TreasuryDirect Review
Bonds don’t always get much attention. They’re not as flashy as fast-rising growth and technology stocks. And when interest rates move higher, bond prices on the secondary market can come under pressure.
Still, for many Americans, fixed-income investing is part of a broader strategy. Treasury securities can offer safety, reliability, and predictable payments when they are held to maturity. For some investors, owning them also creates a sense of participation in funding the U.S. government in exchange for future interest and principal payments.
Bonds 101
In short, a Treasury bond is a loan between an investor and a borrower—in this case, you’re the investor, and the American government is the borrower. You’re lending the government money in exchange for a promise that your money (principal) will be returned in the future with interest.
Most bonds available to retail investors have similar traits:
Par value: this is the principal paid for the bond; for example, if you buy a bond for $1,000, that security has a par value of $1,000. Bonds can trade on secondary markets above or below par, although that is outside the main focus of TreasuryDirect.
Coupon rate: this is the interest payment on the bond. Coupon rates vary based on many factors, but most bonds bought by retail investors pay interest on a regular schedule, such as semiannually. Bonds can have fixed or variable (changing) coupon rates.
Maturity: this is when the bond expires and the principal is repaid.
To break it down, if you buy a $100 30-year bond in 2026 with a coupon rate of 5% paid annually, you would receive 5% of the bond’s par value (in this case, $5) every year until 2056. Once that year arrives, you would receive one final 5% payment and your principal ($100) back.
What is TreasuryDirect?
Bonds can be bought and sold through many brokerages, but TreasuryDirect is a direct pipeline from the federal government to you. When you open an account with TreasuryDirect, you can buy and redeem savings bonds and purchase Treasury bills, notes, bonds, TIPS, and floating rate notes.
TreasuryDirect Complaints
Before we go deeper, it’s worth mentioning that the TreasuryDirect website still feels dated. If you didn’t know better, you might question it based on appearance alone, and the user experience isn’t especially polished. To make sure you’re at the correct website, confirm that the URL ends in .gov.
Available Investments
Savings bonds are the most familiar option for many smaller investors and represent a low-cost way to access fixed-income assets. There are two types of savings bonds:
EE Bonds
EE Bonds are guaranteed to double in value in 20 years and earn a fixed rate of interest that does not change for the first 20 years. Buying a $25 EE Bond currently means a 2.50% fixed rate for bonds issued from November 1, 2025 through April 30, 2026, with interest accruing monthly and compounding semiannually. Treasury guarantees that a $25 bond bought in 2026 will be worth at least $50 in 2046.
EE Bonds are available only in electronic form for new purchases and can be bought in TreasuryDirect for any amount from $25 to $10,000, to the penny. You can buy up to $10,000 per calendar year and redeem the bond after one year, although redeeming it before five years means giving up the last three months of interest.
I Bonds
I Bonds remain popular with retail investors because they are designed to protect against inflation. The current composite rate is 4.03%, including a 0.90% fixed rate, for bonds issued from November 1, 2025 through April 30, 2026. Once purchased, an I Bond keeps its current composite rate for six months from its issue date, and Treasury announces new rates every May 1 and November 1.
If that’s confusing, say you bought an I Bond today. If it was issued in April 2026, it would earn its current rate through September 30, 2026, and the next rate period would begin on October 1, 2026. The rate can move higher or lower because part of it is tied to inflation.
You can buy I Bonds in any amount from $25 up to $10,000 in TreasuryDirect each calendar year. I Bonds can be redeemed after one year, but you lose the last three months of interest if you cash them before five years. Since January 1, 2025, paper I Bonds are no longer available through a tax refund.
Buying Bonds with TreasuryDirect
From the main site, treasurydirect.gov, navigate to “Open a New Account.” The site will walk you through the steps, which include entering your taxpayer ID number, bank information, and e-mail address. If the submitted information cannot be verified, TreasuryDirect may require an authentication form before the account is opened.
You’ll notice that FedInvest and SLGSafe are also account options. Don’t worry about these.
Logging in can still feel like a hassle, and the site generally works better on a desktop.
First, instead of a username, you enter your account number. Be sure to save the account number somewhere safe because TreasuryDirect’s recovery process is fairly rigorous.
After entering your account number, TreasuryDirect sends a one-time passcode to your e-mail address. You enter that code, move to the password page, and then finish the login process. The extra security step is useful, although it does add friction.
Once you’re in, you’ll see an account overview that shows your bond holdings and account status. We’ll focus mainly on Savings Bonds here, but we’ll also cover the other security types below.
If you want to buy a savings bond, click on the tab “BuyDirect” at the top of the page. Another note—whatever you do, don’t use the back button on your browser. It will create an error, and you’ll need to log back in. TreasuryDirect’s own user guide warns against using browser navigation controls, including the back button.
Logged back in, we’re at the BuyDirect page and see all available securities. We’ll continue with savings bonds and select EE Bonds, as our account already bought the annual maximum for I Bonds.
You enter the total amount and funding source from a linked bank account. You can also create recurring purchases to build your holdings over time. Since EE Bonds are not as compelling as I Bonds for many investors, we’re only putting $100 into that asset for this article.
From there, you’ll submit and verify the purchase. Bonds usually take a short time to appear in your account holdings, but you can see your current assets on the main page or under the “Current Holdings” tab.
What else is on TreasuryDirect?
Savings bonds are the most popular option for average investors, but there are other functions.
You can buy Treasury marketable securities with different maturities and interest structures. These are found under marketable securities and don’t have an annual purchase limit like savings bonds. These securities include:
T-Bills, which have maturities ranging from 4 weeks to 52 weeks.
T-Notes, with maturities of 2, 3, 5, 7, or 10 years.
T-Bonds, which are issued in 20-year and 30-year terms.
TIPS, which are inflation-protected securities issued in 5-year, 10-year, and 30-year terms.
FRNs, which mature in 2 years and pay interest quarterly.
If you have old paper EE or I bonds floating around, you can convert them to electronic bonds to track in your account. TreasuryDirect says conversion requests are taking at least six weeks because of heavy volume, so this process can take some time. H and HH bonds cannot be converted through this feature.
TreasuryDirect Review Summary
Should you use TreasuryDirect? For investors who want to buy savings bonds or participate directly in Treasury auctions, yes. The website is still clunky, but it is the government’s direct portal for these products. Current I Bonds pay 4.03% for bonds issued from November 1, 2025 through April 30, 2026, while current EE Bonds pay a 2.50% fixed rate and come with a 20-year doubling guarantee.
Updated on 4/4/2026.
Arthur Chachuna is a professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of Brokerage-Review.com.
He has been an avid investor for 25 years, and has a background in both applied math and programming.
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