What is a Treasury Note?

A treasury note is an interest-bearing debt security that is issued by the United States government. It has the following characteristics:

Maturity. A treasury note matures anywhere within a range of one to 10 years.
Interest rate. The interest rate associated with a treasury note is fixed.
Payment intervals. Interest payments are made to investors at six-month intervals.
Purchase methods. Treasury notes may be purchased at auction from the government, or on the secondary market from a third party at a later date.

Treasury notes are quite popular as investments, since the secondary market is active, and the U.S. government is considered to be a very safe issuer of securities.