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Personal FinanceAnalysisPast Article

A 4.94% Ten-Year Does Not Set Your Savings Rate

Friday's long yield is a government borrowing cost. A bank deposit, a mortgage, and a Treasury bill are three other contracts.

By Ruth Hale, Personal Finance Columnist

New York1 min read

Storm clouds gather over a dense cityscape
Storm clouds gather over a dense cityscapePhoto by Nikolai Kolosov on Unsplash

The ten-year Treasury yielded 4.94 percent on Friday. That is what the government paid, in yield terms, on the par curve for a ten-year note. It is not the rate on your savings account. Your bank sets that rate, or does not, on its own schedule.

It is also not your mortgage offer. A mortgage is a loan to you, with fees, a credit decision, and a term that may be thirty years. Lenders watch the long end of the Treasury market. They do not owe you Friday's par yield. If someone quotes you a loan, the quote is the fact that applies to the loan. Friday's 4.94 percent is context.

A closer cousin is a Treasury bill. Friday's three-month par yield was 4.16 percent. A bill you buy is a government security with a maturity, not a habit and not a bank account. When it matures you are back to cash and you decide again. The yield is knowable on the day you look it up.

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