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The short answer
As a labelled example, ₦10 million in treasury bills earning about 15% a year would produce roughly ₦1.5 million a year, or ₦125,000 a month, before fees and any tax. With inflation at 14.63% in September 2026, spending all of that income would leave the ₦10 million worth about ₦8.72 million in today's money a year later, so living off bills works only if you reinvest part of the return.
The starting numbers
Treasury bill rates move at every auction, so any income plan has to be built on today's figure and revisited at each rollover. At the CBN auction of 7 October 2026 the stop rates were 15.50% for 91 days, 15.80% for 182 days and 15.85% for 364 days. Your true yield is slightly higher than the stop rate because you pay less than face value, while the rate a bank or app gives you may be slightly lower after its margin. For this example we use a round 15% a year on the money invested.
Example: the income
| Item (example) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Money invested | ₦10,000,000 |
| Assumed yield | 15% a year |
| Return in a year | ₦1,500,000 |
| Per month if spread evenly | ₦125,000 |
| Per quarter | ₦375,000 |
Treasury bills do not pay monthly. Each bill pays its whole return at maturity, as the difference between what you paid and the face value. To turn that into a regular income you need several bills maturing at different times.
Building a rollover ladder
A common way to spread income is to split the money into four parts and buy one-year bills three months apart, so that one matures every quarter.
- Month 0: buy a 364-day bill with ₦2,500,000.
- Month 3: buy another with ₦2,500,000.
- Month 6: buy a third with ₦2,500,000.
- Month 9: buy the fourth with ₦2,500,000.
- From month 12: each quarter one bill matures. You take out the return for spending and roll the ₦2,500,000 into a new one-year bill.
At 15%, each ₦2,500,000 bill earns about ₦375,000 over its year, so once the ladder is running you receive roughly ₦375,000 every quarter. The catch is the first year: until the first bill matures there is no income, so the money you live on in year one must come from elsewhere. Putting part of the money in 91-day bills at the start shortens that gap, at the 91-day rate.
Each rollover is at the rate of the day. If the stop rate falls from 15.85% to, say, 12%, the next ₦2,500,000 earns about ₦300,000 instead of ₦375,000. The run from 17.70% in July 2026 to 15.85% in October 2026 shows how quickly this can happen.
What inflation does to the plan
The National Bureau of Statistics put headline inflation at 14.63% year on year for September 2026, as reported by Voice of Nigeria. If prices rise by that much over a year and you spend the whole ₦1.5 million, your ₦10 million buys what about ₦8.72 million buys today (₦10,000,000 ÷ 1.1463). Your income stays the same in naira, but its purchasing power falls each year.
The real return, the part that is truly extra, is small at these numbers: ₦10,000,000 × (1.15 ÷ 1.1463 − 1), about ₦32,000 a year. To keep the capital's value you would spend only that much and reinvest the rest, which is not enough to live on. That is the honest arithmetic of income from bills when the rate is close to inflation.
A middle path (example)
- Spend ₦1,000,000 of the ₦1.5 million return (about ₦83,000 a month).
- Reinvest ₦500,000, so the pot grows to ₦10.5 million.
- The pot still loses some value after 14.63% inflation, but much less than if you spend everything.
Fees and tax to count
Fees reduce the income. Stanbic IBTC's undated Treasury Bills FAQ lists a ₦300 transaction fee plus VAT, a custody fee of 0.05% of face value plus 7.5% VAT, and a ₦100 commission on primary auctions plus VAT. On ₦10,000,000 of face value the custody fee alone is ₦5,000 plus ₦375 VAT. Other banks charge differently, so ask for the schedule. For tax, see are treasury bill returns taxed in Nigeria; we do not state a tax figure here.
What to check first
- The rate your provider offers on the day, not the headline stop rate.
- Its fees per bill and for custody.
- How it pays out at maturity and how quickly you can roll over.
- Whether you can wait out the first year before the ladder pays.
More on rolling over: treasury bill rollover at maturity. Past rates: treasury bill stop rates and their history.
Keep a cash buffer outside the ladder
Bills cannot be broken for free. If a family emergency arrives two months after a rollover, you either sell the bill at the market price or borrow. A small buffer avoids both. In this example, keeping ₦500,000 aside in an account you can reach the same day and investing ₦9,500,000 lowers the yearly return to about ₦1,425,000 (₦9,500,000 × 15%), or about ₦118,750 a month, but means the ladder can run untouched. Selling a bill before maturity explains what an early sale costs.
Where Pryme fits
As each bill matures, you can move the spending part into a Naira Flexible Box and pay regular bills such as electricity from your account; your Personal Assistant can prepare a monthly budget for you to approve.
Questions people ask
How much interest will ₦10 million earn in treasury bills?
Example: at 15% a year, about ₦1.5 million a year before fees and any tax. Check the current stop rate and your provider's rate.
Can I live off treasury bill interest in Nigeria?
Possibly, with a large enough pot and a ladder of bills, but with inflation near the T-bill rate, spending all the return erodes your capital's value.
Do treasury bills pay monthly?
No. Each bill pays its return at maturity. A ladder of bills maturing at different times gives regular income.
What happens if T-bill rates fall?
Each rollover earns the new, lower rate. In 2026 the one-year stop rate fell from 17.70% in July to 15.85% in October.
Sources
- Nairametrics: DMO raises N968.47 billion as 364-day stop rate falls to 15.85% (7 Oct 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Nairametrics: CBN targets N700 billion in third and final treasury bills auction for July 2026 (26 Jul 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Voice of Nigeria: Nigeria's headline inflation drops to 14.63 per cent (16 Oct 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Stanbic IBTC: Treasury Bills FAQs (undated; indicative rates dated Aug 2023) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.