Treasury Bills: A Smarter Place to Park Your Cash
The 3-month T-bill yields 3.68% as of April 30, 2026, and the top high-yield savings accounts pay roughly the same headline rate — except one of them is taxed by your state and the other isn't. After 3.29% CPI, both barely beat inflation in nominal terms. But for a New York City resident in the top bracket, the T-bill's state-tax exemption alone is worth ~$272 per year on a $50,000 cash position — enough to swing the after-tax comparison decisively. This is the trade most cash savers ignore. With the Fed on hold at 3.64% since January 2026 and HYSA leaderboards quietly repricing lower every week, the case for T-bills isn't "the highest nominal yield on offer." It's locked-in rate + state-tax break + sovereign credit + ladder-able liquidity, all in one instrument. Here's the working framework: if you live in a high-tax state and have more than two months of expenses sitting in a savings account, you are probably underearning. The fix takes about 15 minutes through any major brokerage.