TreasuryDirect Account

TreasuryDirect Account

Buy Government Bonds. I've been slowly buying government bonds. Why you ask? Well, for a couple of reasons.

1) Better Interest. They get a much better interest rate than a savings account. Right now, from off the top of my head, the interest rate for my savings account at Washington Mutual is 0.4%; For my Government Bond account it's 3.67% and interest is dished out monthly like any other account.

2) It's secure. In fact, it's more secure than a bank (If you have more than $100,000 in your savings account). Let's face it. If the Government goes bankrupt even cash is worthless.

3) It's liquid. Unlike a CD's or Mutual Funds that require a long-term commitment you can pull the money out of your Treasury account at anytime with the exception of the first year. That's the only commitment

4) No minimum. There are no minimums, I was at Bank of America opening a bank account with them the other because they said if you opened an account with them the first day they opened you would get $125. Talk about bait and switch, but that's another story. For a money market account they give the weakest interest rates. My PayPal account gives me 2.02% why go through Bank of America?

5) Electronic. You don't need a broker. In fact the only way to buy government bonds anymore is online electronically. It deducts straight from your checking or savings account. It's really easy to use, they just put up a nice website with a better interface then the previous one.

6) Secure. This is probably the most secure site I've ever been too. If you hit the back button at all while signed in the account becomes void. It just won't work anymore, you'll have to go back to the sign in screen and sign in again, it can be annoying but it is very assuring.

7) Customer Support. Their online customer support is phenominal. It's all done by e-mail but you recieve an e-mail back within the hour, get this, by a real person!

If only the DMV and Post Office were this good.