U.S Treasury direct, anyone?

[Birchwood]

About 30 years ago I invested in U.S. Treasury direct Legacy which was phased out. Well, it kept my money safe & help to balance the volatility of stocks. My only complaint about it then, was it was very hard to call them.
Anybody with experience with U.S. Treasury direct online?
How do you transfer funds from your bank? etc.
Thanks.

 

[hnzw_rui]

Anybody with experience with U.S. Treasury direct online?
How do you transfer funds from your bank? etc.
Thanks.

Just online through the website. So far, I've only used it to purchase savings bonds. It just takes funds from my checking account via ACH debit (you just need to give them routing and account numbers). So far, it's been fairly easy and intuitive to use.

 

[Alan]

I've used the website a lot over the last 12 years to buy and sell Ibonds and find it easy to use. It takes up to 2 business days for a redemption to appear in my bank account.

 

[braumeister]

The Treasury Direct website is very user-friendly today, IMHO.

 

[DEC-1982]

About 30 years ago I invested in U.S. Treasury direct Legacy which was phased out. Well, it kept my money safe & help to balance the volatility of stocks. My only complaint about it then, was it was very hard to call them.
Anybody with experience with U.S. Treasury direct online?
How do you transfer funds from your bank? etc.
Thanks.

I have used TreasuryDirect.gov for about 4 years, to buy I Savings Bonds. The web site is very easy to use. The transfer of money from my bank account was also easy to set up.

Usually when I log out of the web site, there is a poll to see how my experience was; I understand 62% think it's excellent. I don't remember the breakdown for the other 38%, good, bad, whatever ...

 

[audreyh1]

Use it, it's fine. I haven't tried to retrieve any Ibonds yet.

 

[FIREd]

I have been using treasury direct for maybe 10 years. When we set up my wife's account a few years ago, they required a medallion signature guarantee to set up ACH transfers, which was a bit of a pain to obtain. But after that it's been easy to use and transfer funds.

 

[easysurfer]

Signed up with Treasury Direct to get my paper savings bonds converted to electronic. My tip is when you choose a password, don't pick a crazy complicated one unless you like using a virtual keyboard to enter that each time you log in.

 

[chrisaukcam]

US Treasury Direct

There is one aspect of the Treasury Direct site that is clunky. If you want to gift bonds to a minor you have to jump through hoops. First you have to buy the bond in a special way so that it is in the 'gift' catagory. Then you could gift them to a minor. Seemed like there was a waiting period between the time you bought them and when they showed up in the minors account. Anyway I did it for a few weeks and dropped it - too much hassle.

I still do the ibonds for myself. No great volume, just a few to pad my retirement.

 

[Dave J]

I've used the website to buy and sell I-bonds, also to convert some older I-Bonds to electronic. Works fine for me. Takes maybe 2 business days for money to show up in my bank account when redeeming. Seems more secure than other sites I visit(banks, credit unions ect.)

 

[MBSC]

When we set up my wife's account a few years ago, they required a medallion signature guarantee to set up ACH transfers, which was a bit of a pain to obtain. But after that it's been easy to use and transfer funds.

The following notice was posted on the summary page when I logged into TreasuryDirect.

Good News! Starting May 21, 2016, you will be able to add and edit bank information in your TreasuryDirect account(s). This feature will give you more control over your account(s) and eliminate the wait time necessary for mailed requests.

A couple of years ago my bank account number changed and I had to drive an hour to get the medallion signature TD required.

 

[zinger1457]

It's still taking a long time to convert paper bonds into electronic. Savings bonds from my mothers estate settlement were mailed to TD about 2 months ago and they haven't showed up in my account yet.

 

[Dave J]

When I converted my paper bonds a couple or 3 years ago, it was only 2 to 2 1/2 weeks to convert. Perhaps the estate part is slowing it down. I handled an uncles estate 11 years ago and the estate "cashed" in some bonds at the bank with little or no delay.

 

[Radicalfil]

My experience with TD is to convert ibonds from paper to electronic. First the mailer was sent into a 1 month postal loop, by their design. Then they received the bonds. Arter I inquired about my conversion it was reported to take up to 20 weeks. I sent the pkg of bonds in early Jan and I am hoping for them to show up into my account by 4th of July. At present there is no electronic record of them taking possesion of the bond save a copy of the registered mail rcpt. I am not having a good experience this transaction that was initially to make holding the bonds safer. Many others have had the same or worse experience.

 

[audreyh1]

The following notice was posted on the summary page when I logged into TreasuryDirect.

A couple of years ago my bank account number changed and I had to drive an hour to get the medallion signature TD required.

I never had trouble entering bank information. I did it when I bought a new IBond. I've only ever bought electronically.

I no longer have an account where I bought the original IBonds, though. I guess I'll have to look into that to see if there is any roadblock to redeeming.

 

[ziggy29]

I converted all my paper I-bonds a few months ago. It did take a couple months to see them converted, so there was a little paranoia in the meantime. But it all worked in the end.

 

[rodi]

My experience with TD is to convert ibonds from paper to electronic. First the mailer was sent into a 1 month postal loop, by their design. Then they received the bonds. Arter I inquired about my conversion it was reported to take up to 20 weeks. I sent the pkg of bonds in early Jan and I am hoping for them to show up into my account by 4th of July. At present there is no electronic record of them taking possesion of the bond save a copy of the registered mail rcpt. I am not having a good experience this transaction that was initially to make holding the bonds safer. Many others have had the same or worse experience.

I would call.

This is my first year taking part of my refund in the form of i-bonds... and then converting them.

I did registered mail - and my envelope got "stuck" in Houston on the way to Minneapolis. So USPS had to put a trace... and got them unstuck. That was one phone call - about 45 minutes of my time.

I had sent 2 envelopes because my bonds arrived in 2 bunches. The other envelope, sent 2 days after the first, arrived 1 week before the one sent earlier.

Then TD seemed to get "stuck" converting the bundle of bonds that had gotten stuck in Houston. The other package showed "In Progress" fairly quickly. This package was received - but never showed "in Progress". So - another phone call - and voila - unstuck again.

The bunch that didn't get stuck is now converted. 6 weeks after I mailed it.
The other bunch is still in progress.... but I'm hoping their not stuck.... I'm tired of spending great lengths of time on the phone tracking/pushing these bonds through the process.

 

[Rosie]

This thread recounts the fun some of us here had converting paper I-bonds via Treasury Direct.

TreasuryDirect Painfully Slow

If it's any reassurance, paper I-bonds sent to the treasury securities office *will* be converted and show up in your TD account. Eventually.

 

[2035]

I buy one $25 I Bond every month... After logging in each month, I decided to automate it. It comes right out of my checking acct. I know it's a tiny amount, but I max 401(k) and Roth.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[easysurfer]

Time Marches On

Got at notice from Treasury Direct today that the first savings bond (I bought about 30 years ago) matured. Okay, guess I am retired after all .

 

[N02L84ER]

I have never owned any bonds that were not part of a bond fund, but my MIL does. She purchased 2 EE bonds in 1986 that stop earning interest later this year. If she postpones cashing one or both of them in until January of 2017 and forgoes the potential to earn a couple of months worth of interest, will the original 30 years of earnings be taxable in 2016 or 2017?

 

[imoldernu]

Have been procrastinating about the conversion. Not because I was worried about how long it would take, but my decision to help the government by allowing it to keep those dollars "in float".
Just doing my part to help the economy.

The paper is getting brittle and darkening with age, but I scanned them so the numbers are still visible. Anyway, I can't beat the interest rate and there's still more than ten years to make the changeover.

 

[kramer]

I have never owned any bonds that were not part of a bond fund, but my MIL does. She purchased 2 EE bonds in 1986 that stop earning interest later this year. If she postpones cashing one or both of them in until January of 2017 and forgoes the potential to earn a couple of months worth of interest, will the original 30 years of earnings be taxable in 2016 or 2017?

No, she will owe it all in 2016. I read the rules about this before. You can't delay accepting the money in order to delay the taxes after they have matured.

As an example of how to minimize taxes in such a situation, I have I-bonds coming due in 2031 that earn anywhere from 3% to 3.4% real. So I don't want to cash them in early if I can avoid that. All the taxes are deferred until they are cashed in. But I also don't want to push myself into the 25% tax bracket.

In order to keep myself in the 15% bracket, I will probably cash some in December, 2029 then cash another batch in December, 2030 and let the rest mature in 2031. I will try to hit the top of the 15% bracket in 2030 and 2031.

 

[Dave J]

No, she will owe it all in 2016. I read the rules about this before. You can't delay accepting the money in order to delay the taxes after they have matured.

As an example of how to minimize taxes in such a situation, I have I-bonds coming due in 2031 that earn anywhere from 3% to 3.4% real. So I don't want to cash them in early if I can avoid that. All the taxes are deferred until they are cashed in. But I also don't want to push myself into the 25% tax bracket.

In order to keep myself in the 15% bracket, I will probably cash some in December, 2029 then cash another batch in December, 2030 and let the rest mature in 2031. I will try to hit the top of the 15% bracket in 2030 and 2031.

kramer,
Thanks for this post. I also have a bunch of the 3% bonds that mature in 2031. I did not remember until your post that they are taxable at maturity.
You might want to post this in the I-Bond thread . Again,THANKS!!
Dave

 

[N02L84ER]

No, she will owe it all in 2016. I read the rules about this before. You can't delay accepting the money in order to delay the taxes after they have matured.

As an example of how to minimize taxes in such a situation, I have I-bonds coming due in 2031 that earn anywhere from 3% to 3.4% real. So I don't want to cash them in early if I can avoid that. All the taxes are deferred until they are cashed in. But I also don't want to push myself into the 25% tax bracket.

In order to keep myself in the 15% bracket, I will probably cash some in December, 2029 then cash another batch in December, 2030 and let the rest mature in 2031. I will try to hit the top of the 15% bracket in 2030 and 2031.

Thanks, that is what I was guessing! I will pass along the info including what she might do with other future maturing bonds.