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I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government

beanlog.vercel.app

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Re: I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government

#211

Post by smarx007 »

> Obviously I was only allowed to buy another $9,975. But if I tried to buy $10,000, what would happen? It must be a common type of error. Would they let $9,975 go through and return $25? Would they reject the whole transaction? Would the rejection happen immediately, in an hour, in a day? It was a morbid curiosity. I already knew I was using lackluster software, yet I wanted to see just how inept it could be. No real damage could be done, I figured.

Does not sound like an accident, but a clickbait instead.

Re: I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government

#212

Post by jandrese »

tashbarg wrote: post #120
supernova87a wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In fact, if you notice when you log in the next time, (for many people) your browser may offer to autocomplete your password and bypass the mouse-driven keyboard, so it's definitely not even hard to thwart.

So, in the described scenario, the password never shows up in the keyloggers log. Works as intended.

Keyloggers track mouse clicks just as well as keystrokes. They had the password the entire time since the site doesn't randomize the keyboard layout.

Re: I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government

#213

Post by baobabKoodaa »

shireboy wrote: post #197

What is the “might be screwed if you purchase after May”? I understand what I bonds are and am considering, but am missing why the May cutoff?

This 8.5% calculated inflation rate is a temporary anomaly and the author expects it to drop significantly, so if you purchase after May you might get significantly lower interest on the bond.

Re: I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government

#214

Post by msrenee »

smachiz wrote: post #182
delecti wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incidentally, that exact confusion is why he made the third transaction for $9,975. The refund on his second transaction will either be for $25 or $10,000, so his third transaction will either be refunded in full or not at all.

If they refund the entirety of the second transaction, logic follows a third transaction of $9,975 would be correct if you actually wanted to buy $10k. I suspect that's not what's going to happen though. OP will get a refund of $25 + $9,975.

Hopefully the folks whose desk this paperwork ends up on catches it and has the authority to just send back the $10k and transfer the other $10k to bonds.

Re: I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government

#215

Post by dev_tty01 »

t_mann wrote: post #12

"A refund of the excess purchase will be made" Sounds like he will have made his intended 10k investment, there's no indication the system doesn't work as intended (even though it could work a lot better, obviously - the app could check for the investment limit right away, and an 8-week window for refunds, in a system that offers 2-month investments, is borderline scammy).

Yeah, I would think this was a dark pattern, but it was probably just simple incompetence. The refund process sounds like it must involve humans and is therefore expensive. Presumably the system had his id number, as you said, a simple data lookup and filter to avoid over deposits would make much more sense. Setting aside the authors bad decisions, he really was dealing with a ridiculously poor system design.

Re: I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government

#216

Post by caymanjim »

msrenee wrote: post #206
viraptor wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They thought they exceeded the limit by trying to send $10000+$25, so given that the $10000 was coming back, they expected that they're again $9975 under the limit.

I can see the logic. Is there no way to purchase these bonds besides this website?

The only other way is via your annual tax return.

Re: I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government

#217

Post by dev_tty01 »

ZephyrBlu wrote: post #23
ataru wrote: post #14

If I ever feel an urge to try out test cases on banking apps, hopefully I'll think of this story and stop.

This is what gets me. I would *never* send $10k just to see what happens in that scenario. Why would I want to risk that something goes awry???

The system is so poorly designed, who's to say his unusual behavior will be handled properly? That second 10K might just disappear. He let curiosity override the rational, cynical side of his brain. It happens.

Re: I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government

#218

Post by msrenee »

derangedHorse wrote: post #110
dwighttk wrote: post #86

“A refund of the excess purchase” seems like $25 from the second purchase and then $9975, the entire third purchase… but maybe it is all but $25 like the author assumed.

"A refund of the excess purchase" seems like it might be the whole amount of the purchase assuming the "purchase" refers to the entire purchase transaction. The wording could have been clearer though and hopefully it's just the $25 from the second purchase that's returned.

Say you go to the refrigerator store and they are selling fridges for $100 each, limit 10, or as stated in this store, limit $1000 in fridges. You give them $1100 to buy 11 fridges. They refund the excess purchase, which would be $100 or one fridge. At least that's my logic here. I feel like the excess purchase is that extra $25 plus the third transaction. But who knows, honestly? It's probably tied up in some barely-known financial law and can only be purchased with exact figures.

Re: I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government

#219

Post by parkingrift »

jzig wrote: post #207
parkingrift wrote: post #131

I-Bonds have rules. For example, you have to hold the bond for five years or you must pay back three months interest. I expect in about 12 months there will be a horde of people upset when they find that out.

Nine months at 9% still better than twelve at 0.1%

It is recalculated every six months. For simplicity let us assume the 7.12% April rate stays the same for 12 months.

$10,000 individual purchase. Interest is added monthly but it does not compound, ever. After one year you have earned $712 in interest. However, if you sell at this time you must pay 3-months interest which amounts to $178. Your net gain for the year is $534 for an actual rate of 5.34%.

5.34% is pretty good for a guaranteed return, but it is significantly less than people are expecting.

...especially people such as OP who decided to seemingly purchase a Series I bond on a whim.

Re: I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government

#220

Post by elzbardico »

vasco wrote: post #32

The venn diagram of internet users that read about super specific financial products, decide to buy them, while not even understanding the need to keep an emergency fund such that a move like this leaves them with under $200 in their account seems to be growing. It seems to be a weird mix of wall street cosplay and financial ineptitude.

People are desperate about the future. Gone are the times when having a good job, paying a reasonable mortgage for a reasonably paid house, saving a reasonable amount for retirement, while keeping a reasonable amount for emergencies (rare, before lay-offs become the knee jerk reaction of MBAs to fatten their bonuses).

Due to the increasing financialization of the economy, more and more people feel like they need to become wannabe speculators to protect their situations.

Thanks, Wall Street and Harvard Business School for fucking us all.

And fuck the Uniparty for squashing any real option to them.

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