Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

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Topic Author
DVA79
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2014 1:06 pm

Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by DVA79 »

I searched the threads but was still a bit confused on this topic so hopefully someone can clarify this for me. I maxed out my $10,000 limit for I-bonds and would like to purchase $10,000 for my wife.

(1) Do I need to set up a completely separate Treasury Direct account for her or can I buy these within my account (we are both listed as registered owners on the existing bonds).

(2) If I do have to set up a separate account for her, can I link her account to mine and manage them both from mine? As of now I only see that you can do this with a minor account.

Thanks!
BrokerageZelda
Posts: 463
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2021 10:39 am

Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by BrokerageZelda »

DVA79 wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 8:09 am I searched the threads but was still a bit confused on this topic so hopefully someone can clarify this for me. I maxed out my $10,000 limit for I-bonds and would like to purchase $10,000 for my wife.

(1) Do I need to set up a completely separate Treasury Direct account for her or can I buy these within my account (we are both listed as registered owners on the existing bonds).

(2) If I do have to set up a separate account for her, can I link her account to mine and manage them both from mine? As of now I only see that you can do this with a minor account.

Thanks!
1. You would need to set up a completely separate TD account. Each account only has one Primary Owner - that's the person whose SSN is on the account. (You can have more than one TD account linked to a single email address to make notifications easier.)

2. No, you can't do that. You can assign View/Transact rights on your bonds with two-name registrations, to be able to view and redeem bonds from both accounts together from one login.
jstorz
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Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2020 5:44 pm

Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by jstorz »

Tried to open my wife an account last year... they want a medallion signature. Still haven't gotten around to that.

In the meantime I've been buying under her SSN and will transfer in the future when we eventually get that account opened. Right now there's a ton of bonds sitting in my "gift box" heh.
BrokerageZelda
Posts: 463
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2021 10:39 am

Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by BrokerageZelda »

jstorz wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:14 pm Tried to open my wife an account last year... they want a medallion signature. Still haven't gotten around to that.

In the meantime I've been buying under her SSN and will transfer in the future when we eventually get that account opened. Right now there's a ton of bonds sitting in my "gift box" heh.
Any financial institution with the ability to cash savings bonds should be able to use their agent stamp to 'guarantee' a TreasuryDirect form; I was able to do this at a local credit union, even though I didn't have any luck finding anyone that would give me a Medallion. Hope that helps, just in case the rarity of Medallion stamps is the main difficulty you're having.
Topic Author
DVA79
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Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by DVA79 »

jstorz wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:14 pm
In the meantime I've been buying under her SSN and will transfer in the future when we eventually get that account opened. Right now there's a ton of bonds sitting in my "gift box" heh.
How does this work? I can just buy them as a “gift” for her under my account? Why then even bother opening an account for her?
jstorz
Posts: 78
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Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by jstorz »

BrokerageZelda wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:31 pm Any financial institution with the ability to cash savings bonds should be able to use their agent stamp to 'guarantee' a TreasuryDirect form; I was able to do this at a local credit union, even though I didn't have any luck finding anyone that would give me a Medallion. Hope that helps, just in case the rarity of Medallion stamps is the main difficulty you're having.
Thanks, I may give that a shot at our local Chase branch. Long ago when Vanguard required a medallion to xfer in a Roth (with a laughably low balance) I was able to get one from a local credit union (BECU), but it took some doing for them to even understand what was necessary. It's nice to know that TD may not require the full real deal
jstorz
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Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by jstorz »

DVA79 wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:41 pm How does this work? I can just buy them as a “gift” for her under my account? Why then even bother opening an account for her?
My understanding is that yes you can, and they start earning immediately. In theory they are already in the recipients name/SSN just not registered under their account yet.

I was never able to get a clear answer on how the 10k limit is enforced when there can, in theory, be gifts purchased from multiple accounts exceeding it. And whether there is a separate purchase vs transfer limit if the events happen in separate years. I'm hoping to get an account opened soon enough for it not to be a big issue - I wouldn't want to be sitting on, say, 50k worth of bonds waited to be gifted.
ChiKid24
Posts: 569
Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2019 3:43 pm

Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by ChiKid24 »

BrokerageZelda wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:31 pm
jstorz wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:14 pm Tried to open my wife an account last year... they want a medallion signature. Still haven't gotten around to that.

In the meantime I've been buying under her SSN and will transfer in the future when we eventually get that account opened. Right now there's a ton of bonds sitting in my "gift box" heh.
Any financial institution with the ability to cash savings bonds should be able to use their agent stamp to 'guarantee' a TreasuryDirect form; I was able to do this at a local credit union, even though I didn't have any luck finding anyone that would give me a Medallion. Hope that helps, just in case the rarity of Medallion stamps is the main difficulty you're having.
Curious, how long did it take from when you sent in the signature guarantee to when they unlocked your account? I sent in my forms two weeks ago and still can't get in.
BrokerageZelda
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Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2021 10:39 am

Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by BrokerageZelda »

ChiKid24 wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:51 pm Curious, how long did it take from when you sent in the signature guarantee to when they unlocked your account? I sent in my forms two weeks ago and still can't get in.
This was a form to add a bank account, so a bit apples to oranges, but - I mailed the signed/stamped form on 4/3 and received an email notification that the bank account was added on 4/9.

Keep in mind this all took place before the 3.54% hype started.
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Chip Munk
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Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by Chip Munk »

DVA79 wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 8:09 am I searched the threads but was still a bit confused on this topic so hopefully someone can clarify this for me. I maxed out my $10,000 limit for I-bonds and would like to purchase $10,000 for my wife.

(1) Do I need to set up a completely separate Treasury Direct account for her or can I buy these within my account (we are both listed as registered owners on the existing bonds).

(2) If I do have to set up a separate account for her, can I link her account to mine and manage them both from mine? As of now I only see that you can do this with a minor account.

Thanks!
I posted similar questions in another thread: viewtopic.php?p=5978601#p5978601 Scroll down a bit below my post in that thread to see the responses from wriley4409, BrokerageZelda (two very comprehensive posts!), and a helpful overview of the steps from SnowBog.
Broken Man 1999
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Location: West coast of Florida, near Champa Bay !

Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by Broken Man 1999 »

I attempted to open a TD account for DW but she will need the bank signature as well.

So we will get that squared away in time for for the next rate in the fall. We will still be able to get the full $20,000 amount for this year.

Broken Man 1999
“If I cannot drink Bourbon and smoke cigars in Heaven then I shall not go." - Mark Twain
Topic Author
DVA79
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2014 1:06 pm

Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by DVA79 »

Chip Munk wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 3:32 pm
DVA79 wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 8:09 am I searched the threads but was still a bit confused on this topic so hopefully someone can clarify this for me. I maxed out my $10,000 limit for I-bonds and would like to purchase $10,000 for my wife.

(1) Do I need to set up a completely separate Treasury Direct account for her or can I buy these within my account (we are both listed as registered owners on the existing bonds).

(2) If I do have to set up a separate account for her, can I link her account to mine and manage them both from mine? As of now I only see that you can do this with a minor account.

Thanks!
I posted similar questions in another thread: viewtopic.php?p=5978601#p5978601 Scroll down a bit below my post in that thread to see the responses from wriley4409, BrokerageZelda (two very comprehensive posts!), and a helpful overview of the steps from SnowBog.
Excellent, very helpful!
J295
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Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 10:40 pm

Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by J295 »

Wondering if the process has changed over the last 8 years. When we made our first purchase about 8 years ago we logged on and opened up one account for me. Then log off and log back on again and open up another account for my spouse. No signatures required.
tman389
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Jun 25, 2019 10:46 pm

Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by tman389 »

My experience a few weeks ago was the same - create account for myself and make purchase. Then log out and create account for DW and make a purchase. Both linked to the same email account and bank account. But separate names/SSN/log ins etc. No mention of signatures. Very quick and easy.
frugalecon
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Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:39 am

Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by frugalecon »

tman389 wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 7:08 pm My experience a few weeks ago was the same - create account for myself and make purchase. Then log out and create account for DW and make a purchase. Both linked to the same email account and bank account. But separate names/SSN/log ins etc. No mention of signatures. Very quick and easy.
I had exactly the same experience. No mention of medallion signatures. What sequence of events lead to the need for that? It seemed like accounts could be established in a few minutes, totally online.
drummer
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Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by drummer »

frugalecon wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 7:17 pm
tman389 wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 7:08 pm My experience a few weeks ago was the same - create account for myself and make purchase. Then log out and create account for DW and make a purchase. Both linked to the same email account and bank account. But separate names/SSN/log ins etc. No mention of signatures. Very quick and easy.
I had exactly the same experience. No mention of medallion signatures. What sequence of events lead to the need for that? It seemed like accounts could be established in a few minutes, totally online.
That's my experience as well. I just did this last week...no signatures required. My account is registered with myself as the primary "with" my spouse as secondary. Her account is registered with her as the primary "with" me as secondary. Same linked bank, same email for both accounts.

Now, you do need the signature thing to add another linked bank(s) in addition to your primary bank.
Topic Author
DVA79
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2014 1:06 pm

Re: Treasury Direct/I-bond account for spouse?

Post by DVA79 »

frugalecon wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 7:17 pm
tman389 wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 7:08 pm My experience a few weeks ago was the same - create account for myself and make purchase. Then log out and create account for DW and make a purchase. Both linked to the same email account and bank account. But separate names/SSN/log ins etc. No mention of signatures. Very quick and easy.
I had exactly the same experience. No mention of medallion signatures. What sequence of events lead to the need for that? It seemed like accounts could be established in a few minutes, totally online.
OP here. When I opened my TD account in 2014 I had to get a medallion signature from a bank. PITA but it went through a couple weeks later. For wife I just ended up opening an account this afternoon and it was fast and simple, no medallion needed.

I linked both accounts to same email and also gave each of us ownership and transaction rights. So now I see my bonds in her account and once her’s are funded I will see them in mine in the transaction rights section.

So pretty easy!
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