I-Bond Deadline

(Forbes image)

Not knowing whether I was going to invest in I-bonds, I nevertheless opened up a Treasury Direct account at the beginning of October. There were more steps to go through than when opening a normal bank account--for example, each user computer must be individually authorized--but otherwise there were no insuperable difficulties. Opening an account did not require an investment.

Last week I quit hesitating and ordered a $10,000 I-bond purchase. The Treasury debited the bank account on the next business day.

Many people are worse ditherers than I and tried to open Treasury Direct accounts and make the investment this week to beat the deadline, today, to capture the 9.62% rate.

a surge in demand for the inflation-adjusted bonds has overwhelmed the TreasuryDirect site and the Treasury Department said it cannot guarantee orders will be completed in time.

Many investors managed to beat the clock and the tech issues. As of 4 p.m. ET, nearly 69,000 accounts had been created and more than $710 million in I Bonds purchased on Friday alone, Treasury said. That brings this week’s I Bond sales to about $3.4 billion so far, Treasury said. Five thousand new accounts were created per hour Friday, Treasury said.

Procrastination is one of my life-long vices, but from sad experience I know better than to count on government systems to function under pressure. You must submit papers or electronic applications a few days before the deadline; you are asking for hours, if not days, of trouble if you don't.