This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The key maturity and interest payment differences between T-bills, T-notes, and T-bonds. - The unique tax treatment of Treasury securities: federally taxable but exempt from state and local taxes. - How TIPS provide inflation protection and the associated concept of 'phantom income'. - Why STRIPS are not issued directly by the Treasury and their high sensitivity to interest rate risk. - That U.S. Treasuries are considered the 'risk-free' benchmark because they are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, eliminating default risk. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep