "break" a CD or Treasury prior to maturity. Unlike CDs purchased directly from a bank, brokered issued CDs are bought and sold on a secondary market. If you need access to the funds you invested in a CD prior to maturity, Schwab can help you sell the CD at the current market rate by requesting bids on your CD and contacting you with the highest one. If you decide to sell, you'll receive the bid price plus any accrued interest. There are no guarantees that you'll get what you originally paid for the CD and there may be a fee to sell the CD.³

Treasuries can also be bought and sold on a secondary market; however, it's a much more active market than the CD market, which means there are tighter bid/ask spreads. A Treasury investor could still lose money if they had to sell a Treasury prior to maturity, but the Treasury market is a much more liquid market than the CD market and therefore much easier to sell if needed.

We generally suggest that if there's the possibility that you may need the money prior to maturity, consider Treasuries over CDs because they're more liquid.

One strategy to consider when investing in CDs or Treasuries is a ladder. A ladder is a portfolio of individual Treasuries or CDs that mature on different dates. This can help minimize exposure to interest rate fluctuations. Additionally, investors may want to consider a separately managed account (SMA) that can help build and manage a ladder. For help selecting investments for your particular situation, reach out to a Schwab representative.