Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

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Tubes
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by Tubes »

I for one am glad all my paper bonds are in my TD converted account. I like that I have a pulse on the actual value of pile. I like that once they mature, they get cashed immediately and I can process the proceeds to my desire out of my C&I account. I don't have to sweat worrying about their maturity dates, I don't have to sweat having them stolen, and so on.
inepteft
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by inepteft »

After all the positive recent posts about iBonds and Treasury Direct, I just tried to open an account and after seeing the confirmation that an account was opened then received an email stating that they "are having difficulty verifying the information" provided and asking for me to mail the Account Authorization form to remove a hold on the account. The form requires a Certifying Officer's signature and stamp or seal. So much for being easy, I've emailed them to close the account. Not worth the hassle and is a good reminder not to complicate my finances any further. The only reason for the hold I can think of is linking the account to an online savings account, but I'm not sure why that would be a problem. Anyone with a similar experience?
rtt22
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by rtt22 »

inepteft wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:05 pm After all the positive recent posts about iBonds and Treasury Direct, I just tried to open an account and after seeing the confirmation that an account was opened then received an email stating that they "are having difficulty verifying the information" provided and asking for me to mail the Account Authorization form to remove a hold on the account. The form requires a Certifying Officer's signature and stamp or seal. So much for being easy, I've emailed them to close the account. Not worth the hassle and is a good reminder not to complicate my finances any further. The only reason for the hold I can think of is linking the account to an online savings account, but I'm not sure why that would be a problem. Anyone with a similar experience?
Do you have some credit reports frozen or locked by any chance, especially ChexSystems?
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neurosphere
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by neurosphere »

beyou wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 5:53 am
Downbike wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 7:26 pm I have the exact opposite experience at my bank to fill the form to open the TD account!
My account is currently locked because I cant get the signature guaranteed stamp. I too was required to fill out the form to verify my identity when I first created the treasury account. I went to my local Chase bank and was told they don’t have “signature guarantee” stamp but they do have the Mendallion one. They also dont have the seal or official stamp. But they (the branch manager) only provide the Mendallion stamp to transfer or redeem security. They are adamant that they don’t provide the Mendallion stamp for just opening an TD account. I went to another branch and again was told the same thing. I filed a complaint to the executive office and the executive employee told me that the bank manager should be able to provide the stamp for my form to open the account. Went back to the branch and again was told NO! The manager basically said the executive person has no idea what she was talking about. So now I’m stuck!! Wasted a lot of my time, feeling frustrated and account is still locked!!
I don’t have an other brick-and-mortar bank at the moment. Any idea?
Go to a branch of another bank and ask if they do it for customers and how long after account opening. If yes, then open an account, march back to Chase and tell them stamp or close account, now.

Note tell them “bonds” are securities.
Show them a printout of a list of your bonds, with maturity dates and rates. Technically they are not “marketable securities” but they are non-public private securities. You need ability to sell and transfer proceeds, similar to a brokerage account holding bonds.
I just tried to open a new TD Account for my LLC and was prompted to verify myself via the "5444" form. I also have Chase as my only physical bank. I'll report back. Note that the form allows for many kinds of "stamps":
Acceptable seals and stamps.
The financial institution’s official seal or stamp, including:
Signature Guaranteed seal or stamp; Endorsement Guaranteed seal or stamp; Corporate seal or stamp (a corporate resolution isn’t required); or Issuing or paying agent seal or stamp (including name, location, and four-digit identification number or nine-digit routing number).
If you have to ask "Is a Target Date fund right for me?", the answer is "Yes" (even in taxable accounts).
Retired Bill
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by Retired Bill »

Opened TD accounts yesterday afternoon, Sept 29, for wife and I, added a bank account (same one used for tax refunds/payments) and added an order for an IBond for each of the 2 accounts. No requests for signatures that others seemed to experience. Logged into personal checking account this morning, and sure enough the $10,000 shows as electronic withdrawal. Checked the 2 TD accounts and the bonds were there today on Sept 30. Didn't quite get how to add a beneficiary when opening account, but added those this morning. So all is good with minimal confusion for this old retiree.
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ApeAttack
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by ApeAttack »

Retired Bill wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:25 pm Opened TD accounts yesterday afternoon, Sept 29, for wife and I, added a bank account (same one used for tax refunds/payments) and added an order for an IBond for each of the 2 accounts. No requests for signatures that others seemed to experience. Logged into personal checking account this morning, and sure enough the $10,000 shows as electronic withdrawal. Checked the 2 TD accounts and the bonds were there today on Sept 30. Didn't quite get how to add a beneficiary when opening account, but added those this morning. So all is good with minimal confusion for this old retiree.
Welcome to the club.
May all your index funds gain +0.5% today.
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beyou
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by beyou »

Retired Bill wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:25 pm Opened TD accounts yesterday afternoon, Sept 29, for wife and I, added a bank account (same one used for tax refunds/payments) and added an order for an IBond for each of the 2 accounts. No requests for signatures that others seemed to experience.
Of course no need for signature guarantee.
You are depositing. If you want to change banks later to withdraw, you will need it. TD, the roach motel for your money (for those who remember that advert).
Downbike
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by Downbike »

neurosphere wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 12:18 pm
beyou wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 5:53 am
Downbike wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 7:26 pm I have the exact opposite experience at my bank to fill the form to open the TD account!
My account is currently locked because I cant get the signature guaranteed stamp. I too was required to fill out the form to verify my identity when I first created the treasury account. I went to my local Chase bank and was told they don’t have “signature guarantee” stamp but they do have the Mendallion one. They also dont have the seal or official stamp. But they (the branch manager) only provide the Mendallion stamp to transfer or redeem security. They are adamant that they don’t provide the Mendallion stamp for just opening an TD account. I went to another branch and again was told the same thing. I filed a complaint to the executive office and the executive employee told me that the bank manager should be able to provide the stamp for my form to open the account. Went back to the branch and again was told NO! The manager basically said the executive person has no idea what she was talking about. So now I’m stuck!! Wasted a lot of my time, feeling frustrated and account is still locked!!
I don’t have an other brick-and-mortar bank at the moment. Any idea?
Go to a branch of another bank and ask if they do it for customers and how long after account opening. If yes, then open an account, march back to Chase and tell them stamp or close account, now.

Note tell them “bonds” are securities.
Show them a printout of a list of your bonds, with maturity dates and rates. Technically they are not “marketable securities” but they are non-public private securities. You need ability to sell and transfer proceeds, similar to a brokerage account holding bonds.
I just tried to open a new TD Account for my LLC and was prompted to verify myself via the "5444" form. I also have Chase as my only physical bank. I'll report back. Note that the form allows for many kinds of "stamps":
Acceptable seals and stamps.
The financial institution’s official seal or stamp, including:
Signature Guaranteed seal or stamp; Endorsement Guaranteed seal or stamp; Corporate seal or stamp (a corporate resolution isn’t required); or Issuing or paying agent seal or stamp (including name, location, and four-digit identification number or nine-digit routing number).
Just to save you time - Don't even try Chase. I tried Chase for the last 3 months, went to 4 different branches and they all said that I need a Medallion stamp which they won't give me because of their "policy". I told them I don't need a Medallion stamp, I only need a Signature Guarantee stamp or a BOND payee stamp (I showed them the form to read). But they refused. They are adamant that I need a Medallion stamp. They don't even know the difference between a Medallion stamp and Signature Guarantee stamp. They are 2 DIFFERENT THINGS like the difference between a driver license vs a passport - they both for ID but the passport also verify your nationality. The Medallion stamp verifies your identity and the guarantor has to accepts liability in the event of forgery. The Signature guarantee stamp only verifies your identity and has no liability attached.

Anyway the end story for me is that I walk over to my local Union Bank (if you are in the West Coast), open an account in 15 min and they gave me the Signature Guaranteed stamp right away on the same day (no charge). My account is unlocked in about a week after i mailed the form. Needless to say I'm switching my bank!
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nisiprius
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by nisiprius »

HasHas wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 1:18 pm...Once you understand the process, it takes less than 5 minutes to purchase I bonds and grant view/transact rights (if you wish to)...
Although that wasn't the final dealbreaker for us, I will say this. It was fairly easy for me to assign my wife view/transact rights to my I bonds, although it seemed to be necessary to do that separately for each IAAAG-etc. "batch" and no way to do it for multiple holdings all at once.

BUT.

When I "tested" my wife to make sure she could actually redeem $100 worth of my I bonds into our checking account, she wasn't able to. You can quickly find a list of all of the bonds that are in your account, in a simple, single overview. (Actually even that isn't quick, but the names of the links you must click are intuitive). She could see easily enough how to view and transact the bonds in her account.

But the path for getting to bonds in my account, with view and transact rights assigned to her, took several clicks on links with not-at-all-obvious titles.

(She was also briefly stalled by the site telling her she needed a one-password that had just been emailed to... an email address she no longer used, but fortunately still had access to.)

Certainly I could have written up detailed step-by-step instructions, but such things get lost and often have a surprisingly short shelf life. The fact is that as currently set up, a person with reasonable gumption can have difficulty figuring out how to find and redeem those "other" bonds. And since they don't show up in the main view, you can even imagine logging into your account and overlooking their existence.

The point is that one might be willing to learn the ropes on a clunky site--but other people who might need to, might not.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
HeelaMonster
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by HeelaMonster »

nisiprius wrote: Sat Oct 09, 2021 10:32 am
HasHas wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 1:18 pm...Once you understand the process, it takes less than 5 minutes to purchase I bonds and grant view/transact rights (if you wish to)...
Although that wasn't the final dealbreaker for us, I will say this. It was fairly easy for me to assign my wife view/transact rights to my I bonds, although it seemed to be necessary to do that separately for each IAAAG-etc. "batch" and no way to do it for multiple holdings all at once..........
I can't speak to the rest of your post (transactions, redemptions), but I think there is a way to designate multiple holdings at once. This is what I did earlier this week, after belatedly realizing (thanks BH!) that our I-bonds were all registered as single ownership only, with no beneficiary. Following the instructions in Treasury Direct FAQ (copied below), I selected the entire list of I-bonds purchased over many years, and added spouse as the secondary owner to all. Then we did the same in her account, adding me as secondary owner. All bonds selected were processed in one fell swoop, and the new registration ("Heela with Ms. Heela") was reflected for each individual entry. But again, I haven't tested the secondary owner's ability to redeem, because we plan to hold the bonds for many years to come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

To add a secondary owner or beneficiary to your securities registered in single ownership form:

Log into your primary TreasuryDirect® account.
Click the ManageDirect tab at the top of the page.
Under the heading Manage My Securities click "Edit" a registration.
On the Edit Security Registration page, choose the security type you want to edit and click "Select".
On the Summary page, choose the security or securities you wish to edit and click "Select" (you may edit up to 50 securities to the same registration).
On the Detail page, select the registration containing the secondary owner or beneficiary you desire from the drop-down box. (If you've never created the registration, you can do so by clicking "Add New Registration". Once you've created the new registration, the system will bring you back to the Detail page where you'll find the new registration listed in the drop-down box.) Note: Entity accounts may only have one registration. All securities in an entity account carry a registration identical to the entity account name.
Once you've selected the desired registration, click "Submit" to complete the change in registration for the security.
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nisiprius
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by nisiprius »

HeelaMonster wrote: Sat Oct 09, 2021 4:02 pm...But again, I haven't tested the secondary owner's ability to redeem, because we plan to hold the bonds for many years to come...
Ask the secondary owner to try, for whatever is the smallest amount allowed... without your giving them instructions. It's the sort of thing that people describe as "easy"... if they know how.


Another detail is that... I am almost sure I am right on this: you cannot buy truly co-owned bonds on the website. This is very confusing situation because you can designate another owner but they are not "co-owners" unless the bonds are titled using the word "or," e.g. "Kelly OR Drew." What's the difference? Either co-owner has the right to redeem the bonds by themselves, without the other's permission or knowledge. So I believe it is possible for a surviving spouse to redeem a CO-OWNED savings bond without presenting a death certificate or any other paperwork, which is not true for other kinds of ownership.

A friend of mine said that when she electronified co-owned paper bond, the correct co-ownership "OR" was preserved. But I don't think there's a way to do this when buying a new bond online.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
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HueyLD
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by HueyLD »

nisiprius wrote: Sat Oct 09, 2021 4:21 pm A friend of mine said that when she electronified co-owned paper bond, the correct co-ownership "OR" was preserved. But I don't think there's a way to do this when buying a new bond online.
Yes she is right. Here is what the Treasury says:

“ Bonds registered in co-owner form (two names with the connective OR) will be restricted once the bonds are converted. A "Restricted Security" is a converted Series EE or Series I savings bond on which a co-owner (connective OR) is named.

Because the converted savings bonds were originally issued in paper form, the rights of the registrants are still protected by the regulations under which they were issued. For instance, a co-owner cannot be removed from the registration of a Series EE or Series I savings bond during the co-owner's lifetime without his or her consent. TreasuryDirect® does not permit the account owner to change the registration of converted securities if they are restricted.

The restriction will remain on the bonds until the co-owner who did not request the conversion consents to a change in registration. When the consent is received from the co-owner, a customer service representative can change the registration.

The restriction does not affect your ability to cash the bonds.”

https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/he ... ertpapersb
piton
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by piton »

my situation was managing an infirm parent's trust which required opening an entity account to transfer TD I-bonds from their personal account into the TD entity trust account. In the end it turned out to be near impossible and I gave up and sold the bonds from the TD personal account and transferred to a trust bank account. The problem was that if the account value is over 100K, you are required to get a Medallion Signature Guarantee, but for over 100K it's a different level and most banks don't have anyone that is certified to do this. Finally, I found one person at wells fargo and I had all of the requested info but they still wouldn't do it because they said the "friendly name" that is on the TD account, (like "sams's TD", e.g.) didn't match the name of a the person (of course not, right?). There was a lot of water under the bridge before getting to this point and it was very upsetting, but it was clear that they just don't like doing signature guarantees and it's easier to say no. I closed the account with wells fargo.

So it's hard to find a MSG for over 100K, and if you do, the account owner might not physically be able to make the trip, so there are not many choices that I see in this situation except to sell the bonds.
digit8
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by digit8 »

Never had what I’d classify as a bad experience in the years I had Ibonds, but I cleared them out as part of an effort to de-clutter and simplify our financial life. Entirely possibly, though, that the general clunkiness and extra steps helped make that decision as easy as it was.
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idoc2020
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by idoc2020 »

Would like to add to this. I opened up treasurydirect accounts to buy ibonds for myself, wife, kids etc without any major problem. I then started my 5th one for the day (another family member) and accidentally input the wrong routing number. Oops! You would think that this is a minor problem? It's a major problem. They sent me back a message the next day about going to the "bank" and getting a "certifying officer" etc etc. Of course I'm not going to waste my time doing that so I called them to see if there was an alternative. It turns out that I can request that they cancel the account (which may take several weeks). Since this is the end of the year I now have to worry that I may lose the 2021 opportunity to buy the ibonds. I explained to them that the money was coming from Schwab brokerage so it's not exactly like walking into any of a 1000 BOA's or Wells Fargo's with their error form. Why is it that everything connected with a government agency is so much more cumbersome? I told the agent that I was speaking to that I've made input errors dozens of times with Schwab, Vanguard, BOA etc and the fix is easy and instantaneous. She told me that she "felt my pain" and there were many people who had experienced this same issue. Hopefully this post will alert people to input their info very carefully because errors are not tolerated!
piton
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by piton »

and to add to ilan1h, I opened two TD accounts last week and both linked to the same bank. I bought bonds in both, but the bank rejected the ACH from one purchase. The bank had no record, so I waited 30 minutes to talk to TD CSR. After a lot of verification, TD determined that I had added a digit inadvertently to my account number, so that explains why my bank had no record of the ACH. TD said if it was two digits transposed, they could edit that, but since it was an extra digit, I was required to fill out a request form (to edit my account number) and have it guaranteed with a medallion signature. The trouble is that my two local banks say that they require a TD statement, but TD is online and they don't have "normal" statements. I printed out snapshots of my account and chase is determining if they will guarantee my signature. They said it would be a few days to have it all reviewed. So, it's a catch-22!

bottom line:
be extra careful when entering info on TD
MileKing
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by MileKing »

If you have paper bonds, it appears redemption Form 1522 has been updated to accept the certification of a notary. No longer a need for a signature guarantee of any type, and no certification needed if redemption amount is $1000 or less. Looks like the form was revised this month.
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HueyLD
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by HueyLD »

MileKing wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:25 pm If you have paper bonds, it appears redemption Form 1522 has been updated to accept the certification of a notary. No longer a need for a signature guarantee of any type, and no certification needed if redemption amount is $1000 or less. Looks like the form was revised this month.
That is definitely very good news.

The TD also changed the signature certification requirement for other forms. What a relief.
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Eagle33
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by Eagle33 »

HueyLD wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 6:48 pm
MileKing wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:25 pm If you have paper bonds, it appears redemption Form 1522 has been updated to accept the certification of a notary. No longer a need for a signature guarantee of any type, and no certification needed if redemption amount is $1000 or less. Looks like the form was revised this month.
That is definitely very good news.

The TD also changed the signature certification requirement for other forms. What a relief.
Another thing to be thankful for in our lives.
arsenalfan
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by arsenalfan »

Took 5 min for me to open TD account and buy $10k I-Bonds. Very easy.

Needed state driver license number.
Had me validate email, validate computer with 2-factor email.
Only archaic factor was, to enter password I had selected, it had me use my mouse/trackpad to click on the letters/numbers/characters on an on-screen keyboard.

Not bad for US government IT - don't want to know how many legacy systems this is lying atop.
piton
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by piton »

To be clear, if you buy or sell bonds and you have successfully linked a bank account, all is good! registering a new account is easy too.

The problem is if you want to add an account, in short, make any modification to your TD account that requires a medallion signature. You won't know about the requirement until you try perform some change in your TD account. It looks like you can always click a button and edit something, but then you will be hit with the medallion issue requiring a document and snail mail. Getting a medallion signature can be very problematic if not impossible, especially if you need a medallion for an account over $100K. Just mentioning this fyi in case you never had to go through this.

The good news is that I recently opened a personal account and typed in one extra digit in the account number field. After trying for two weeks to get a medallion to modify this via snail mail, I wrote them to ask how to close the account, hoping I could do that without a medallion since there was no money in the account. An actual person called me as a follow-up to my email and made the modification over the phone. She said that since it was only only one extra digit she could make the change. Previously, another csr told me that they couldn't make the change and they could only make the change if it was two transposed digits. Anyway, this saved me a lot of grief and I was very happy how it turned out. It may have helped that I had a trust account with the same SSN and bank number that worked sucessfully which they used for comparison purposes.
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LinusP
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by LinusP »

HasHas wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 1:18 pm Opening New Accounts. When we filled in all our information on the TD website, a hold was placed on our account immediately and we were asked to complete the Account Authorization form (FS Form 5444) and mail it to Treasury Retail Securities Site.

I was under the impression that we needed a Medallion Signature Guarantee (MSG) for such forms, which is not always easy to obtain. However, if you check the second page of this form, a Signature Guarantee is sufficient. It can be obtained easily from the local branch of your bank. Even though we had to go to a nearby city to obtain this, I don't think this was such a hassle. Before we made the trip, we called the bank and told them exactly what we needed. They asked us to come at a specific time and we were out of the bank in less than 5 minutes (they just checked our photo ID and stamped the form). We mailed the forms and the hold was lifted within a week or so after that.
We recently opened an account for my wife. Like you, her account was immediately placed on hold, and we were asked to send in form 5444. Unfortunately, all of the banks we do business with in our mid-sized town and near my in-laws' (Orange County) said they only do signatures/stamps for internal documents/needs - that included both Wells Fargo and Fidelity, so we're not talking small local banks here.

I called up Treasury Direct, thinking I might have to "get tense" with them to get things un-stuck, but the guy was actually really helpful. He suggested having a bank notarize the form and sending it in with a cover letter explaining our situation. So we did that. It took a few weeks to get a response (not too surprising now that I bonds are all the rage), but it did indeed go through - the hold was lifted, and my wife was able to buy I bonds, change the registration to include both of us, and grant me transaction privileges.

I'm still miffed that Treasury Direct has this requirement for a signature stamp, but at least in my case, it worked out in the end without it being too much of a saga (and now we're getting 7% - woohoo!). Just thought I'd share my experience, since the signature stamp stuff has come up several times and I haven't seen mention of getting past it with a notary and cover letter.
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anon_investor
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by anon_investor »

HueyLD wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 6:48 pm
MileKing wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:25 pm If you have paper bonds, it appears redemption Form 1522 has been updated to accept the certification of a notary. No longer a need for a signature guarantee of any type, and no certification needed if redemption amount is $1000 or less. Looks like the form was revised this month.
That is definitely very good news.

The TD also changed the signature certification requirement for other forms. What a relief.
For which other forms?
Liam Friend
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by Liam Friend »

I logged in to TD last week and bought $10k in my existing account. My wife and I then logged into her account to buy her $10k. We updated her cell phone number and then got a prompt to re-enter her password. She was already logged in. I must have mis-typed her password ONE TIME which triggered her account being locked with a phone number to call. We’ve called that number multiple times but have yet to reach a person despite waiting on hold for a hour.

Pretty frustrating.
BillWalters
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by BillWalters »

I recently created an account and maxed out I bonds in about 10 minutes total.
piton
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by piton »

when it's good, it's really good (no question), but when it's not, it can really be ugly (sometimes not doable) - that said, it's still worth it!
PowderDay9
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by PowderDay9 »

Just opened a TD account for myself in less than 5 minutes. Very easy.

Then my wife did the same process to open hers and it said we need a signature guarantee. Very frustrating.

We used the same address, same bank account, and no errors. The only thing I can think of is that she has paper bonds in her maiden name so maybe that's why the background test failed.

I was on the fence about opening these accounts and now I'm not sure it's worth the hassle.
JBTX
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by JBTX »

Opened my account and wifes account many years ago and don't recall any trouble. It's been a long time. Never had any issues using site, buying or selling savings bonds.

This year opened a revocable living trust account. It took minutes. Later opened a sole proprietorship account and it took minutes.
dukeblue219
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by dukeblue219 »

JBTX wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:45 pm Opened my account and wifes account many years ago and don't recall any trouble. It's been a long time. Never had any issues using site, buying or selling savings bonds.

This year opened a revocable living trust account. It took minutes. Later opened a sole proprietorship account and it took minutes.
What's the point of that?
JBTX
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by JBTX »

dukeblue219 wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:47 pm
JBTX wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:45 pm Opened my account and wifes account many years ago and don't recall any trouble. It's been a long time. Never had any issues using site, buying or selling savings bonds.

This year opened a revocable living trust account. It took minutes. Later opened a sole proprietorship account and it took minutes.
What's the point of that?
Buy more ibonds
dukeblue219
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by dukeblue219 »

JBTX wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:48 pm
dukeblue219 wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:47 pm
JBTX wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:45 pm Opened my account and wifes account many years ago and don't recall any trouble. It's been a long time. Never had any issues using site, buying or selling savings bonds.

This year opened a revocable living trust account. It took minutes. Later opened a sole proprietorship account and it took minutes.
What's the point of that?
Buy more ibonds
It doesn't work that way, does it?
JBTX
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by JBTX »

dukeblue219 wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:50 pm
JBTX wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:48 pm
dukeblue219 wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:47 pm
JBTX wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:45 pm Opened my account and wifes account many years ago and don't recall any trouble. It's been a long time. Never had any issues using site, buying or selling savings bonds.

This year opened a revocable living trust account. It took minutes. Later opened a sole proprietorship account and it took minutes.
What's the point of that?
Buy more ibonds
It doesn't work that way, does it?
I hope so
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LinusP
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by LinusP »

chemocean
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by chemocean »

HasHas wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 1:18 pm
Opening New Accounts. When we filled in all our information on the TD website, a hold was placed on our account immediately and we were asked to complete the Account Authorization form (FS Form 5444) and mail it to Treasury Retail Securities Site.
My conclusion is that the hold was placed on your account when your identity could not be verified or you did not answer the verification "correctly". I have concluded that TD and many other entities (banks, credit card companies and financial institutions) use one of the many identity databases that are available. These databases don't pull directly from your credit report. Just enter any name in google and see all the ads that come up offering identity databases.

My son recently applied to TD and his identity was not verified because he just moved and his current address is not in any database.

In a previous post below, I told my story of my fist and last name being merged with my "other" in these verification databases.

viewtopic.php?t=348192
Captainspires
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by Captainspires »

First time around with TD was easy and had an account in a few minutes. However when I tried to register my wife on my computer it rejected the application saying that they could not verify the information and directed me to the form that many in this thread are talking about. They unhelpfuly add a disclaimer that they cannot advise what information they cannot verify since the DL and Taxpayer id number are easily verifiable. Schlepping to a bank to get a signature is a pain and probably not worth it.
vshun
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by vshun »

It seems to be a matter of random luck with Medallion. We opened 3 accounts, self, wife and adult son. Me and wife had no problem, but TD requested SG from our son. So he had to abandon it, as we all have only Internet banks and Vanguard brokerages and would not be able to deal with that nonsense.
Nothing I could think of that should have triggered it for him and not trigger it for us, as we all have same primary online bank, just different accounts.
e5116
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by e5116 »

Opened new accounts for wife and me this weekend, set purchase for $10k in I bonds that went through today. :sharebeer Maybe I got lucky...I was worried I was going to miss 2021 as people said to not wait until the last week. Made sure I entered things correctly as knew would cause issues otherwise. Left driver's license blank as wasn't required field. So, for me, was fast and painless. Except my password manager will NOT work with it, it seems to fill it in but the site rejects it so I have to enter a super long complex password using the archaic manual keyboard thingy....but not a huge deal, I suppose.
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fetch5482
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by fetch5482 »

samsoes wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 1:27 pm I still have my TD secret decoder card. Remember those?
Alas, someday TD will join the 21st century and allow the use of an authentication app.
(When pigs fly.)
The TreasuryDirect.gov violates almost every single recommendation put forth by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). You can read a summary of their most recent recommendation here: https://auth0.com/blog/dont-pass-on-the ... uidelines/

The website violates just about every rule here:
1) TreasuryDirect allows a maximum password length of 16 characters. NIST suggests allowing much longer password lengths since they lead to higher security than shorter but complex passwords.
2) The site does not allow password to be pasted-in. It requires using on-screen keyboard which leads to less secure passwords as suggested by NIST. One has to resort to HTML hacks by editing the element/DOM in order to paste in (or use bitwarden) to fill the password.
3) Multi-factor authentication should not be done over email. Currently the OTP is sent via email. Using TOTP or hardware-based authenticator is more secure and recommended.
(AGE minus 23%) Bonds | 5% REITs | Balance 80% US (75/25 TSM/SCV) + 20% International (80/20 Developed/Emerging)
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Tubes
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by Tubes »

gas_balloon wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 1:50 pm
samsoes wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 1:27 pm I still have my TD secret decoder card. Remember those?
Alas, someday TD will join the 21st century and allow the use of an authentication app.
(When pigs fly.)
The TreasuryDirect.gov violates almost every single recommendation put forth by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). You can read a summary of their most recent recommendation here: https://auth0.com/blog/dont-pass-on-the ... uidelines/

The website violates just about every rule here:
1) TreasuryDirect allows a maximum password length of 16 characters. NIST suggests allowing much longer password lengths since they lead to higher security than shorter but complex passwords.
2) The site does not allow password to be pasted-in. It requires using on-screen keyboard which leads to less secure passwords as suggested by NIST. One has to resort to HTML hacks by editing the element/DOM in order to paste in (or use bitwarden) to fill the password.
3) Multi-factor authentication should not be done over email. Currently the OTP is sent via email. Using TOTP or hardware-based authenticator is more secure and recommended.
Buy, hey, it is better than the cardboard secret decoder card we used to use! :oops:

(Not a joke. For those with TD early in the 2000s, you know what I'm talking about.)
pomomojo
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by pomomojo »

TD froze my account due to an excess number of password attempts. I spent 20 minutes on hold to reactivate my login. The website screams early-2000s.
dbr
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by dbr »

Tubes wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 5:26 am
Buy, hey, it is better than the cardboard secret decoder card we used to use! :oops:

(Not a joke. For those with TD early in the 2000s, you know what I'm talking about.)
I don't think we still have ours. We don't have any assets at TD anymore either.

Is there truth to the rumor that a decoder ring out of a Wheaties box worked just as well?
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fetch5482
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by fetch5482 »

Tubes wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 5:26 am Buy, hey, it is better than the cardboard secret decoder card we used to use! :oops:

(Not a joke. For those with TD early in the 2000s, you know what I'm talking about.)
Tell me more! Clearly I missed out on that fun!
I googled Treasury direct decoder but didn't find anything meaningful.. so not sure if this is a joke or for real...
(AGE minus 23%) Bonds | 5% REITs | Balance 80% US (75/25 TSM/SCV) + 20% International (80/20 Developed/Emerging)
BrokerageZelda
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by BrokerageZelda »

gas_balloon wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:53 am
Tubes wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 5:26 am Buy, hey, it is better than the cardboard secret decoder card we used to use! :oops:

(Not a joke. For those with TD early in the 2000s, you know what I'm talking about.)
Tell me more! Clearly I missed out on that fun!
I googled Treasury direct decoder but didn't find anything meaningful.. so not sure if this is a joke or for real...
I can't find a photo of the actual card, but here's a page showing an example of the grid printed on the card and how the old TreasuryDirect system used the card:
https://www.hcps.org/departments/docs/h ... gsBond.pdf
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Mel Lindauer
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by Mel Lindauer »

gas_balloon wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:53 am
Tubes wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 5:26 am Buy, hey, it is better than the cardboard secret decoder card we used to use! :oops:

(Not a joke. For those with TD early in the 2000s, you know what I'm talking about.)
Tell me more! Clearly I missed out on that fun!
I googled Treasury direct decoder but didn't find anything meaningful.. so not sure if this is a joke or for real...
It's not a joke; it's for real.
Best Regards - Mel | | Semper Fi
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fetch5482
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by fetch5482 »

BrokerageZelda wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:06 pm
gas_balloon wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:53 am
Tubes wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 5:26 am Buy, hey, it is better than the cardboard secret decoder card we used to use! :oops:

(Not a joke. For those with TD early in the 2000s, you know what I'm talking about.)
Tell me more! Clearly I missed out on that fun!
I googled Treasury direct decoder but didn't find anything meaningful.. so not sure if this is a joke or for real...
I can't find a photo of the actual card, but here's a page showing an example of the grid printed on the card and how the old TreasuryDirect system used the card:
https://www.hcps.org/departments/docs/h ... gsBond.pdf
Oh man. Now I have seen everything, and my hopes of a modern TD site have been eternally lowered :mrgreen:
(AGE minus 23%) Bonds | 5% REITs | Balance 80% US (75/25 TSM/SCV) + 20% International (80/20 Developed/Emerging)
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Tubes
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by Tubes »

Yep, real. It reminded me of playing coding games with my friends in elementary school. At least they added *something* after their very original try at on-line which was extremely unsecure.

At the time, I think I remember it was something like 15 to 20 different versions of the card out there. A determined criminal enterprise could easily obtain copies of all and code up an easy solution to hack the accounts.
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heartwood
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by heartwood »

Recent experience today:

Logon to TD w/o a problem since I have detailed notes.

I want my 2021 1099. I follow my notes and I am logged on. I'm "in" and can see most things. Then I follow my notes to get my 1099, after I click on the 2021 1099 link, I get a security question "who was your best friend in HS?" Well I flubbed it. It was 50+years ago and maybe I mis-spelled the name. I was asked to reenter the answer. I did, apparently still wrong, and then my account was locked. I was directed to call TD. Hours are 8 AM to 5 PM EST. I called. I waited through a repetitive "your call is important to us" repetition for 5?10? minutes to be told the wait time is 45 minutes.

Currently snowbirding; their 8 AM is 4 AM my time. I'll [expletive deleted by moderator oldcomputerguy] with them, but my real question is, do they send out actual paper 1099s? Or do I have to waste my time to get my account un-locked to get a 1099?
HomeStretch
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by HomeStretch »

heartwood wrote: Wed Jan 26, 2022 12:18 am … but my real question is, do they send out actual paper 1099s? Or do I have to waste my time to get my account un-locked to get a 1099?
TD does not mail paper Form 1099s. You download the 1099 from your account. IIRC TD sends an email when the 1099 is available online.
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heartwood
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Re: Recent Experience with the Treasury Direct Website

Post by heartwood »

heartwood wrote: Wed Jan 26, 2022 12:18 am ... I'll [expletive deleted by moderator oldcomputerguy] with them, ...
I apologize for the unintended offense given. I was using a shorthand from my company used to route something to my assistant, to be returned at a later date indicated.

HomeStretch, That's what I expected, but hoped for paper too. I think I recall the email notice from prior years. BTW, my 2021 was there as of yesterday, but I got snagged in the security question and never got the copy.

Thanks.
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