Treasury Bonds at Vanguard
Key takeaways:
• A Vanguard brokerage account can be used to invest in Treasury securities.
• Vanguard also provides access to Treasury-focused funds.
• Online Treasury orders have no commission at Vanguard, although broker-assisted secondary-market fixed-income trades placed by phone can carry a fee.
Are you thinking about buying Treasury debt issued by the U.S. government? If you are, Vanguard may be worth reviewing, particularly if keeping costs low is important.
Treasuries That Can Be Traded at Vanguard
Vanguard supports trading in the three main types of Treasury securities: bills, notes, and bonds. STRIPS and TIPS are also available for trading. During our research, we found securities ranging from short-term bills to long-term 30-year bonds.
Treasury Education
Vanguard’s website includes a range of resources on investing topics; some of these cover bonds, and some bond resources discuss Treasuries. To locate these helpful materials, visit Vanguard’s bond resources or open the investor education area and choose from the available links.
During our research, we found these articles:
• Choosing between funds & individual securities
• U.S. Treasury securities
• Are bonds a good investment right now?
Finding Treasuries
After you understand how fixed income works in general and how Treasuries work in particular, the next step is finding something to buy. To locate Treasury securities available on Vanguard’s platform, go to Vanguard’s bond page and find the bond rates tool. Click this tool to open a matrix of linked bond yields. Treasuries will appear among the available fixed-income categories.
Choose the maturity range you want, and a new page will display bonds that fit the selected maturity. Columns on this page include coupon, yield, price, and exact maturity date.
If you want Treasury securities at auction, look for the Treasuries tab in the menu above the matrix of linked yields. On the Treasuries page, you can search specifically for Treasuries in the primary or secondary market. The results will show similar details to the ones already mentioned.
How to Buy Treasury Bonds on Vanguard
Along with the data points already listed in the search results, Vanguard’s platform includes buy and sell links in the row for each security. Click a buy link to open a purchase order. The quantity field on the bond ticket is entered in thousands, so enter the number of bonds you want to buy (for example, 5 would represent $5,000). Submit the order after reviewing the details.
Treasury Funds
In addition to individual Treasury bonds, bills, and notes, Vanguard offers mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, some of which hold Treasury securities. These funds provide diversification because they own multiple Treasury issues. Some funds hold Treasury debt along with other assets.
To search for Treasury funds available at Vanguard, return to the investment products section. This time, choose the link for mutual funds or ETFs. On the fund page, you can search for mutual funds and ETFs using filters such as asset class. Review the results to locate Treasury funds.
Vanguard Treasury Fees and Minimums
Vanguard charges $0 for online new-issue and secondary-market trades of U.S. Treasury securities. A $25 broker-assisted commission applies to fixed-income transactions traded on the secondary market by telephone in addition to the listed rate. This broker-assisted commission is waived for clients who hold $1 million or more in Vanguard ETFs and Vanguard funds, and it does not apply to fixed-income products that are unavailable for online trading. Vanguard Brokerage Services may act as an agent or as a principal on bond trades. When acting as a principal for a primary-market issue, Vanguard generally receives a fee concession from the issuer. There is a $1,000 minimum purchase amount for Treasury securities.
ETFs at Vanguard are commission-free online. Some mutual funds also have no transaction fee, while certain transaction-fee mutual funds may carry online trading fees.
Vanguard ETFs can be purchased in dollar amounts through Vanguard’s fractional-share program with a minimum investment of only $1. For non-Vanguard ETFs, the minimum is the cost of one share. For mutual funds, the minimum purchase amount depends on the specific fund.
Schwab as a Replacement
Charles Schwab is another brokerage firm that supports Treasury trading. Like Vanguard, Schwab offers advisory and brokerage accounts that can hold securities issued by the U.S. Treasury Department. To find individual Treasury securities at Schwab, log into the website and click the Trade tab in the main menu. From the drop-down list, choose the bonds link. This opens a similar matrix of linked Treasury yields. Schwab’s trade ticket does not use the three extra zeroes that Vanguard’s ticket uses, so you need to enter the full trade amount (such as $5,000 instead of 5). Schwab’s ticket also offers market and limit orders for Treasuries.
Like Vanguard, Schwab provides access to many mutual funds and ETFs that hold Treasury debt. These are easy to locate on Schwab’s site; simply open the screeners under the Research tab.
Free Charles Schwab Account
Final Verdict
Vanguard and Schwab both provide strong resources for trading Treasury bonds, notes, and bills. Their online tools are somewhat different, but either broker can work well for Treasury investors.
Updated on 9/27/2026.
Chad Morris has been analyzing investment firms for Brokerage-Review.com since 2015. Backed by FINRA Series 65, 66, and SIE credentials, his work reflects a deep knowledge of the retail brokerage industry and digital trading tools.
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