If government shuts down does Treasury Direct continue to function?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Beats me. I suppose it will shut down too. More:

If government shuts down does treasury direct continue to function

[cbabe]

1. Shutdown list

https://www.reuters.com › world › us › us-government-shutdown-what-closes-what-stays-open-2023-09-21

US government shutdown: What is it and who would be affected?

3 days agoSept 27 (Reuters) - U.S. government services would be disrupted and hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be furloughed without pay if Congress fails to provide funding for the fiscal...

[Effete Snob]

2. Oh... thanks

Time to get around to rolling over those I bonds.

Thank you.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. If that is supposed to happen at the end of the month, you might already be too late.

Seems to me you have to start that a few days ahead of the last business day of the month. I don't know.

I believe the current I-bond rate is good through October 31. Bonds bought as of November 1 get the updated rate.

And good afternoon.

[Effete Snob]

4. Naw... I've just been meaning to move them into CD's

I'm good with the six month penalty, now that there are 5.5% CDs for my "little old granny money".

I'm ready to take the government shutdown nosedive on my "insanely speculative, for my age, equity fund money".

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. T-bills are paying about 5.5 percent now. No state taxes, maybe, on them. NT

[Effete Snob]

6. Thank you

I'm pretty simpleminded about these kinds of things. Will look into it.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Extremely easy to ladder them.

You get time periods of a few weeks, 17 weeks, 26 weeks. You can buy a bunch and set them up so that every week, another one rolls over. You can renew it or not.

Far more convenient than CDs. Or DVDs for that matter.

[Effete Snob]

8. You see... I'm already confused

But I will attempt to grasp this.

I mastered the difference between and exacta wheel and an exacta box when I was ten. Later in life, after filing my first W2-G, I thought maybe I should diversify the things in which I invest.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. It's super easy.

First, do you have an account at Treasury Direct? If not, set one up. That will take a while. You can open one without having to put any money in one.

Laddering is where you buy securities one after another on a regular basis. That way, there's always one maturing. You can set them up so that every week another security matures. You can set it up so that renewal occurs automatically. The point is, that should you need money, you're not tied down to having to wait a year or five years to get at it. Every week, some becomes available.

A lot of DUers have Treasury Direct accounts. We can help you out.

I don't know about Pennsylvania, but in Virginia, interest on Treasury bills is not taxable. You can be one of DU's favorite whipping boys, the oligarch who avoids taxes. Well, the interest is taxable on a Federal basis, so not entirely.

[Effete Snob]

10. Okay, real quick

I have treasurydirect and have some I bonds that are fat, juicy, tender, and ripe for picking.

I gather that I cash them out to "C of I" and then use "C of I" as the funding source for the T-Bills. Is that correct?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11. Yes, that is true.

I've got money in the C of I, so I'm in the same boat. You go to the page with the tab labeled purchase securities, something like that and make your choice. I'm not logged on now, so I can't be sure. It's a bit tricky. You have to select the time period and the auction date. You have to designate the source of the funds, in your case, C of I, and the destination when the security matures. You can send the money to a bank or a credit union or back to C of I. You choose whether you want to rollover the security when it matures, and how many times.

I don't know when the next auction is, should there be a shutdown. For an example, you could put $1,000 in a four-week T-bill at next week's auction (if there is one), specify that the money comes from C of I, specify that the money goes back to C of I eventually, set the security to roll over, and say you want it to roll over for up to two years. You head to checkout, as it were, where you can review your selections. If you like them, you say that you are ready to buy and hit that button. You'll get an acknowledgement screen. I print those to a .pdf and keep the .pdf on the computer. You'll get an email too.

That's it. Easy-peasy. When Harrisburg says, "where's our money," you laugh.

From Virginia. Go to page 19.

https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/vatax-pdf/2022-760-instructions.pdf

Line 4.

Obligations of the U.S. Enter the amount of any income (interest, dividends and gain) from obligations of the U.S. that are included in your federal adjusted gross income, but are exempt from Virginia state tax. Income from obligations issued by the following organizations IS NOT taxable in Virginia: Tennessee Valley Authority, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Federal Home Loan Bank; Federal Intermediate Credit Bank; Governments of Guam, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands; U.S. Treasury bills, notes, bonds and savings bonds; Federal Land Bank; Federal Reserve Stock; Farm Credit Bank; ExportImport Bank of the U.S.; U.S. Postal Service; and Resolution Trust Corporation.

Income from obligations issued by the following organizations IS taxable in Virginia: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Federal National Mortgage Association, Government National Mortgage Association, Inter-American Development Bank, and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

[Effete Snob]

12. well...

So... I selected c of i to redeem the I bonds. That is pending and should clear in two business days.

Then I selected C of I to purchase T-bills at an auction scheduled for October 5, despite having nothing in the C of I, but it lets you do that on, I guess, the proposition that the sale will occur if the C of I is funded by that proposed purchase date.

I like the racing form a lot better, though. At least the entries have more interesting names.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. Cool. If it accepted the proposed purchase despite the lack of funds,

then you should be fine. Four-week bills are paying ~5.4 percent.

[Effete Snob]

14. Yah, well

Zeebear is paying 9/2 in the 9th at Belmont in 10 minutes, and it will mature in about a minute eleven at six furlongs. With four late scratches, this could be an underappreciated gem.

But we'll see how this T-Bill thing does.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

15. How predictive is performance over six furlongs in

a 12-furlong race?

[Effete Snob]

16. Not at all

Oh, you tempt me. But each horse’s best distance and surface is established pretty early on. The first question in handicapping is “why is THIS horse in THIS race” whether it’s class, surface, track, distance, purse or claiming price. You find a giraffe running in a field of zebras, and you wonder why. Plus, and this seems to matter more in harness racing, there are two species of animal in a horse race and only one of them can read the tote board.

Treasury securities? Total mystery to me.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

17. Can you bet on out-of-state races from Pennsylvania? NT

[Effete Snob]

18. Yep

You can bet on horse races anywhere due to federal legislation. That was one of the jokes in a Daily show bit about Senator Ted Stevens having referred to the internet as a series of tubes:

https://www.cc.com/video/sokn5t/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-party-pooper



Aside from various apps, every track which caters to the Sport of Kings has a lounge with a wall of monitors and betting terminals where you can find the, uh, kings, at all hours. Those had operated for years before internet wagering under the Interstate Horse Racing Act:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/chapter-57

States can impose various restrictions, but any state with a track has out-of-state OTB.