Vantage Soon to End Over-the-Counter Savings Bond Sales

With all the recent talk of federal deficits and the government trying to cut costs comes an effort by Uncle Sam to save $70 million over five years. The Bureau of the Public Debt (a scary name itself) has announced that beginning January 1, 2012, paper savings bonds will no longer be sold at financial institutions, including Vantage Credit Union.

You might have guessed something like this was bound to happen. Present technology is really pushing for a paperless environment, which saves both trees and money. And that’s what’s happening here. Bonds will now be available only through TreasuryDirect^®, a secure, web-based system operated by The Bureau of Public Debt. This site has been available to investors since 2002, and being web-based, it’s open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for your bond-buying convenience. Another upside, you’ll no longer have to worry about storing or losing paper savings bonds.

This discontinuation of selling paper bonds at places like Vantage is part of the Treasury Department’s all-electronic initiative introduced in April 2010. This included the end of paper bond sales through payroll plans. All this has been estimated to save Joe Taxpayer about $120 million over the next five years.

Opening a TreasuryDirect account for taking care of any bond business is free, and with it you can:

• Buy, manage and redeem Series EE and I electronic savings bonds
   
• Convert Series EE and I paper savings bonds to electronic through the SmartExchange feature
   
• Purchase electronic savings bonds as a gift
   
• Enroll in a payroll savings plan for purchasing electronic bonds
   
• Invest in other Treasury securities (bills, notes, bonds, etc.)

Bottom line: Starting January 1, 2012, Vantage will no longer sell paper savings bonds in our branches. To purchase a bond electronically, visit TreasuryDirect.

While we may be out of the bond-selling business, we’re still eager to help you with any of your other investment needs through Vantage Investment Services Group.