Treasury bill：你今日可以earn超過4.5% APY而冇state/local tax
Treasury bills offer 4.5%+ APY exempt from state同local taxes——如果你住喺high-tax state好似California，呢個比standard high-yield savings有significant advantage。
呢篇文章反映嘅係2023年嘅情況。如果想了解呢個話題嘅最新資訊，請參閱 Savings & Investing Guide — 2026.
2026年更新： 呢篇文章最初喺2023年publish。如果想睇最新rates同comprehensive guide，請參考 Where to Park Your Cash: T-Bills, HYSA & More for Expats (2026)。
個title唔係exaggerate。當我第一次discover呢個嘅時候，我surprise自己點解冇早啲look into。US Treasury bills 4-week term嘅interest rates已經超過4.5% annual percentage yield (APY)。你可以喺Treasury Direct官方網站呢度check rates。
如果你嘅savings冇earn到至少3% APY就有問題
好多high-yield accounts而家offer 3%+或3.5% APY。所以take advantage of呢啲for你嘅savings money。（我寫過另一篇文章關於expats嘅high-yield saving account。）
一部分嘅錢可以用嚟買Treasury Bills earn更高interest。For Treasury Bills，"this interest is subject to federal income tax, but is exempt from all state and local income taxes." according to IRS website。因為呢個exemption，如果你住喺high state income tax嘅state（好似California——我住嘅地方），Treasury bills嘅interest比high-yield saving accounts好好多。當我figure out呢個嘅時候覺得好big deal :D
你由以上auction results可以見到，longer-duration Treasury Bills嘅APY可以係4.7%或4.8%。
喺2022年12月，我寫過關於Treasury Bills嘅基本information for expats in the US。所以如果你未買過US Treasury Bills（directly或via broker），我encourage你先讀嗰篇文章。
你可以用Treasury Direct投資低至$100
喺寫呢篇文章嘅時候（2023年2月），每次Treasury Bills purchase嘅minimum amount with Treasury Direct係**$100**。所以對好似我嘅retail investors幾friendly。
如果你through brokers買，好多minimum purchase amount係$1000 for Treasury Bills，所以直接check你broker嘅website。
另一個我鍾意嘅feature係auto reinvest at maturity。呢個feature好多brokers同Treasury Direct都offer。好convenient因為你唔需要think about呢筆錢。
但有咩catch？
首先，inflation喺2023年1月係6.4%，4.5% APY意味住你losing purchasing power。你嘅real interest rate係**-1.9%，所以呢個係最大嘅catch**。
第二，depending on你喺邊度買Treasury Bills（或Bonds）可能有minimum holding period。例如，"In Treasury Direct, when you buy a Treasury marketable security, you must hold it in your TreasuryDirect account for 45 days before selling or transferring it. This means you can't sell or transfer a 4-week bill from TreasuryDirect because it matures in less than 45 days. This hold also applies to a reinvestment when new funds are added to pay for the new security." 所以只用你afford得起hold至少四個禮拜嘅savings amount，如果你由Treasury Direct買。至於via brokers買Treasury Bills，please check佢哋嘅websites。
第三，如果你有questions關於should買4-week、26-week、52-week定longer duration treasury bill/bond，really depends on每個人嘅personal situation同preference。所以我冇辦法comment。Unless你有millions of dollars去invest，0.2或0.3%嘅APY difference唔太matter，所以我通常based on preference做decisions。
第四，should你via Treasury Direct定brokerage account買Treasury Bills？Again，sorry，你需要do your own research因為每個人situation太唔同好難寫meaningful嘅嘢。我personally兩個都用，但我唔suggest呢個係適合everyone嘅approach :)
總結
如果你currently冇錢喺high-yield saving account，梗係先open一個high-yield saving account。Prioritizing safety first係我嘅recommendation when choosing邊間financial institution。
然後唔好keep所有savings money喺high-yield saving account，用一部分for Treasury Bills——佢可以俾你better return。
As always，美國嘅tax好complicated，所以do your own research carefully或engage professional。我唔係financial advisor——只係一個fellow expat trying to figure out美國financial system :P
你currently有用Treasury Bills或high-yield savings accounts嗎？我curious其他expats點handle佢哋嘅savings strategy。話我知！
祝好，
Chandler
