David Dierking, The Motley Fool
Sat, May 16, 2026 astatine 11:50 AM CDT 4 min read
Ever since the Federal Reserve's assertive rate-hiking rhythm successful 2022 resulted successful the worst show for long-term Treasuries successful decades, investors person mostly ignored fixed income successful their portfolios. That's been particularly existent fixed the artificial quality (AI) boom, which has produced immense returns for tech, semiconductor, and maturation stocks.
Overweighting these stocks successful a raging bull marketplace isn't truly Warren Buffett's style, nor is ignoring fixed income successful a diversified portfolio. His value-tilted attack hasn't done peculiarly good successful the past fewer years, but it's been undeniably palmy implicit the decades that he's been investing.
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For astir investors, helium advocates for a elemental attack that involves the bulk of a portfolio being invested successful the S&P 500 but besides a humble allocation going to Treasury bills. For this purpose, Buffett would apt endorse an concern successful the Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (NASDAQ: VBIL).
Key takeaways
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VBIL launched successful February 2025 and is designed to way a portfolio of short-term Treasury bills with remaining maturities of 90 days oregon less.
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Treasury bills tin beryllium utilized to supply income and portfolio volatility management.
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They tin besides beryllium utilized arsenic a parking spot for currency waiting to beryllium deployed into longer-term holdings.
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Buffett recommends holding astatine slightest a tiny allocation of Treasury bills for some of these purposes.
Why holding Treasury bills makes consciousness successful a portfolio
In bull markets, astir investors privation to beryllium 100% invested successful stocks. Unfortunately, bull markets don't past forever, and conditions tin crook southbound quickly, leaving all-equity portfolios susceptible to steep losses. We saw this arsenic precocious arsenic March.
Keeping a currency presumption successful your portfolio serves 2 superior purposes. First, it tin supply a existent income constituent that helps mitigate wide portfolio volatility. Back during the bulk of the 2010s and arsenic precocious arsenic the post-COVID pandemic years, currency provided virtually nary income arsenic the Fed sought to support rates arsenic debased arsenic possible. That's changed. Today, Treasury bills routinely connection yields of 3%-4%, making them an intriguing risk/reward alternate to equities.
Second, it allows investors a parking spot for currency acceptable to beryllium enactment to work. Warren Buffett likes to instrumentality vantage of worth opportunities if the underlying banal falls acold enough. Environments wherever volatility ticks higher and banal prices propulsion backmost tin beryllium perfect short-term introduction points to seizure a imaginable bounceback. Having currency acceptable alternatively of needing to liquidate different agelong positions is the amended approach.

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