There are various ways to buy US treasuries. For example, investors can do so through their banks or stock brokerages. Tax payers can also request IRS to issue their tax refund in the form of US treasuries instead of checks. However, the most convienent way is to buy these treasury products from the Treasury Direct website (https://www.treasurydirect.gov). Run by government, this website does not charge any commission. This way, an investor can

• buy and sell all kinds of US Treasuries
• view current holdings in a single place
• automatically withdraw funds from the self designated bank account for purchase
• automatically deposit funds to the self designated bank account upon redemption

To make a transaction on the treasury direct website, one must first register an account there. Both individuals and companies are able to create accounts there as long as each account has a unique tax ID (SSN, ITIN or ETIN). This means if you own a LLC, you can register two accounts. Some instruments such as i-bond has an annual purchase cap per account. Therefore, having multiple accounts increases the cap if desired.

Account registration

To register an account, click the "Open and Account" on the right side of the treasurydirect.gov homepage, as shown in the picture below.

On the following pages, choose TreasuryDirect as application type and Invidual (or an appropriate company category) as account type. Afterwards, fill in the requested identity and bank information. That's all required to register an annount.

Account name and bank account

It is important to remember your account name which is in the form of A-123-456-789. Unlike many other websites which allow users to create easy-to-remember usernames, treasury direct does not allow that. The account name is used to log in the website.

Another useful tip is to designate a bank account which you plan to use for a long time. This is because changing bank account information after the registration is done is troublesome. Amending bank account information requires signature certification which is more difficult to obtain than signature notary.

Make purchase

Making a purchase is straightforward providing you know what you want to buy. There are different types of treasuries available for purchase. After log in, choosing Buy Direct from the top menu will take you to the page shown below. This article explains different types of treasury products.

After selecting a specific product, the follow-up steps to complete the transaction is easy to follow.

That's all.