Arby wrote: ↑Thu Sep 16, 2021 12:21 pmIf I could buy I Bonds through the Fidelity platform I would max it out in a heartbeat. But I live overseas with no intention of returning stateside. I am also pretty sure my portfolio is in the bottom quintile of Boglehead's portfolios so the total dollar amount of the juiced up return would be quite meaningful to me.. But being cutoff from my money with no easy solution due to a tech problem with the website is a very real concern to me. It's not worth my time and certainly not worth the stress.
Yeah, I appreciate your situation. There are going to be some, like yours, that may be prohibitively problematic. I do think it's unfortunate still how hammered the Treasury Direct (TD) website gets in board discussions. There are definitely situations that can end up causing the dreaded medallion guarantee to be required. But IF you really wish you could have I Bonds, have you considered at least risking the bare minimum $25 investment and set up an account to try it out? I do believe that the lockouts come about due to factors that one can avoid if you're extremely careful, particularly, once you've already set up the account and have successfully bought I Bonds, even with just with $25.
Simply buying and selling in one's established TD account does not seem to me to be what brings about situations that lead one to have to get the medallion guarantee. For me, with more than a decade now using TD, the process of buying, and selling I and EE Bonds has debited and credited from and to my bank account without any issues whatsoever.
Below are the things I would absolutely never do in YOUR unique situation if I were going to try to maintain a TD account:
- Once set up, don't ever try to add/change/modify your TD associated bank account info in any way
- Don't try to add/modify any account ownership/beneficiary or email info in any way after it's set up
- NEVER incorrectly enter your password multiple times and get locked out
- In your web browser, NEVER use its "back-page" button or the "Ctrl-arrow" back-page keystrokes
I'm not saying you don't have an excellent reason for staying away completely from TD, but you could consider this - it would only cost (risking) $25 to gain useful first-hand experience. Then again, perhaps someone may yet contradict my assumptions about what might lead one to being locked out.