Ibonds Question

[ruanddu]

Is it possible to purchase I-bonds with pre-tax money? Meaning, can you have payroll at your job invest a portion of your paycheck in Ibonds and reduce your taxable income?

Thanks.

[SSSS]

Not with pre-tax money, no. But you can have your employer direct some or all of your direct deposit (after-tax) to your Treasury Direct account.

[ruanddu]

Thanks for clarifying!

[Mel Lindauer]

Not with pre-tax money, no. But you can have your employer direct some or all of your direct deposit (after-tax) to your Treasury Direct account.

Actually, unless they reinstituted the program, you can't do that any longer since Treasury killed the payroll deduction option some time ago.

[SSSS]

Not with pre-tax money, no. But you can have your employer direct some or all of your direct deposit (after-tax) to your Treasury Direct account.

Actually, unless they reinstituted the program, you can't do that any longer since Treasury killed the payroll deduction option some time ago.

You still can, as described at http://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/pro ... htm#dirdep (although the website seems to be having issues at the moment).

You just direct deposit to routing number 051736158, account number equal to your TD account number. This will direct the funds into your account (non-interest-bearing C of I), where you can manually purchase bonds at your convenience. This option doesn't require you to set anything up in advance on the TD side.

Alternately, you can also append a "P" to your account number, which will allow bonds to be purchased automatically, however you have to set that up in advance in your TD account ("ManageDirect » Establish My Payroll Savings Plan"). You specify EE or I, and the requested denomination (starting at $25). I verified the form is still there & working. Maybe you were thinking about the old paper bond direct deposit option?

[Mel Lindauer]

Not with pre-tax money, no. But you can have your employer direct some or all of your direct deposit (after-tax) to your Treasury Direct account.

Actually, unless they reinstituted the program, you can't do that any longer since Treasury killed the payroll deduction option some time ago.

You still can, as described at http://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/pro ... htm#dirdep (although the website seems to be having issues at the moment).

You just direct deposit to routing number 051736158, account number equal to your TD account number. This will direct the funds into your account (non-interest-bearing C of I), where you can manually purchase bonds at your convenience. This option doesn't require you to set anything up in advance on the TD side.

Alternately, you can also append a "P" to your account number, which will allow bonds to be purchased automatically, however you have to set that up in advance in your TD account ("ManageDirect » Establish My Payroll Savings Plan"). You specify EE or I, and the requested denomination (starting at $25). I verified the form is still there & working. Maybe you were thinking about the old paper bond direct deposit option?

Yes, that's what I was thinking about (paper I Bonds). I don't use TD, so I wasn't sure if they allowed it for electronic purchases, but I see they do. Thanks for that information.