TreasuryDirect.gov
Framework category: redundancy
The US Treasury's direct-from-government retail portal for buying T-bills, T-notes, T-bonds, TIPS, and Series I/EE savings bonds with zero fees and no broker.
Primary use
Hold the capital reserve layer of the system in US government securities. T-bill auto-roll builds a near-passive short-term ladder; Series I bonds build an inflation-indexed long-horizon position up to the $10,000 annual SSN limit.
Redundancy role
Sole redundancy anchor slot in the library. Every other covered platform carries private-sector counterparty, app, or market risk. TreasuryDirect's counterparty is the US federal government — a structurally different risk profile from the other 22 retail platforms in the library.
Historical yield range
Short-term T-bill yields have historically ranged from near 0% (2020–2021) to above 5% (2023–2024 tightening cycle). As of May 2026, 4-week and 26-week T-bills sit near the 3.6% range and the 3-month T-bill is near 3.66%. Series I bonds reset May 1, 2026 to a 4.26% composite annualized rate (0.90% fixed + 3.34% inflation component); the I-bond fixed rate locks in for the 30-year bond life. Series EE bonds offer 2.40% fixed with a guarantee of doubling in 20 years. Rates change at every weekly T-bill auction and on every May 1 and November 1 savings-bond reset; verify before deploying.
Integration notes
Regulatory: securities are direct obligations of the US Treasury; not FDIC or SIPC insured because no bank or brokerage intermediary is involved. Account requires US SSN, US mailing address, email, and a US bank account for ACH debit/credit. Fees: zero — no account, transaction, or management fees. T-bill minimum $100; I-bond minimum $25. T-bills can be set to auto-roll at maturity. Interest is subject to federal income tax but exempt from state and local income tax. Customer service is phone-only.
Watch-outs
I bonds cannot be redeemed for 12 months after purchase and incur a 3-month interest penalty if redeemed before 5 years. T-bills cannot be sold same-day inside TreasuryDirect — liquidating before maturity requires transfer to a brokerage account, which takes several business days. The I-bond purchase ceiling is $10,000 per SSN per calendar year (electronic). The TreasuryDirect interface is utilitarian and uses a virtual keyboard for password entry — that is intentional, not a glitch. Account lockouts during high-demand periods have occurred historically.