Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTDavid BerenSun, July 5, 2026 at 5:21 PM GMT+2 5 min readQuick ReadA $185,000 portfolio invested in Treasurys at a blended 4% yield generates $617 monthly, enough to cover groceries, utilities, and phone bills.A T-bill ladder using 13-week, 26-week, and 52-week bills yields between 3.79% and 3.99% while staggering maturities to deliver consistent monthly cash flow.The strategy excludes rent, healthcare, and insurance, and its income shrinks if rates fall, having already dropped 0.75 points over the past year.Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset's free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don't waste another minute; learn more here.A $185,000 portfolio sounds like it should do a lot of work. At current safe yields, it does one specific job well: it covers the three recurring bills that appear in every household budget each month. Those bills are groceries, utilities, and the phone bill, with nothing fancier included.Rocketclips, Inc. / Shutterstock.comThe math starts with what cash and short-duration Treasurys actually pay right now. The 10-year Treasury yield is 4.4% as of June 24, 2026. The 52-week T-bill yields 3.99%, and the 26-week bill yields 3.95%. The federal funds upper bound is 3.75%, which sets the floor for money market funds and short-term cash. Applied to $185,000, a blended yield in the 4% range produces roughly $7,400 a year, or about $617 a month.That figure is calibrated to the three categories that account for the most predictable part of a household's monthly outflows. The Bureau of Labor Statistics put average annual household expenditures at $78,535 in 2024, up from $77,280 in 2023 and $72,973 in 2022. Food at home, utilities, and telephone services typically account for about 10% of that total for a middle-income household, which is the slice the portfolio is built to absorb.Read: Are you ahead, or behind on retirement?