Treasury Direct

Treasury Direct is an online platform operated by the U.S. Bureau of the Fiscal Service that allows individual investors to purchase Treasury bills, notes, bonds, and savings bonds directly from the government. There are no fees, no markups, and no broker commissions.

How Treasury Direct works

You create an account at TreasuryDirect.gov, link a bank account, and then submit bids for upcoming Treasury auctions. You can bid non-competitively (accepting whatever yield the auction results in) or competitively (specifying the price or yield you’ll accept). For non-competitive bids, which are most common for individual investors, you are guaranteed to receive your full bid size at the auction-determined yield.

Treasury Direct handles all the mechanics: the government takes the funds from your bank account on the settlement date, issues the securities into your Treasury Direct account, and deposits coupon payments or maturity proceeds back to your bank.

No costs and transparent pricing

The major advantage is zero cost. You pay no bid-ask spread, no broker commission, and no management fees. For a $10,000 Treasury note purchase, you pay exactly $10,000 (unless you buy at a discount, in which case you pay the auction-determined price).

This makes Treasury Direct ideal for long-term, buy-and-hold investors. If you plan to hold a 10-year note for a decade, the lack of trading costs is irrelevant anyway. But if you buy through a broker, you pay a spread on both purchase and sale. Treasury Direct saves money for patient investors.

Limitations and drawbacks

Treasury Direct does not allow secondary market trading. Once you buy a Treasury through Treasury Direct, you cannot sell it on the secondary market through the same system. To sell, you must transfer the security to a brokerage account and sell it there, incurring a transaction cost.

This makes Treasury Direct less suitable for traders or investors who might need to sell bonds before maturity. It is best for investors who have a specific future need (a goal date, a retirement horizon) and plan to hold the bond to maturity.

Auction access and timing

Treasury Direct gives retail investors access to the same government bond auctions that professionals participate in. You compete on a level playing field—your non-competitive bid is filled at the same rate as anyone else’s. This is democratic and fair.

You can purchase Treasury bills, notes, bonds, TIPS, I bonds, and Series EE savings bonds through Treasury Direct. Each has its own auction schedule and purchase limits.

Purchase limits

Treasury Direct has annual purchase limits: $10,000 per person per calendar year for electronic bond purchases. For savings bonds (I bonds and EE bonds), the limit is higher—$15,000 per person per year for I bonds and a combined $10,000 per year for EE and paper savings bonds.

These limits prevent any single individual from dominating auctions, but they are high enough for typical savers and investors.

Holding and management

Once purchased, Treasuries remain in your Treasury Direct account until maturity or until you transfer them out. The system automatically deposits coupon payments and principal repayments on the due date. There is no effort required—no reinvestment decisions unless you choose to make them.

If you want to sell before maturity, you must transfer the security to a brokerage account, which incurs a fee and takes several days. This friction is why Treasury Direct is best for buy-and-hold investors.

Accessibility for all investors

Treasury Direct is explicitly designed for retail investors and does not require a broker or a minimum balance. You can start with just $100 (the minimum for many Treasury bills). This democratizes access to government bonds and allows small savers to own Treasuries without paying intermediary markups.