Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Have a question about your personal investments? No matter how simple or complex, you can ask it here.
Topic Author
400401402
Posts: 112
Joined: Sun May 31, 2020 6:46 pm

Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by 400401402 »

I have been putting off opening a TD account and purchasing I bonds with some of the emergency funds lying around, largely due to the negative experiences I've been hearing.
But last night, after dinner, I took the leap. It took less than 7 minutes to open a TD account (linking bank account was part of the account opening form) and purchase $10,000 worth of I bonds. I am not at all exaggerating, it was less than 7 minutes. I was expecting I would have to go to my bank, get medallion signature etc. None of that was required. It was faster than opening a brokerage account.

I logged into TD account this morning around 8:45AM and I already had I bonds in my account !

Just wanted to share my experience and encourage some of the bogleheads who may be hesitant to take the leap due to all the negative TD reviews around. The next step is to convince my wife to open her account and purchase another $10,000 worth of I bonds.
User avatar
SmileyFace
Posts: 9186
Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2014 9:11 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by SmileyFace »

The people experiencing problems are a small minority. The vast majority report their experienced with TD as Excellent or Good.
MrJedi
Posts: 3540
Joined: Wed May 06, 2020 11:42 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by MrJedi »

I believe the signature guarantee comes into play if you want to add additional bank accounts for transfers. The initial account does not need that.
User avatar
HueyLD
Posts: 9790
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:30 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by HueyLD »

Sig gty also comes into play when someone’s credit is frozen and his identity cannot be verified online.
Da5id
Posts: 5066
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2016 7:20 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by Da5id »

I've found buying on Treasury Direct reasonable. Website is kinda clunky and antiquated, login with that keyboard is weird. But not too bad overall.

On the other hand selling was rather painful. I sold a bunch last year for college expenses. As far as I could tell there is no way to sell multiple bonds at once. I had lots of bonds in small denominations from income tax refunds that I had converted to electronic. It was a bunch of clicks per bond I was selling. Very tedious. It worked, but was not fun.
terran
Posts: 3051
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2015 9:50 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by terran »

Here's a blog post on setting up a treasury direct account and buying I Bonds. The post seems to make it clear that everything should go smoothly if you do it right, it's only if you need to change/fix something later (like change the linked bank account) that you're likely to run into difficulty.
SmallSaver
Posts: 641
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:34 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by SmallSaver »

MrJedi wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:44 am I believe the signature guarantee comes into play if you want to add additional bank accounts for transfers. The initial account does not need that.
Just did this and did indeed need a guaranteed signature. Local credit union was able to take care of it. A minor annoyance for sure, but I can get here they're coming from.
Topic Author
400401402
Posts: 112
Joined: Sun May 31, 2020 6:46 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by 400401402 »

Is there a criteria that TD goes by to decide whether medallion signature is required or not ?
OnceARunner
Posts: 425
Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:50 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by OnceARunner »

400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:07 pm Is there a criteria that TD goes by to decide whether medallion signature is required or not ?
As people above said, seems adding an additional, or changing, the associated bank account is the main reason.
Lee Timmer
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2021 1:58 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by Lee Timmer »

I opened an account just last week and didn't encounter any problems. The site is a little difficult to navigate, however.
User avatar
beyou
Posts: 6915
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:57 pm
Location: If you can make it there

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by beyou »

SmallSaver wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:22 am
MrJedi wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:44 am I believe the signature guarantee comes into play if you want to add additional bank accounts for transfers. The initial account does not need that.
Just did this and did indeed need a guaranteed signature. Local credit union was able to take care of it. A minor annoyance for sure, but I can get here they're coming from.
I can see it but there has to be a better way. Seems a huge burden to ask some other financial institution to guarantee a transaction for no fee.
This is not just like a notary, it's that plus insuring against certain losses. No surprise most banks want to avoid giving such guarantees.
Also note that when you want to transfer cash to/from most banks/brokerages, none of the others need a signature guarantee. This is only generally needed (if at all) for transfer of SECURITIES. You are not transferring your savings bond, you are selling it and then transferring the cash. Not sure how that differs from transfer cash between banks, which does not require signature guarantee.

If they would just use better 2FA so they know the person logging on is the actual person ( Symantec like some major brokers) and introduce a delay to give them time to notify you by email and paper mail before the new bank is active, these safety mechanisms would be far less burdensome but still very secure. They go too far with unusual security measures (like the old decoder card which was silly but at least convenient so I had no complaints).

I opened my account long ago before the decoder card, before signature guarantee. Now to get my money out to a bank of my choice I have to jump through hoops, ridiculous. I am pissed but if you already have an account, you have to put up with this. What happens if I have to close my bank account, if it's compromised (unrelated to Try Direct) or if I relocate away from a physical bank ? In new city one has to go to a new bank who doesn't know you and ask for a favor, which they often wont do until you have been there a few months at least. You literally can get your money stuck in Tsy Direct in such case. Make sure you have 2 banks at least setup for new accounts, and one of them an online bank acct you would never close.
Last edited by beyou on Fri Sep 24, 2021 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
namajones
Posts: 778
Joined: Sat Aug 08, 2020 12:41 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by namajones »

400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:18 am I have been putting off opening a TD account and purchasing I bonds with some of the emergency funds lying around, largely due to the negative experiences I've been hearing.
But last night, after dinner, I took the leap. It took less than 7 minutes to open a TD account (linking bank account was part of the account opening form) and purchase $10,000 worth of I bonds. I am not at all exaggerating, it was less than 7 minutes. I was expecting I would have to go to my bank, get medallion signature etc. None of that was required. It was faster than opening a brokerage account.

I logged into TD account this morning around 8:45AM and I already had I bonds in my account !

Just wanted to share my experience and encourage some of the bogleheads who may be hesitant to take the leap due to all the negative TD reviews around. The next step is to convince my wife to open her account and purchase another $10,000 worth of I bonds.
Somewhere--maybe here--I heard that the I-Bond interest rate will go up in November but that if you buy now, you'll be locked in to the current interest rate for 6 months. With that in mind, I decided to hold off on the purchase until November.
pasadena
Posts: 2337
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2016 1:23 am
Location: PNW

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by pasadena »

namajones wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 1:24 pm
400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:18 am I have been putting off opening a TD account and purchasing I bonds with some of the emergency funds lying around, largely due to the negative experiences I've been hearing.
But last night, after dinner, I took the leap. It took less than 7 minutes to open a TD account (linking bank account was part of the account opening form) and purchase $10,000 worth of I bonds. I am not at all exaggerating, it was less than 7 minutes. I was expecting I would have to go to my bank, get medallion signature etc. None of that was required. It was faster than opening a brokerage account.

I logged into TD account this morning around 8:45AM and I already had I bonds in my account !

Just wanted to share my experience and encourage some of the bogleheads who may be hesitant to take the leap due to all the negative TD reviews around. The next step is to convince my wife to open her account and purchase another $10,000 worth of I bonds.
Somewhere--maybe here--I heard that the I-Bond interest rate will go up in November but that if you buy now, you'll be locked in to the current interest rate for 6 months. With that in mind, I decided to hold off on the purchase until November.
Yes, but you'll still get the November rate after the initial 6 months, for another 6 months. Waiting is mostly beneficial if you expect the fixed rate to go up, which it probably won't.
cnc449
Posts: 33
Joined: Mon May 28, 2018 4:37 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by cnc449 »

pasadena wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 1:46 pm
namajones wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 1:24 pm
400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:18 am I have been putting off opening a TD account and purchasing I bonds with some of the emergency funds lying around, largely due to the negative experiences I've been hearing.
But last night, after dinner, I took the leap. It took less than 7 minutes to open a TD account (linking bank account was part of the account opening form) and purchase $10,000 worth of I bonds. I am not at all exaggerating, it was less than 7 minutes. I was expecting I would have to go to my bank, get medallion signature etc. None of that was required. It was faster than opening a brokerage account.

I logged into TD account this morning around 8:45AM and I already had I bonds in my account !

Just wanted to share my experience and encourage some of the bogleheads who may be hesitant to take the leap due to all the negative TD reviews around. The next step is to convince my wife to open her account and purchase another $10,000 worth of I bonds.
Somewhere--maybe here--I heard that the I-Bond interest rate will go up in November but that if you buy now, you'll be locked in to the current interest rate for 6 months. With that in mind, I decided to hold off on the purchase until November.
Yes, but you'll still get the November rate after the initial 6 months, for another 6 months. Waiting is mostly beneficial if you expect the fixed rate to go up, which it probably won't.
Just to clarify, if I open a TD account today and purchase I bonds, will I get a new interest rate on those I bonds starting in November?
MrJedi
Posts: 3540
Joined: Wed May 06, 2020 11:42 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by MrJedi »

cnc449 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 3:34 pm
pasadena wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 1:46 pm
namajones wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 1:24 pm
400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:18 am I have been putting off opening a TD account and purchasing I bonds with some of the emergency funds lying around, largely due to the negative experiences I've been hearing.
But last night, after dinner, I took the leap. It took less than 7 minutes to open a TD account (linking bank account was part of the account opening form) and purchase $10,000 worth of I bonds. I am not at all exaggerating, it was less than 7 minutes. I was expecting I would have to go to my bank, get medallion signature etc. None of that was required. It was faster than opening a brokerage account.

I logged into TD account this morning around 8:45AM and I already had I bonds in my account !

Just wanted to share my experience and encourage some of the bogleheads who may be hesitant to take the leap due to all the negative TD reviews around. The next step is to convince my wife to open her account and purchase another $10,000 worth of I bonds.
Somewhere--maybe here--I heard that the I-Bond interest rate will go up in November but that if you buy now, you'll be locked in to the current interest rate for 6 months. With that in mind, I decided to hold off on the purchase until November.
Yes, but you'll still get the November rate after the initial 6 months, for another 6 months. Waiting is mostly beneficial if you expect the fixed rate to go up, which it probably won't.
Just to clarify, if I open a TD account today and purchase I bonds, will I get a new interest rate on those I bonds starting in November?
See here under "When does my bond change rates?":
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/re ... dterms.htm

You always get 6 months of a rate. You will get the current rate for 6 months and it will update to the new rate in March.
flyingcows
Posts: 701
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 8:13 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by flyingcows »

My concern was with dealing with customer service in the event of an account breach if the account contents were stolen
This content is for entertainment purposes only
investorpeter
Posts: 609
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2016 5:46 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by investorpeter »

Thanks for posting. This thread inspired me to also open an account at TreasuryDirect today and I agree it was extremely easy to create an account, fund and purchase I bonds, less than 10 minutes in all. Much better than the experience I had 15+ years ago when I had to wait for delivery of a secrete decoder card, reset my password multiple times, etc. The website interface still seems like it hasn't been updated in ages, though. Makes Vanguard's website look like Robinhood in comparison. :happy
runninginvestor
Posts: 1796
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2020 8:00 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by runninginvestor »

The only mark I had against it so far, which was user error, as I didn't realize passwords were not case sensitive. So the first time I tried logging in I was very confused on how I get capital and lowercase letters to enter. :oops:
SocalLiving
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2017 9:56 am
Location: California

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by SocalLiving »

I have been purchasing 20k per year as well as with any tax refunds since I found out about them on this forum in 2017. (Thank You!).
I have always found all the answers to my questions on the website. It is a bit clunky, but I've been able to do everything I want online with no issues.
I strongly recommend people to try it for themselves before deciding not to include them because of website issues. I-bonds can be a really great part of your investment strategy.
3000
Posts: 254
Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2019 9:08 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by 3000 »

I opened an account the other day and everything went fine.
Ron Ronnerson
Posts: 3563
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 6:53 pm
Location: Bay Area

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by Ron Ronnerson »

My wife and I opened accounts a few days ago and have bought $10k of I bonds each. It was a simple and fast process. We linked a bank account that we intend to keep open for a long while. We plan to buy another $10k each in January. The site is a throwback to the late 90s but it functions fine.
dh
Posts: 643
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2011 8:01 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by dh »

Ron Ronnerson wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:34 pm My wife and I opened accounts a few days ago and have bought $10k of I bonds each. It was a simple and fast process. We linked a bank account that we intend to keep open for a long while. We plan to buy another $10k each in January. The site is a throwback to the late 90s but it functions fine.
The TD site has that "old school charm." Like for you, it has always worked for me. Best to you! :sharebeer
User avatar
JoMoney
Posts: 16260
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2013 5:31 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by JoMoney »

terran wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:18 am Here's a blog post on setting up a treasury direct account and buying I Bonds. The post seems to make it clear that everything should go smoothly if you do it right, it's only if you need to change/fix something later (like change the linked bank account) that you're likely to run into difficulty.
Yes, for myself I had no problems with TD opening an account or using it. The password input via screen-keyboard is annoying to login to, but I've rarely had need to login.
The only "problem" was when I needed to change/add a bank account. It seems now they just straight force you to use the form ( https://treasurydirect.gov/forms/sec5512.pdf ) requiring a signature guaranty (notary explicitly not allowed :annoyed ).
When I tried to change banks in 2020 it appeared to allow me to do it online still, but after doing so it locked me out of the account completely and wouldn't let me back in until I got the form completed :shock:
It was an especially painful process getting a signature guaranty during the COVID panic :annoyed
"To achieve satisfactory investment results is easier than most people realize; to achieve superior results is harder than it looks." - Benjamin Graham
User avatar
ApeAttack
Posts: 915
Joined: Wed Dec 23, 2020 7:28 pm
Location: Gorillatown, USA

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by ApeAttack »

If you take the survey after logging off, you can see that ~70% of people rate the site as "excellent". Only 5-10% give the site a fair or poor rating.

I maxed out my I-Bond purchases this week and the entire process (placing the order, checking the order went through, granting transact rights to my wife) took no more than 5 minutes total. Well worth my time.
May all your index funds gain +0.5% today.
stefan_lec
Posts: 88
Joined: Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:43 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by stefan_lec »

400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:07 pm Is there a criteria that TD goes by to decide whether medallion signature is required or not ?
Note that you don't need a full medallion signature guarantee for the form - you just need the same stamp & signature the bank would provide to redeem a paper savings bond. If your bank accepts paper savings bonds (they're an "authorized paying agent", in official lingo), they'll have someone who can sign and stamp the form. It's the exact same process as redeeming a paper bond.

Reference:
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/re ... igcert.htm

https://treasurydirect.gov/forms/sec5512.pdf

The requirement for a "medallion signature guarantee" gets mentioned a lot in i-bond threads, but it's completely untrue as far as I can tell. I wish people would stop spreading this, a medallion guarantee is super difficult to obtain, and totally unnecessary.

(Edited to add link to form from JoMoney's post)
Portfolio: 75% VT, 25% BNDW/I-bonds/HYSA
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15122
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by anon_investor »

ApeAttack wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:50 pm If you take the survey after logging off, you can see that ~70% of people rate the site as "excellent". Only 5-10% give the site a fair or poor rating.

I maxed out my I-Bond purchases this week and the entire process (placing the order, checking the order went through, granting transact rights to my wife) took no more than 5 minutes total. Well worth my time.
:sharebeer

Next 2022 I Bonds!
cacophony
Posts: 1364
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:12 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by cacophony »

runninginvestor wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 4:25 pm The only mark I had against it so far, which was user error, as I didn't realize passwords were not case sensitive. So the first time I tried logging in I was very confused on how I get capital and lowercase letters to enter. :oops:
The passwords are also limited to 16 characters. When I setup my account I used a 20 character password. But it turns out they only let you enter 16 characters on the virtual keyboard!
BoglePablo
Posts: 76
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2017 11:53 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by BoglePablo »

stefan_lec wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:56 pm
400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:07 pm Is there a criteria that TD goes by to decide whether medallion signature is required or not ?
Note that you don't need a full medallion signature guarantee for the form - you just need the same stamp & signature the bank would provide to redeem a paper savings bond. If your bank accepts paper savings bonds (they're an "authorized paying agent", in official lingo), they'll have someone who can sign and stamp the form. It's the exact same process as redeeming a paper bond.

Reference:
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/re ... igcert.htm

https://treasurydirect.gov/forms/sec5512.pdf

The requirement for a "medallion signature guarantee" gets mentioned a lot in i-bond threads, but it's completely untrue as far as I can tell. I wish people would stop spreading this, a medallion guarantee is super difficult to obtain, and totally unnecessary.

(Edited to add link to form from JoMoney's post)
A relative wanted to open an account; his credit profiles were all frozen. A stamped form required to activate his account. TD emailed him to indicate the form he sent in the first time was wrong, somehow. Got another sig, snail mailed it, and eventually account was activated. I think he went to his local Fidelity office to get form signed, both times.

Also: form to be sent in asked for his account number, but since his account was not activated during account creation, the account number was not provided online during account creation. So before the two snailmails above, he had to call and ask someone to snail mail him his account number; couple hours of hold time on the phone.

They were frustrated but it worked out in the end after a few weeks.

Acceptable forms of stamp are below; medallion is one option:

*Signature/Endorsement Guarantee Stamp

*Medallion Stamp

*Official Bank Seal/Stamp

*Corporate Seal

*Consular Seal

*A commissioned or warrant officer of the United States Armed Forces may certify the signature.

There should be a PSA in bold font: unfreeze your credit profiles prior to account creation, to save hassle and delay.
Last edited by BoglePablo on Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15122
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by anon_investor »

BoglePablo wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:20 am
There should be a PSA in bold font: unfreeze your credit profiles prior to account creation, to save hassle and delay.
I think this is true. My spouse and I had 0 issues opening out TD accounts, and we did temporarily unfreeze our credit when we registered our accounts (this was in 2019/2020).
BoglePablo
Posts: 76
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2017 11:53 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by BoglePablo »

anon_investor wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:27 am
BoglePablo wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:20 am
There should be a PSA in bold font: unfreeze your credit profiles prior to account creation, to save hassle and delay.
I think this is true. My spouse and I had 0 issues opening out TD accounts, and we did temporarily unfreeze our credit when we registered our accounts (this was in 2019/2020).
I also had no problems opening and buying bonds, as i was unfrozen at the time; 5 min from account creation to purchase and logout. Great experience for me.
BrokerageZelda
Posts: 463
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2021 10:39 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by BrokerageZelda »

BoglePablo wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:20 am
stefan_lec wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:56 pm
400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:07 pm Is there a criteria that TD goes by to decide whether medallion signature is required or not ?
Note that you don't need a full medallion signature guarantee for the form - you just need the same stamp & signature the bank would provide to redeem a paper savings bond. If your bank accepts paper savings bonds (they're an "authorized paying agent", in official lingo), they'll have someone who can sign and stamp the form. It's the exact same process as redeeming a paper bond.

Reference:
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/re ... igcert.htm

https://treasurydirect.gov/forms/sec5512.pdf

The requirement for a "medallion signature guarantee" gets mentioned a lot in i-bond threads, but it's completely untrue as far as I can tell. I wish people would stop spreading this, a medallion guarantee is super difficult to obtain, and totally unnecessary.

(Edited to add link to form from JoMoney's post)
A relative wanted to open an account; his credit profiles were all frozen. A stamped form required to activate his account. TD emailed him to indicate the form he sent in the first time was wrong, somehow. Got another sig, snail mailed it, and eventually account was activated. I think he went to his local Fidelity office to get form signed, both times.

Also: form to be sent in asked for his account number, but since his account was not activated during account creation, the account number was not provided online during account creation. So before the two snailmails above, he had to call and ask someone to snail mail him his account number; couple hours of hold time on the phone.

They were frustrated but it worked out in the end after a few weeks.

Acceptable forms of stamp are below; medallion is one option:

*Signature/Endorsement Guarantee Stamp

*Medallion Stamp

*Official Bank Seal/Stamp

*Corporate Seal

*Consular Seal

*A commissioned or warrant officer of the United States Armed Forces may certify the signature.

There should be a PSA in bold font: unfreeze your credit profiles prior to account creation, to save hassle and delay.
If you do a quick google search on the TreasuryDirect website, you get this page, which looks like it's relevant to account freezes but is not:
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/re ... igcert.htm

This list is for "certifying" signatures on forms other than than account freezes; notably, it allows notaries public, consular officers, and commissioned officers of the armed forces, which we know are not usable for adding bank accounts and unfreezing accounts.


The account unfreeze form is FS Form 5444:
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/pdf/rs/acctauth.pdf

The signature guarantee requirements are exactly the same as for adding a new bank account on Form 5512:
https://treasurydirect.gov/forms/sec5512.pdf
Last edited by BrokerageZelda on Fri Oct 01, 2021 11:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15122
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by anon_investor »

BrokerageZelda wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:45 am
BoglePablo wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:20 am
stefan_lec wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:56 pm
400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:07 pm Is there a criteria that TD goes by to decide whether medallion signature is required or not ?
Note that you don't need a full medallion signature guarantee for the form - you just need the same stamp & signature the bank would provide to redeem a paper savings bond. If your bank accepts paper savings bonds (they're an "authorized paying agent", in official lingo), they'll have someone who can sign and stamp the form. It's the exact same process as redeeming a paper bond.

Reference:
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/re ... igcert.htm

https://treasurydirect.gov/forms/sec5512.pdf

The requirement for a "medallion signature guarantee" gets mentioned a lot in i-bond threads, but it's completely untrue as far as I can tell. I wish people would stop spreading this, a medallion guarantee is super difficult to obtain, and totally unnecessary.

(Edited to add link to form from JoMoney's post)
A relative wanted to open an account; his credit profiles were all frozen. A stamped form required to activate his account. TD emailed him to indicate the form he sent in the first time was wrong, somehow. Got another sig, snail mailed it, and eventually account was activated. I think he went to his local Fidelity office to get form signed, both times.

Also: form to be sent in asked for his account number, but since his account was not activated during account creation, the account number was not provided online during account creation. So before the two snailmails above, he had to call and ask someone to snail mail him his account number; couple hours of hold time on the phone.

They were frustrated but it worked out in the end after a few weeks.

Acceptable forms of stamp are below; medallion is one option:

*Signature/Endorsement Guarantee Stamp

*Medallion Stamp

*Official Bank Seal/Stamp

*Corporate Seal

*Consular Seal

*A commissioned or warrant officer of the United States Armed Forces may certify the signature.

There should be a PSA in bold font: unfreeze your credit profiles prior to account creation, to save hassle and delay.
If you do a quick google search on the TreasuryDirect website, you get this page, which looks like it's relevant to account freezes but is not:
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/re ... igcert.htm

This list is for "certifying" signatures on forms other than than account freezes; notably, it allows notaries public, consular officers, and commissioned officers of the armed forces, which we know are not usable for adding bank accounts and unfreezing accounts.

The account unfreeze form is FS Form 5444:
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/pdf/rs/acctauth.pdf

The signature guarantee requirements are exactly the same as for adding a new bank account on Form 5512:
https://treasurydirect.gov/forms/sec5512.pdf
A consular seal would be good for folks who live abroad.
student
Posts: 10764
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 6:58 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by student »

investorpeter wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 4:18 pm Thanks for posting. This thread inspired me to also open an account at TreasuryDirect today and I agree it was extremely easy to create an account, fund and purchase I bonds, less than 10 minutes in all. Much better than the experience I had 15+ years ago when I had to wait for delivery of a secrete decoder card, reset my password multiple times, etc. The website interface still seems like it hasn't been updated in ages, though. Makes Vanguard's website look like Robinhood in comparison. :happy
I also opened an account over a decade ago with the secret decoder card, but I never used the account. Are you using the same setup or do you have to "open" it as it were your first time?
User avatar
ApeAttack
Posts: 915
Joined: Wed Dec 23, 2020 7:28 pm
Location: Gorillatown, USA

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by ApeAttack »

anon_investor wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:59 pm
ApeAttack wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:50 pm If you take the survey after logging off, you can see that ~70% of people rate the site as "excellent". Only 5-10% give the site a fair or poor rating.

I maxed out my I-Bond purchases this week and the entire process (placing the order, checking the order went through, granting transact rights to my wife) took no more than 5 minutes total. Well worth my time.
:sharebeer

Next 2022 I Bonds!
Just 3 months and 1 week to go before we can get even more bonds yielding ~6-7% interest for 6 months.
:sharebeer
May all your index funds gain +0.5% today.
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15122
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by anon_investor »

ApeAttack wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:23 am
anon_investor wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:59 pm
ApeAttack wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:50 pm If you take the survey after logging off, you can see that ~70% of people rate the site as "excellent". Only 5-10% give the site a fair or poor rating.

I maxed out my I-Bond purchases this week and the entire process (placing the order, checking the order went through, granting transact rights to my wife) took no more than 5 minutes total. Well worth my time.
:sharebeer

Next 2022 I Bonds!
Just 3 months and 1 week to go before we can get even more bonds yielding ~6-7% interest for 6 months.
:sharebeer
And to think I was excited to get 2.22% I Bonds in 2020! :sharebeer
investorpeter
Posts: 609
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2016 5:46 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by investorpeter »

student wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:02 am
investorpeter wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 4:18 pm Thanks for posting. This thread inspired me to also open an account at TreasuryDirect today and I agree it was extremely easy to create an account, fund and purchase I bonds, less than 10 minutes in all. Much better than the experience I had 15+ years ago when I had to wait for delivery of a secrete decoder card, reset my password multiple times, etc. The website interface still seems like it hasn't been updated in ages, though. Makes Vanguard's website look like Robinhood in comparison. :happy
I also opened an account over a decade ago with the secret decoder card, but I never used the account. Are you using the same setup or do you have to "open" it as it were your first time?
I opened up an entirely new account this time, as though it were my first time. I can't recall whether I actually completed the account opening process 10+ years ago however. I certainly never funded it. I don't know if having an existing account would have made things more complicated this time.
Blue456
Posts: 2152
Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2019 5:46 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by Blue456 »

My wife and I both opened TD, changed addresses, phone numbers without any issues. Very easy process.
calwatch
Posts: 1447
Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:48 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by calwatch »

You used to be able to change or add bank accounts without a signature guarantee, but that changed a few years ago. The other drawback is that they work government hours - 7 am to 6 pm Eastern Time Monday to Friday. If those hours don't work for you, you are out of luck.
User avatar
dratkinson
Posts: 6116
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:23 pm
Location: Centennial CO

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by dratkinson »

runninginvestor wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 4:25 pm The only mark I had against it so far, which was user error...
Ditto. Before opening my account, I read user errors (tried to avoid them), and TD user instructions (complied),.... Took my time. No problems noted.
d.r.a., not dr.a. | I'm a novice investor; you are forewarned.
criticalmass
Posts: 2843
Joined: Wed Feb 12, 2014 9:58 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by criticalmass »

400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:18 am I have been putting off opening a TD account and purchasing I bonds with some of the emergency funds lying around, largely due to the negative experiences I've been hearing.
But last night, after dinner, I took the leap. It took less than 7 minutes to open a TD account (linking bank account was part of the account opening form) and purchase $10,000 worth of I bonds. I am not at all exaggerating, it was less than 7 minutes. I was expecting I would have to go to my bank, get medallion signature etc. None of that was required. It was faster than opening a brokerage account.

I logged into TD account this morning around 8:45AM and I already had I bonds in my account !

Just wanted to share my experience and encourage some of the bogleheads who may be hesitant to take the leap due to all the negative TD reviews around. The next step is to convince my wife to open her account and purchase another $10,000 worth of I bonds.
Opening and using a Treasury Direct account: Easy. Congratulations!

Adding a new bank account to your Treasury Direct account or changing bank details, perhaps due to an involuntary merger?: Painful, with paper forms to print, medallion signatures or bank signature guarantee to obtain, and dependence on US mail/paper processing to execute.
student
Posts: 10764
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 6:58 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by student »

investorpeter wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:30 am
student wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:02 am
investorpeter wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 4:18 pm Thanks for posting. This thread inspired me to also open an account at TreasuryDirect today and I agree it was extremely easy to create an account, fund and purchase I bonds, less than 10 minutes in all. Much better than the experience I had 15+ years ago when I had to wait for delivery of a secrete decoder card, reset my password multiple times, etc. The website interface still seems like it hasn't been updated in ages, though. Makes Vanguard's website look like Robinhood in comparison. :happy
I also opened an account over a decade ago with the secret decoder card, but I never used the account. Are you using the same setup or do you have to "open" it as it were your first time?
I opened up an entirely new account this time, as though it were my first time. I can't recall whether I actually completed the account opening process 10+ years ago however. I certainly never funded it. I don't know if having an existing account would have made things more complicated this time.
Thank you.
User avatar
LilyFleur
Posts: 3499
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2018 9:36 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by LilyFleur »

Da5id wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:08 am I've found buying on Treasury Direct reasonable. Website is kinda clunky and antiquated, login with that keyboard is weird. But not too bad overall.

On the other hand selling was rather painful. I sold a bunch last year for college expenses. As far as I could tell there is no way to sell multiple bonds at once. I had lots of bonds in small denominations from income tax refunds that I had converted to electronic. It was a bunch of clicks per bond I was selling. Very tedious. It worked, but was not fun.
I had 75 paper bonds in small denominations. Selling them was a pain in the you-know-what.
User avatar
dratkinson
Posts: 6116
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:23 pm
Location: Centennial CO

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by dratkinson »

LilyFleur wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:06 pm
Da5id wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:08 am I've found buying on Treasury Direct reasonable. Website is kinda clunky and antiquated, login with that keyboard is weird. But not too bad overall.

On the other hand selling was rather painful. I sold a bunch last year for college expenses. As far as I could tell there is no way to sell multiple bonds at once. I had lots of bonds in small denominations from income tax refunds that I had converted to electronic. It was a bunch of clicks per bond I was selling. Very tedious. It worked, but was not fun.
I had 75 paper bonds in small denominations. Selling them was a pain in the you-know-what.
The advice is to send them to TD and have them converted to electronic. Easy to redeem.

But I half-remember there was a problem with electronic bonds, "...not as easy to title, or something like that."

Choose your poison.
d.r.a., not dr.a. | I'm a novice investor; you are forewarned.
Da5id
Posts: 5066
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2016 7:20 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by Da5id »

dratkinson wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:53 pm
LilyFleur wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:06 pm
Da5id wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:08 am I've found buying on Treasury Direct reasonable. Website is kinda clunky and antiquated, login with that keyboard is weird. But not too bad overall.

On the other hand selling was rather painful. I sold a bunch last year for college expenses. As far as I could tell there is no way to sell multiple bonds at once. I had lots of bonds in small denominations from income tax refunds that I had converted to electronic. It was a bunch of clicks per bond I was selling. Very tedious. It worked, but was not fun.
I had 75 paper bonds in small denominations. Selling them was a pain in the you-know-what.
The advice is to send them to TD and have them converted to electronic. Easy to redeem.

But I half-remember there was a problem with electronic bonds, "...not as easy to title, or something like that."

Choose your poison.
Selling lots of bonds is no pleasure on Treasury direct. Each sale is a number of mouse clicks. No ability I could see to sell multiple bonds.
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15122
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by anon_investor »

Da5id wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:02 pm
dratkinson wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:53 pm
LilyFleur wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:06 pm
Da5id wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:08 am I've found buying on Treasury Direct reasonable. Website is kinda clunky and antiquated, login with that keyboard is weird. But not too bad overall.

On the other hand selling was rather painful. I sold a bunch last year for college expenses. As far as I could tell there is no way to sell multiple bonds at once. I had lots of bonds in small denominations from income tax refunds that I had converted to electronic. It was a bunch of clicks per bond I was selling. Very tedious. It worked, but was not fun.
I had 75 paper bonds in small denominations. Selling them was a pain in the you-know-what.
The advice is to send them to TD and have them converted to electronic. Easy to redeem.

But I half-remember there was a problem with electronic bonds, "...not as easy to title, or something like that."

Choose your poison.
Selling lots of bonds is no pleasure on Treasury direct. Each sale is a number of mouse clicks. No ability I could see to sell multiple bonds.
We have been buying them $10k at a time. We hope to do so until retirement. Hopefully we won't have to redeem that many at a time... :shock:
Da5id
Posts: 5066
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2016 7:20 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by Da5id »

anon_investor wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:10 pm
Da5id wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:02 pm
dratkinson wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:53 pm
LilyFleur wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:06 pm
Da5id wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:08 am I've found buying on Treasury Direct reasonable. Website is kinda clunky and antiquated, login with that keyboard is weird. But not too bad overall.

On the other hand selling was rather painful. I sold a bunch last year for college expenses. As far as I could tell there is no way to sell multiple bonds at once. I had lots of bonds in small denominations from income tax refunds that I had converted to electronic. It was a bunch of clicks per bond I was selling. Very tedious. It worked, but was not fun.
I had 75 paper bonds in small denominations. Selling them was a pain in the you-know-what.
The advice is to send them to TD and have them converted to electronic. Easy to redeem.

But I half-remember there was a problem with electronic bonds, "...not as easy to title, or something like that."

Choose your poison.
Selling lots of bonds is no pleasure on Treasury direct. Each sale is a number of mouse clicks. No ability I could see to sell multiple bonds.
We have been buying them $10k at a time. We hope to do so until retirement. Hopefully we won't have to redeem that many at a time... :shock:
Again, this is for paper bonds from tax refunds converted to TD. Which come in a variety of denominations, some quite small, even if you have the full $5K amount.
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15122
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by anon_investor »

Da5id wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:13 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:10 pm
Da5id wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:02 pm
dratkinson wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:53 pm
LilyFleur wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:06 pm
I had 75 paper bonds in small denominations. Selling them was a pain in the you-know-what.
The advice is to send them to TD and have them converted to electronic. Easy to redeem.

But I half-remember there was a problem with electronic bonds, "...not as easy to title, or something like that."

Choose your poison.
Selling lots of bonds is no pleasure on Treasury direct. Each sale is a number of mouse clicks. No ability I could see to sell multiple bonds.
We have been buying them $10k at a time. We hope to do so until retirement. Hopefully we won't have to redeem that many at a time... :shock:
Again, this is for paper bonds from tax refunds converted to TD. Which come in a variety of denominations, some quite small, even if you have the full $5K amount.
We have not needed those yet, $20k I Bonds/yr have been plenty.
IamGort
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2021 3:59 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by IamGort »

investorpeter wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:30 am
student wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:02 am
investorpeter wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 4:18 pm Thanks for posting. This thread inspired me to also open an account at TreasuryDirect today and I agree it was extremely easy to create an account, fund and purchase I bonds, less than 10 minutes in all. Much better than the experience I had 15+ years ago when I had to wait for delivery of a secrete decoder card, reset my password multiple times, etc. The website interface still seems like it hasn't been updated in ages, though. Makes Vanguard's website look like Robinhood in comparison. :happy
I also opened an account over a decade ago with the secret decoder card, but I never used the account. Are you using the same setup or do you have to "open" it as it were your first time?
I opened up an entirely new account this time, as though it were my first time. I can't recall whether I actually completed the account opening process 10+ years ago however. I certainly never funded it. I don't know if having an existing account would have made things more complicated this time.
I also started the process about ten years ago. I know I received the decoder card but I didn't fund the account. Like you I don't know whether an account was actually created so I just started the process from scratch.
IamGort
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2021 3:59 pm

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by IamGort »

criticalmass wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 6:09 pm
400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:18 am I have been putting off opening a TD account and purchasing I bonds with some of the emergency funds lying around, largely due to the negative experiences I've been hearing.
But last night, after dinner, I took the leap. It took less than 7 minutes to open a TD account (linking bank account was part of the account opening form) and purchase $10,000 worth of I bonds. I am not at all exaggerating, it was less than 7 minutes. I was expecting I would have to go to my bank, get medallion signature etc. None of that was required. It was faster than opening a brokerage account.

I logged into TD account this morning around 8:45AM and I already had I bonds in my account !

Just wanted to share my experience and encourage some of the bogleheads who may be hesitant to take the leap due to all the negative TD reviews around. The next step is to convince my wife to open her account and purchase another $10,000 worth of I bonds.
Opening and using a Treasury Direct account: Easy. Congratulations!

Adding a new bank account to your Treasury Direct account or changing bank details, perhaps due to an involuntary merger?: Painful, with paper forms to print, medallion signatures or bank signature guarantee to obtain, and dependence on US mail/paper processing to execute.
My wife and I both opened accounts recently. Since it seems that the issue with the signature guarantee seems to come in when you need to change bank information we have each linked our TD accounts to different banks.
Blue456
Posts: 2152
Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2019 5:46 am

Re: Treasury Direct Experience - Excellent

Post by Blue456 »

IamGort wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:35 pm
criticalmass wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 6:09 pm
400401402 wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:18 am I have been putting off opening a TD account and purchasing I bonds with some of the emergency funds lying around, largely due to the negative experiences I've been hearing.
But last night, after dinner, I took the leap. It took less than 7 minutes to open a TD account (linking bank account was part of the account opening form) and purchase $10,000 worth of I bonds. I am not at all exaggerating, it was less than 7 minutes. I was expecting I would have to go to my bank, get medallion signature etc. None of that was required. It was faster than opening a brokerage account.

I logged into TD account this morning around 8:45AM and I already had I bonds in my account !

Just wanted to share my experience and encourage some of the bogleheads who may be hesitant to take the leap due to all the negative TD reviews around. The next step is to convince my wife to open her account and purchase another $10,000 worth of I bonds.
Opening and using a Treasury Direct account: Easy. Congratulations!

Adding a new bank account to your Treasury Direct account or changing bank details, perhaps due to an involuntary merger?: Painful, with paper forms to print, medallion signatures or bank signature guarantee to obtain, and dependence on US mail/paper processing to execute.
My wife and I both opened accounts recently. Since it seems that the issue with the signature guarantee seems to come in when you need to change bank information we have each linked our TD accounts to different banks.
Honestly how often do you change your main bank?
Post Reply