Opinion – Marcia Dessen: Direct, good and cheap treasure

While several million people invest in savings, less than two million maintain active accounts at the Tesouro Direto, a National Treasury program created 20 years ago to sell federal government bonds to individuals.

What are the reasons for this low adherence? Risk, one of the main concerns of conservative investors, is not. Credit risk, the same risk of those who invest in savings, is considered non-existent, so much so that investments in government bonds do not need the guarantee of the FGC (Credit Guarantee Fund), they are 100% guaranteed by the National Treasury, with no limit.

Saying that it is expensive is not justified either, it is not expensive at all, the custody fee of 0.20% per year charged by B3 is much lower than the management fees of investment funds and pension plans. It is much lower than the spread of banks, which pay 80% of the CDI in CDBs, when they could pay 100% or more.

As the vast majority of banks and authorized brokers do not charge brokerage, the only cost to the investor is the custody fee charged by B3, a partner of the National Treasury in this program. Oh, and there’s also an incentive for those who start investing: investments in Treasury Selic, one of the available securities, only pay a custody fee on the amount exceeding R$ 10,000 per CPF.

Once the security and cost aspects are over, the next step is to choose the most appropriate security for the investment objective. Is that the problem? Unlike savings, which is a standard product, a single modality, in Tesouro Direto investors find three types of security with different yields. The good news is that we can choose and diversify, investing a little in each type. However, for some (or many), this may be exactly the difficulty.

Savings do not have an expiration date, the investor can withdraw at any time, although they have to wait for the anniversary date to receive the income from the last period. Public bonds mature, the date on which the investor receives the invested amount corrected by the contracted rate.

The most basic security, more similar to savings, is the Selic Treasury, which pays 100% of the Selic rate. The shortest available expiration date, 2025, may seem too long and scare the investor. However, the advance sale can be made at any time, and the profitability, considering the nature of the security, will always be positive, equal to the Selic variation between the date of purchase and the date of sale.

Considering the Selic rate of 11.75%, discounting the custody fee of 0.20% and the Income Tax of 17.5%, in one year the investor will receive 9.53% net. The return on savings will be 6.17% plus TR (close to zero). It is likely to also outperform many funds and pension plans. The Treasury Selic is the best option to invest resources from the financial reserve or resources for short-term objectives.

The Fixed Rate Treasury, as its name suggests, determines exactly the redemption value of the security on the maturity date. Resale before maturity is always possible, but the security loses value if the market rate is above the bid rate. So invest resources that can wait until maturity. On 4/27, the shortest security, maturing on 1/1/25, paid a fixed rate of 12.19% per year. What is the most favorable scenario to invest in a fixed rate? When there is the prospect of stability or a drop in interest rates.

And, for those who can invest for a slightly longer term and wish to protect themselves against inflation, it is worth considering the IPCA+ Treasury, which pays the IPCA variation plus a fixed interest rate. On 4/27, it was possible to buy Treasury IPCA 2026, maturing on 8/15/2026, with a yield of IPCA + 5.39% per year.

Important notice: the price of Fixed-rate Treasury and IPCA+ Treasury bonds fluctuates between the date of purchase and maturity. Keep calm, ignore, at maturity, the National Treasury returns your money corrected by the contracted rate. Do not invest in securities of this type resources that may be needed before maturity.

Those who can extend the term and like to receive interest semiannually can opt for the Fixed-rate Treasury and IPCA+ Treasury modalities with semiannual interest. As they are longer bonds, the yield increases a little, and the price fluctuation increases a lot. Do not invest short-term resources, especially your financial reserve, which will find a safe harbor in the Selic Treasury.

It is possible to invest from R$ 30, earning the same profitability as large investors and build a diversified portfolio without leaving fixed income. The broker of the bank where you keep your savings account can facilitate access to Treasury Direct. It is worth knowing and investing.