Ben Carlson, Columnist

Rising Treasury Yields Are a Good Problem to Have

Higher rates are a boon to bond buyers, hedge funds and savers.

March 16, 2018 at 10:00 AM UTC

Ben Carlson is director of institutional asset management at Ritholtz Wealth Management. He is the author of "Organizational Alpha: How to Add Value in Institutional Asset Management."

Good for retirees, too.
Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

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Ten-year Treasury yields are fast approaching 3 percent, a level they haven’t breached since 2013. And in that instance, rates immediately fell again. Before then, the 3 percent level hadn’t been attained since 2011. The yields on the shorter end of the maturity spectrum have also had a healthy rise. Five-year Treasuries are now yielding more than 2.5 percent for the first time since 2010. The yield on one-year Treasuries has spiked above 2 percent for the first time since 2008.

It’s human nature to be risk-averse, so when interest rates rise the first thing investors do is worry about the risks involved. The list of worries about rising rates is long and varied: