TreasuryDirect
Also known as: TreasuryDirect.gov, Treasury Direct
TreasuryDirect is the US Treasury Department's online platform for buying, managing, and redeeming Treasury securities — T-bills, T-notes, T-bonds, TIPS, I-bonds, and EE bonds — directly from the government without a broker or intermediary.
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TreasuryDirect (treasurydirect.gov) is the only platform where individual investors can purchase I-bonds electronically and the only way to buy EE savings bonds. It also provides direct access to competitive and non-competitive auctions for T-bills, T-notes, T-bonds, and TIPS without paying a brokerage commission or markup. The platform is maintained by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service within the US Department of the Treasury and is available to US citizens, permanent residents, and entities with a US tax identification number.
The primary advantage of TreasuryDirect over buying Treasuries through a broker is cost: there are no commissions, no account maintenance fees, and the investor receives the same yield as institutional buyers in Treasury auctions. For I-bonds specifically, TreasuryDirect is mandatory — I-bonds cannot be purchased on the secondary market or through any brokerage platform. The annual purchase limit for electronic I-bonds is $10,000 per person per calendar year, with an additional $5,000 available via tax refund in paper form.
The primary disadvantage is the user interface, which is widely regarded as outdated and difficult to navigate. Account lockouts due to forgotten passwords or failed security questions are common and can take days to resolve through the phone support line. Auto-reinvestment (auto-roll) is available for T-bills and T-notes but must be set up for each security individually. Selling a Treasury before maturity requires transferring it to a brokerage account (a process called SmartExchange at TreasuryDirect) and then selling on the secondary market — a multi-day process that eliminates the immediate liquidity available when holding Treasuries at a broker.
For investors who want Treasury exposure with modern brokerage convenience — limit orders, immediate secondary-market liquidity, integration with portfolio dashboards, and auto-roll at the account level — Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard all offer commission-free Treasury purchases at auction. The yield is identical; the difference is operational convenience. TreasuryDirect remains essential only for I-bonds and for investors who want the simplicity of holding securities directly with the US government rather than at a brokerage.
- How to buy Treasury bills, bonds & I bonds on TreasuryDirect Buy T-bills, notes, bonds, and I bonds directly from the US Treasury: open a TreasuryDirect.gov account, link a bank, and bid before the auction.
- T-bills vs HYSA vs money market funds: the after-tax math (2026) Are T-bills better than a HYSA in 2026? We run the after-tax math — state-tax-free Treasury yield vs the best HYSA rates, FDIC vs SIPC, and liquidity.
- Series I savings bonds — when the inflation-protected option fits Series I savings bonds: the inflation-adjusted yield, the $10K annual limit, the 1-year lockout, the 5-year early withdrawal penalty, and when they fit.
- APY (Annual Percentage Yield) The actual annualized return on a deposit account, taking compounding into account. Distinguishes meaningfully from "interest rate" only on accounts with intra-year compounding — which is virtually all US deposit accounts.
- FDIC insurance The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures US bank deposits up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. The structural guarantee that makes savings, checking, money market, and CD accounts at insured banks effectively risk-free up to the limit.
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