You have to submit Form 5511 to transfer securities from TD to broker. Seems any time you have to do something by Form with TD it's a slow process. I believe a 3-4 month wait is typical but there were times when it was longer. In 2022, when iBonds were paying 9% and TD was swamped, wait times for Form processing took longer. And Gd forbid you needed to call TD in 2022. I got locked out of my account in 2022 so I had to call... I had a 2h 52min wait on hold. Like you, I use a broker for all treasuries except for iBonds where TD is the only choice.While this is an advantage of purchasing at TreasuryDirect, it does not, in my opinion, outweigh the main disadvantage: you can't sell before maturity without transferring the security to a broker. (I've never done this. Nor have I read of any forum member doing it. So, I don't know how slow or cumbersome it would be.) For this reason I would not personally buy any Treasury security at TreasuryDirect, other than savings bonds, that matures in more than six months. (Five years ago, I did buy a $1,000 5-year TIPS at TD as a test. It just matured and I don't plan to repeat the test.)
If you deal with a broker, you can buy the same Treasury bills, notes, and bonds at auction as you can at TreasuryDirect. And -- at Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard at least -- there is no commission. At a broker you can also buy and sell these securities on the secondary market -- which you can't do at TreasuryDirect.
)Treasury Direct - The Eternal Wait and No Way To Track Transfer
Statistics: Posted by LookinAround — Fri Nov 08, 2024 5:08 am — Replies 13 — Views 744