Investment Information Page         Treasury Securities Information

Treasury Bills: How To Redeem, Reinvest, or Sell

You can hold a Treasury bill until it matures or sell it before it matures. If you hold your bill until it matures, at maturity you can use the bill’s principal to buy another security or you can redeem the bill.

How you exercise those options depends on where you hold your bill.

TreasuryDirect

Sell Direct

To sell a bill before maturity, log in to your account and choose the Sell Direct function. Provide the information the system requests. The request is sent to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago which, acting on the Treasury Department’s behalf, will offer your bill to different brokers and sell it to the highest bidder. We then deposit the sale proceeds – less a $45 fee – into the bank account you have designated.

Repeat Purchases

Similar to the “reinvestment” option in Legacy Treasury Direct, a repeat purchase allows you to use the funds from a maturing security to buy a new security.

To schedule a repeat purchase, log in to your account, tell us to put the funds from your maturing bill into your Certificate of Indebtedness (C of I), schedule a purchase of another security, and tell us to use your C of I as the source of funds.

You can schedule a repeat purchase anytime before your bill matures. You can use the funds from your bill to buy any type of security sold in TreasuryDirect, including savings bonds.

Redemption

To redeem your bill, you don’t need to do anything. If you don’t tell us to put the bill’s principal into your C of I, we deposit the principal into your designated bank account. We make the deposit on the day your bill matures.

Legacy Treasury Direct

Sell Direct

To sell a bill before it matures, get the paper form “Sell Direct Request” (PD F 5179-1), fill it out, sign it, certify it, and send it to:

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
230 South LaSalle St.
Chicago, IL 60604

FRB Chicago will offer your bill to different brokers and sell it to the highest bidder. We then deposit the sale proceeds – less a $45 fee – into your bank account.

Reinvestments

When you buy a bill, you can schedule it for reinvestment. If you haven’t already scheduled a reinvestment, we mail you a notice about 45 days before your bill matures. The notice shows the bills into which you can reinvest, the methods by which you can reinvest, and the deadlines for reinvesting. Your deadline depends on whether you reinvest by web, phone, or paper form.

You can reinvest the exact amount of the principal, reinvest part of the principal, or invest an amount greater than the principal.

• To reinvest the exact amount of the principal, follow the guidelines below for reinvesting by web, phone, or mail.
• To reinvest only part of the principal, complete and submit a “Reinvestment Request” (PD F 5180). 
• To invest an amount greater than the principal: 1) Reinvest the principal of your maturing security, following the guidelines below, and 2) buy an additional amount of the security.

If you don’t schedule a reinvestment when you buy your bill, you can reinvest later by any of these methods:

• Web
  Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Phone
  Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling 800-722-2678.
• Mail
  Reinvest by completing and returning the notice we mail you about 45 days before your security matures or by completing and submitting the paper form “Reinvestment Request” (PD F 5180). 

You can change or cancel your reinvestment. The deadline for doing this is 10 business days before your bill’s maturity date. To cancel or change your reinvestment, contact us by phone, fax, or mail.

• Phone
  Call 800-722-2678 and select Option #5 to speak to a customer service representative.
• Fax
  Submit your request via fax to 304-480-7728
• Mail
  Submit your request in writing to your customer contact center.

Redemption

To redeem your bill, you don’t need to do anything. On the day the bill matures, we deposit its principal into your bank account.

Bank, Broker, or Dealer

If you hold a bill with a bank, broker, or dealer, consult them to find out about the options you have when the security matures or to sell the security before it matures.