Treasury Direct has finally updated their website

[FIPurpose]

Hallelujah Treasury Direct finally looks like a website made in this century. https://www.treasurydirect.gov/

Unfortunately they haven't updated the login page, so you still have to click in your password. But at least they have someone working on it lol.

[SpaceCow]

Good news, as long as they manage to modernize the site without making it harder to use. I'm still scarred from the Thrift Savings Plan's disastrous redesign.

[FIPurpose]

Good news, as long as they manage to modernize the site without making it harder to use. I'm still scarred from the Thrift Savings Plan's disastrous redesign.

I've worked on one of these government web redesigns. It looks like they're following the standard protocol that all the other websites are getting: https://designsystem.digital.gov/

I think this is an off shoot of the US digital service started back in the Obama years that were going through all the government websites one-by-one to modernize them. Looks like this one was just near the end of their list.

[EvenSteven]

Hallelujah Treasury Direct finally looks like a website made in this century. https://www.treasurydirect.gov/

Unfortunately they haven't updated the login page, so you still have to click in your password. But at least they have someone working on it lol.

If it is any use to anyone, if you right click in the password field, then click "inspect" it will open a panel.

Select the part that says readonly="readonly" and delete it.

You can now input saved passwords.

[neo von retorch]

To login... visit the page above.
Click LOGIN - opens a new tab!
Click NEXT - opens a new tab!

Madness.

So I created a bookmark to do the above, making the password field editable so you can use a password manager.

Code: [Select]

javascript:(function(){document.querySelector(".pwordinput").removeAttribute("readonly")})();
Still works after the redesign.

[bacchi]

They broke the gift purchase though. A gift purchase uses the buyer's limit.

"Annual limit exceeded. Please edit the purchase amount or edit your pending purchases under ManageDirect, if applicable, and try again."

[JupiterGreen]

This is cool! Though I haven't logged in yet to experience all the tabs haha.

[seattlecyclone]

Everything past the login screen looks the same as far as I can tell.

[aboatguy]

They broke the gift purchase though. A gift purchase uses the buyer's limit.

"Annual limit exceeded. Please edit the purchase amount or edit your pending purchases under ManageDirect, if applicable, and try again."

Yes, they did break the gift purchase.  I tried to make a gift purchase yesterday and today.  NO JOY!

[MustachioedPistachio]

If it is any use to anyone, if you right click in the password field, then click "inspect" it will open a panel.

Select the part that says readonly="readonly" and delete it.

You can now input saved passwords.

THANK YOU.

[bacchi]

They broke the gift purchase though. A gift purchase uses the buyer's limit.

"Annual limit exceeded. Please edit the purchase amount or edit your pending purchases under ManageDirect, if applicable, and try again."

Yes, they did break the gift purchase.  I tried to make a gift purchase yesterday and today.  NO JOY!

And...it's back!

If it is any use to anyone, if you right click in the password field, then click "inspect" it will open a panel.

Select the part that says readonly="readonly" and delete it.

You can now input saved passwords.

THANK YOU.

Yes, thank you.

[dcheesi]

Good news, as long as they manage to modernize the site without making it harder to use. I'm still scarred from the Thrift Savings Plan's disastrous redesign.

I've worked on one of these government web redesigns. It looks like they're following the standard protocol that all the other websites are getting: https://designsystem.digital.gov/

I think this is an off shoot of the US digital service started back in the Obama years that were going through all the government websites one-by-one to modernize them. Looks like this one was just near the end of their list.

One wonders if it might have been bumped up the priority list, given the recent renewed popularity of I-Bonds? (Or is that too sane and logical for the federal bureaucracy? :)

[aboatguy]

I was finally able to make a gift purchase today!

[Blue82]

Not to derail, but I thought I read a thread about I bonds last April where someone had mentioned a hack to get an extra years worth of i bonds purchased at the current rate, but I can’t seem to find it now.  Does someone remember or can point me in the right direction?   

Also, if buying as a gift for my kid, is the best thing to set up an account for him and then manage that account?  Or is there a better way to do it? 

[neo von retorch]

Not to derail, but I thought I read a thread about I bonds last April where someone had mentioned a hack to get an extra years worth of i bonds purchased at the current rate, but I can’t seem to find it now.  Does someone remember or can point me in the right direction?   

If you're married, you can each buy $10k, and also gift each other $10k for a total of $40k per year. Is that what you mean?

EDIT: See below - you cannot do this.

[FIPurpose]

Not to derail, but I thought I read a thread about I bonds last April where someone had mentioned a hack to get an extra years worth of i bonds purchased at the current rate, but I can’t seem to find it now.  Does someone remember or can point me in the right direction?   

If you're married, you can each buy $10k, and also gift each other $10k for a total of $40k per year. Is that what you mean?

This is incorrect. Any gift goes towards the recipient's 10k limit. I have no idea what the punishment would be, but I'd guess that they'd probably cancel any interest gained if you attempted to buy more than the limit through this method.

[bacchi]

Not to derail, but I thought I read a thread about I bonds last April where someone had mentioned a hack to get an extra years worth of i bonds purchased at the current rate, but I can’t seem to find it now.  Does someone remember or can point me in the right direction?   

If you're married, you can each buy $10k, and also gift each other $10k for a total of $40k per year. Is that what you mean?

This is incorrect. Any gift goes towards the recipient's 10k limit. I have no idea what the punishment would be, but I'd guess that they'd probably cancel any interest gained if you attempted to buy more than the limit through this method.

Yeah, they back you out and refund the money.

The hack is to keep the gift bonds in your gift box and gift them over in 2023. This does mean that the recipient can't buy bonds for themselves next year so it's a one-time thing. Or...keep the bonds in the gift box and gift them in 2024, etc.

Another way is to buy them through your company that has an EIN.

[TomTX]

Not to derail, but I thought I read a thread about I bonds last April where someone had mentioned a hack to get an extra years worth of i bonds purchased at the current rate, but I can’t seem to find it now.  Does someone remember or can point me in the right direction?   

If you're married, you can each buy $10k, and also gift each other $10k for a total of $40k per year. Is that what you mean?

This is incorrect. Any gift goes towards the recipient's 10k limit. I have no idea what the punishment would be, but I'd guess that they'd probably cancel any interest gained if you attempted to buy more than the limit through this method.

This is an incomplete take. The idea is to buy the bonds in your giftbox now - they will earn interest and season. While they are in the gift box they do NOT count against anyone's 10k limit. In some future year when the recipient has capacity, transfer all or a portion of the bonds.

[TomTX]

Not to derail, but I thought I read a thread about I bonds last April where someone had mentioned a hack to get an extra years worth of i bonds purchased at the current rate, but I can’t seem to find it now.  Does someone remember or can point me in the right direction?   

If you're married, you can each buy $10k, and also gift each other $10k for a total of $40k per year. Is that what you mean?

This is incorrect. Any gift goes towards the recipient's 10k limit. I have no idea what the punishment would be, but I'd guess that they'd probably cancel any interest gained if you attempted to buy more than the limit through this method.

Yeah, they back you out and refund the money.

The hack is to keep the gift bonds in your gift box and gift them over in 2023. This does mean that the recipient can't buy bonds for themselves next year so it's a one-time thing. Or...keep the bonds in the gift box and gift them in 2024, etc.

Another way is to buy them through your company that has an EIN.

And you can also get up to $5k of your tax refund as Ibonds.

[jinga nation]

thanks @Even Steven and @neo von retorch for the tricks.
I saw there's a browser extension too, for Firefox and Chrome. https://thefinancebuff.com/password-manager-i-bonds-treasurydirect.html
But I don't think it is worth adding the extension unless using it for several sites.

[hdatontodo]

This is an incomplete take. The idea is to buy the bonds in your giftbox now - they will earn interest and season. While they are in the gift box they do NOT count against anyone's 10k limit. In some future year when the recipient has capacity, transfer all or a portion of the bonds.

Cool. After getting my minor child $10K, I did it again and checked the gift box. I checked back the next day, and it is sitting in my gift box at 9.62% waiting for Jan to roll around.

This was preceeded by the pain of mailing in the paper bank change form that the bank stamped. At least treasurydirect processed it in two weeks, not the 13 weeks their recording said. I also had to wait on hold 2 hours to get the minor's account set to the new bank.

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using Tapatalk

[oneday]

To login... visit the page above.
Click LOGIN - opens a new tab!
Click NEXT - opens a new tab!

Madness.

So I created a bookmark to do the above, making the password field editable so you can use a password manager.

Code: [Select]

javascript:(function(){document.querySelector(".pwordinput").removeAttribute("readonly")})();
Still works after the redesign.

Does your bookmark do anything different that navigating to https://www.treasurydirect.gov/RS/UN-Display.do in the first place? If so, is it compatible with Chrome browser? It didn't do anything when I tried. But I don't know about javascript.

[neo von retorch]

To login... visit the page above.
Click LOGIN - opens a new tab!
Click NEXT - opens a new tab!

Madness.

So I created a bookmark to do the above, making the password field editable so you can use a password manager.

Code: [Select]

javascript:(function(){document.querySelector(".pwordinput").removeAttribute("readonly")})();
Still works after the redesign.

Does your bookmark do anything different that navigating to https://www.treasurydirect.gov/RS/UN-Display.do in the first place? If so, is it compatible with Chrome browser? It didn't do anything when I tried. But I don't know about javascript.

On the page after entering your account number (and if needed your one-time password), where you see the virtual keyboard you're supposed to click...

If you click the bookmark "nothing will happen" visually, but you'll now be able to type, paste or use a password manager to fill the password field.

[oneday]

Thank you for clarification! I will try when on my computer next.

[aboatguy]

they may have updated the website, but according to the news its crashed again due to high demand from folks trying to get the last of the 9.62% bonds.


Looks like too many folks waited until the last minute.

[Blue82]

Count me among those who waited.  I did some of our purchases last week, but had the site crash multiple times on me last night trying to finish them.  Luckily it was working this am around 6am eastern, so all done.   Good luck to anyone still finishing!

[dcheesi]

We waited because of banking issues. DW and I just set up our first joint account, and we've run into all sorts of issues trying to get money funneled over so that she could make a purchase. We started the process over a week ago, but ultimately it all came down to the wire (no pun).

In the end, she was able to submit a purchase for $5k yesterday morning, and I wound up doing the other $5k as a gift to her from my account¹. The site seems to be pretty bogged down this morning, but I can see the pending transfer from my bank, so I'm hopeful that everything will be processed and credited appropriately.

If I understand things correctly, the gift purchase should still lock in the current rate, even if DW claims it after the deadline, right?

(¹If I had known how fraught the money-transfer process was going to be, I probably would have just bought the full $10k as a gift to start with. Would have saved us both a lot of stress & frustration.)

[ender]

Count me among those who waited.  I did some of our purchases last week, but had the site crash multiple times on me last night trying to finish them.  Luckily it was working this am around 6am eastern, so all done.   Good luck to anyone still finishing!

This was me too.

I guess I hope the transfer goes through - do people normally have issues after they get a confirmation? Or is it normally pre-confirmation they run into issues?

[nyxst]

Now that the site is back up, I can go in and sell the 5+ year old "seasoned" I-Bonds that are less than 0.4 fixed to buy some fresh ones :) Yay!

[bacchi]

Now that the site is back up, I can go in and sell the 5+ year old "seasoned" I-Bonds that are less than 0.4 fixed to buy some fresh ones :) Yay!

Good idea. I'm on it.

[index]

Now that the site is back up, I can go in and sell the 5+ year old "seasoned" I-Bonds that are less than 0.4 fixed to buy some fresh ones :) Yay!

Good idea. I'm on it.

Enjoy paying those taxes too ;-)

[nyxst]

Now that the site is back up, I can go in and sell the 5+ year old "seasoned" I-Bonds that are less than 0.4 fixed to buy some fresh ones :) Yay!

Good idea. I'm on it.

Enjoy paying those taxes too ;-)

That would be an issue, but I only have a measly amout in there over 5 years :(

[index]

Now that the site is back up, I can go in and sell the 5+ year old "seasoned" I-Bonds that are less than 0.4 fixed to buy some fresh ones :) Yay!

Good idea. I'm on it.

Enjoy paying those taxes too ;-)

That would be an issue, but I only have a measly amount in there over 5 years :(

Yeah, just calculate the break even on paying the taxes now. Say you had a $1000 in 2016 I-Bonds and you are in the 22% tax bracket - your bond is worth $1168 and you pay 22% taxes on the $168 or $37. In this case, the extra 0.4% is worth $4.7 a year with a payback of around 8 years. Look and see if you have anything in the next 8 years to allow you to cash the bonds in tax free instead! 

[FireLane]

Hallelujah Treasury Direct finally looks like a website made in this century. https://www.treasurydirect.gov/

Unfortunately they haven't updated the login page, so you still have to click in your password. But at least they have someone working on it lol.

If it is any use to anyone, if you right click in the password field, then click "inspect" it will open a panel.

Select the part that says readonly="readonly" and delete it.

You can now input saved passwords.

This is an excellent tip. Thanks!

[zoro]

Id rather still have the 9.62% interest rate, than the fancy website. lol