Update, 5/1/23: I Bonds now have a 3.38% variable rate plus a 0.9% fixed rate.
Update, 4/20/23: I Bonds are expected to drop to a rate around 3.38% plus a potential fixed rate on May 1st that might range from 0.3-0.9%, though the exact rate won’t be announced until then. The drop is due to the US inflation rate falling from around 9% to 5%. The fixed rate of an I Bond applies on top of the variable inflation rate, for the life of the I bond.
You can lock in 6 months of 6.89% interest by buying I Bonds now. They would then earn a likely rate of 0.4% fixed rate plus 3.38% interest rate for the following 6 months. However I Bonds must be held for at least 1 year and there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest earned if they’re closed before 5 years. You may be better off with other investment options at this point in time.
If you do want to close out your I Bonds positions, consider that you will be charged the last 3 months interest, so you may want to wait until I Bond interest rates drop and then wait 3 months after the rate on your I Bonds drop until you cash them out . Interest rate drops will vary based on when you purchased the bonds, as there is a 6 month rolling interest rate period from the month when they are purchased. Either way, we’ll know more on May 1st, so check back then for the new rate.
Will you lock in I Bonds at the current 6.89% rate or will you invest in other high yield options that are now available?
Update, 12/28/22: If you haven’t yet maxed out your 2022 I Bonds purchases, you should be able to do so until tomorrow.
Update, 11/1/22: Newly purchased I bonds from now through 4/30/23 will receive an effective 6.89% interest rate, which is a composite of a 0.4% fixed rate and a 6.48% inflation rate. The fixed rate has been 0% since May 2020. That 0.4% fixed rate will apply on top of the variable inflation rate, for the life of the I bond.
Update, 10/28/22: The Treasury site has been slammed all week, but if you’re persistent and act now, you can still lock in this rate. I just bought gift bonds (as explained in the update below) for my wife and I for 2023 and 2024 to lock in the current rate!
Update, 10/24/22: If you purchase I Bonds by Friday you will receive whopping 9.62% interest rate as if you had them for the full month of October with a 10/1/22 issue date and your next rate change will be on 4/1/23. The interest rate for the following 6 months is expected to be 6.47%. See the original post below for purchase instructions.
You can buy up to $10,000 in I Bonds per person or company per calendar year. You can also lock in current rates by purchasing gift bonds. For example, spouses can buy each other multiple gift bonds now which start accruing interest at today’s high rates and can be gifted and applied to each others account in future years. Note that when you receive the gift in future years, it counts against the $10,000 per person limit for the recipient in the year in which it was received and applied. The limit applies to how much is delivered in the same calendar year. The holding period begins from the beginning of the month that they’re purchased. That means that gifts bought now can be cashed out on 10/1/23 with a 3 month interest penalty or on 10/1/27 with no interest penalty, regardless of the year in which they are actually delivered to the recipient. The interest penalty is based on the most recent 3 months, so if interest rates drop, the penalty will be smaller. Note that you can’t gift to or from a business.
Update, 4/29/22: Purchases made today will have a 5/1/22 issue date, earning 9.62% interest for 6 months. The interest rate for the following 6 months will be determined in October.
Update, 4/28/22: Today is the final day to lock in 6 months of 7.12% interest and 6 months of 9.62% interest for you, your spouse, your business, your kids, your trusts, or gifts for future years for any of those!
Update, 4/26/22: If you purchase I Bonds by Thursday you will receive the 7.12% interest rate as if you had them for the full month of April with a 4/1/22 issue date and your next rate change will be on 10/1/22. You will then receive a whopping 9.62% interest from 10/1/22-3/31/23.
Update, 1/28/22: If you purchase I Bonds today you will receive the 7.12% interest rate as if you had them for the full month of January and the next rate change will be on 7/1/22. Bonds purchased today will have a purchase date of 1/31/22 and a 1/1/22 issue date. You can buy up to $10,000 in I Bonds per person or company per calendar year. I bought in December and am buying more now!
Update, 12/30/21: The Series I Bonds that I bought last night have now posted to my account with an 12/1/21 issue date. That means on 1/1/22 I’ll receive the 7.12% interest rate as if I had them for the full month of December and the next rate change will be on 6/1/22.
If you want to buy 12/1/21 issue date bonds you’ll want to do so today before 11:59pm ET. You can buy 2022 bonds starting on 1/1/22.
Originally posted on 12/29/21:
US Treasury Series I Savings Bonds, or I Bonds are US government bonds that keep pace with inflation. The value of I Bonds will never go down and is backed by the treasury. The inflation rate gets updated every May and November, so the rate until May 2022 is an unusually high 7.12% due to the rampant inflation in the US in 2021!
The previous rate from May through November 2021 was 3.54%.
If you purchase I Bonds the current interest rate will be locked in for a full 6 months from your date of purchase, and will update every 6 months thereafter based on the current rate.
You can’t cash out an I Bond within 1 year of purchase. If you cash them out between 1 and 5 years after purchase, you will pay a relatively low penalty of the previous 3 months interest. If interest rates drop, just wait 3 months and your penalty will be much lower than if you cash out during a high interest period. After 5 years you can cash them out without penalty and you can hold onto them for up to 30 years with interest that is pegged to the current inflation rate.
Interest is paid on the 1st of every month and you get interest for the entire month in which you buy them. The interest will be rolled into and reinvested into the value of your I Bonds until you cash them out. Unlike a CD, you won’t owe taxes on the interest until you cash it out. You also won’t owe state or local taxes on the interest. If you qualify based on income and use them for qualified higher education you may pay no federal taxes as well.
Note that if your bonds are within 5 years of the issue date, the current value excludes all interest earned in the past three months. If you cash out today, you’ll receive the current value, which is why you won’t see any interest added to the current value during the first four months. After 5 years there is no cash out penalty, so the current value will reflect the full value with no penalty.
You can buy up to $10,000 in I Bonds per person/social security number, per calendar year. That means you can buy $10,000 per person now and another $10,000 per person starting on 1/1/22.
You can also buy up to $10,000 in I Bonds for each business that you have, per calendar year.
You can also buy an additional $5,000 in I Bonds per calendar with the proceeds from your tax return refund. And you can buy $10,000 in I Bonds for a trust.
To buy I Bonds, you need to open a TreasuryDirect account here. When making a password, note that it will not be case sensitive, and you won’t be able to use autofill or paste it. What did you expect from a government site? 😀
After creating an account you’ll get an email with an account number. You’ll need that to login and purchase the I Bonds here. You can then fund your account via ACH from your bank account. Click on BuyDirect and then on Series I savings Bonds. Make sure that you have sufficient funds or else your account will be locked. Note that this bank account can be difficult to change, so try to use one that you will have for the long term.
You can find more information on I Bonds here and FAQs here.
The Finance Buff has more information and screenshots of the process, so you can read his articles for more info on I Bonds, buying I Bonds for kids, buying I bonds as a gift, buying I Bonds for a business, buying I Bonds for a Trust, overpaying taxes to buy more I Bonds, and converting tax refund paper I Bonds to online I Bonds.
Do you have I Bonds or will you buy I Bonds at this rate?
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400 Comments On "[Last Chance To Buy At 6.89%, But Should You?] Purchase I Bonds And Get 6.89% Interest For 6 Months!"
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Bought today as a gift. Remember you get interest for the whole month you buy them in.
“…you get interest for the whole month…”
Is that true? Source?
That’s how they work — they are issued with a 10/1/22 date regardless of what day of the month you buy them.
If you don’t trust – google…don’t ask others to do your work for you
I just bought in Nov, thinking about getting for my wife before the year’s end. Still enough time…?
Normally one day IME.
Do you have Dan ?
Just bought 🙂
Way to go, Dan! Nice to see you branching out to real financial advice! Personal finance is not just spending. 😉
Even donated 350% appreciated AMZN stock to charity today. 🙂
Just not enough hours in the day to focus on all the ins and outs of everything while running a business!
Stop posting in JS.
😀
Can they be purchased for minors ? Under 18
Yes
https://thefinancebuff.com/buy-i-bonds-kids-name.html
This is a great blog. Thanks
That same link is in the post above…
I’m gonna pass
Thanks tho
K
K’shmo cane who
You didn’t need to announce that publicly.
How is it possible that there are no comments does that mean no one is interested in this
There are comments.
Everyone is gaining interest on this
It is not the last time to buy IBonds for this rate. You can buy anytime in the 6 month period to April and get that rate for the following 6 months
As the title says, last chance for 2021.
You can buy more in 2022.
However, whatever you buy before 2021 year’s end does not apply to next year’s limit 0f $10,000 per person.
you wont get the rate for the following 6 months. you get it for 6 months following issuance of the bond. so if you buy it next month you will lose out a month of this rate.
Not true. You always get full 6 mo at the current rate.
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/ibonds/res_ibonds_iratesandterms.htm#change
Make certain you get the correct routing and account information from your bank. If you make a mistake entering your account information you have to verify it in person with your bank, have them sign the forms and then snail mail them to treasury direct.
Question for the accountants out there.
Will this ruin any tax refunds credits etc. Like stocks (short term capital gain) does?
There is no tax on the interest until you sell. So there will be no impact to your tax refund credits.
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/who-qualifies-for-the-earned-income-tax-credit-eitc#:~:text=To%20qualify%20for%20the%20EITC,your%202021%20return%20(including%20extensions)
$10,000 interest the year redeemed for Earned Income Tax Credit. Otherwise you just pay Federal Income Tax not state Taxes
You only lock in the 7.12% rate for six months, so this in reality is like a 3.56% return for your money. The following six months will use the new rate which will probably be much lower.
Uh, all but guaranteed it’s not going to be 0.
Very possibly will go higher than 7.12% in May based on the inflation rates…
This is highly unlikely. It will most likely not be higher than 7.12% due to the Fed starting to increase interest rates next year. However, it will definitely be higher than 0%. I’m going to estimate it’s going to be something like 2-4%.
I believe the interest rate for these bonds are calculated on a lag. So the rates in May will be based on the inflation rates prior to then.
That didn’t age well 🙂
oof how wrong were u
This comment didn’t age well 😉
How long does money transfer take to purchase bonds?
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/banking/last-chance-buy-2021-series-savings-bonds-earning-7-12-interest/#comment-1557440
“last chance to buy 2021 . . .” What is the difference if I buy 2021 bonds now or 2022 bonds next month?
The difference between $10K or $20K earning 7.12%.
Personally don’t find this attractive at all. Put money in to the S&P 500. Set it and forget it…
Bad idea to put all your eggs in one risky basket.
The S&P is as strong as the US treasury. It may be a bad idea to put all your eggs in one basket
I own VTSAX to mirror the market and I’ve owned AMZN and TSLA for years.
But going all-in on stock is a risky strategy. Sure, it has more growth potential, but there are no guarantees in the market.
We mirrored the 1918-1920 pandemic a century later, let’s just pray we don’t mirror the 1929-1939 depression a century later.
Only this time the economy moves faster, a decade might be 2 yares.
This comment aged well
If you want a short term investment, S&P is probably not your greatest option…
Yes, because you’re guaranteed at least 7.12% interest in stocks. Diversification is key.
Guaranteed? Lol
That was sarcasm. Reason why I said diversification is key.
Each year has a $10000 limit
Thanks for the tip! This truly is a well-rounded financial advice website.
Lol, my thoughts exactly
Great summary. Thanks.
Can you set up for each LLC name to buy under buy in one account? Can the moneys to fund each LLC buy, come from the same one account?
https://thefinancebuff.com/buy-i-bonds-business-sole-proprietor-llc.html
Out of Stock!
This is the government apology to poor people for inflating our money?
Poor people don’t have the money to inflate…
can i buy on the 31st
Yes but it won’t go through until Jan 3 and will count for 2022 not 2021.
Not if you want to get a bond dated for this year. If you submit an order tomorrow, it will schedule it for purchase on the next business day which will be in the new year. There’s always at least a one business day lag which it won’t show you until the very last screen when you go to make the purchase.
If me and my wife share a bank account is that ok? can we still but 10,000 each?
Yes.
Yes.
Thanks R’ Dan as always!!
Will we be notified of the new rate every 6 months or do we need to check back on the site?
Dan, do you recommend buying these bonds in your kids names as well?
Only if they are true permanent gifts.
How about if a parent is listed as a co-owner? Anyone know if that changes anything?
You might want to note that if you wish to change your bank account info you will have to go with some form to your bank and have them sign it or something, a long procedure. You also want to note that if you buy them the actual purchase date will be the day after, so better buy today, the 30th.
Purchase yesterday showed this morning as expected.
What’s the monthly income of interest on 10k at 7.12%?
$59.3. Source:Calculator
Approximately $59.33/mo for the 6 months that rate is effective, for a total of $356 interest paid at the end of the 6 months.
You do lose 3 months interest if you don’t keep for 5 years.
The best way to play that is wait for the rate to drop so low that the penalty is meaningless. I probably won’t pull these until at least five years. If you compare them to CD’s over the past twenty years there are very few situations when CD’s outperformed the IBond.
Just curious how you get to that number?
10,000 x .0712/12 is the monthly interest payment. multiply by 6 for 6 months worth.
you forgot to count the 59.33 that also gets interest every month.
Can Canadians buy in? What about with an ITIN?
I believe that the US considers Canadians US citizens as well.
And anyone crossing the southern border
haaa
I’ve read elsewhere that since tomorrow is a holiday and since it takes 24 hours for the ACH to post that bonds purchased today most likely won’t go through in time for December. Still worth a shot I suppose?
Thank you Dan once again!!
What about other type of bonds? What are the interest rates for the other type of bonds that the rates don’t fluctuate, what are those up to?
Is it for sure worth going with this setup?
The I bond has the highest rate by far.
Long term Treasury Bonds have rates 1.5 – 2%
EE bonds are 0.1% APY. But if you keep them for 20 years they get a one-time doubling, which works out to ~3.5% APY if you hold exactly 20 years.
But if you cash out at 19 years 11 months you get the 0.1%, which is pretty bad.
And if you hold longer than 20 years you end up reducing the 3.5% (due to more years at 0.1%).
Not worth it IMO but can work as a part of a bigger strategy for some people.
I just bought now and it has a posting date of tomorrow 12/31. I’ll double up in January.
Thanks very much Dan, valuable post!
Did it say “posting date” or “purchase date” is 12/31? In my case, at the end, it said “we may have changed your purchase date to the next available business day” and then in the Purchase Date field it said 12/31/2021. Is that what yours looked like, or is my purchase date going to be tomorrow and I missed it for 2021, maybe since I did it later in the day than you?
same for me, just created an account and purchased, or at least I hope I got in under the deadline, so I can double-down come Jan.
Only worth it if I can charge it and earn points. Or maybe buy with the silver dollar coins I still have hoarded
The site it down.
I had the same issue, just retry it. worked for me, just took a couple times
Can someone elaborate on the tax implications when cashing out?
Capital gains?
at the time you cash out you will need to pay federal tax. but exempt of state
it is interest payments so will be income not capital gains.
I bought them a few days ago, and I see they are back dated to 12-1 on one screen.
However, the Security History tab indicates the following:
Purchase Requested 12/27
Security Issued 12/28
Normal
Anyone else has this problem on a iPhone.
“ Safari cannot open this page because it cannot establish A secure connection to the server”
Opening on a PC works, mobile not working
Most likely you’re not at home and your phone is trying to connect to someone else’s wifi. I get that a lot with Cox. Turn off your wifi and just use your cellular.
Do I have to make a separate account for my wife? Or can I buy two on mine?
I believe you can for her buy on yours
Nope.
@dan So is it too late to benefit for 2021 if doing it today?
Should still be doable
Thank you Dan. Insightful. Was very simple to do and your article spelled everything out very clearly.
Which of the following are I bond?
*Bills – Short-term securities of 1 year or less*
1. Notes – Medium-term fixed-principal securities of 2 to 10 years
2. Bonds – Long-term fixed-principal securities of more than 10 years
3. TIPS Notes/Bonds – Medium or long-term Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities of 5 to 30 years
4. FRN – Medium-term Floating Rate Notes
*Savings Bonds (NO Paper Savings Bonds)*
1. Series EE – An accrual-type security with a fixed interest rate
2. Series I – An accrual-type security with a combination interest rate of a fixed and an inflation rate
3. Zero-Percent Certificate of Indebtedness
4. C of I – A non-interest bearing security which can be used to fund TreasuryDirect purchases
Series I
It’s sketchy that the website doesn’t tell you what happens at maturity of 1yr. Also doesn’t say what premium you are paying for that unreal interest rate. Do you get cashed out the same money you put it? If you buy $100, do you get back $100 + the 9.62% interest gained?
I bought some just to test it out, but didn’t go “all-in” because the above questions are of concern.
I am wondering how we can be sure that this website is a legit one. and not a scammer getting all of my information – ss#, license, bank information. What can I look at to see that it’s a legit site?
Go to treasurydirect.gov, and start from there.
It seems like Corporation may NOT buy I Bonds. See below from the US Treasury. Thanks
Who may own an I bond?
Individuals
Yes, if you have a Social Security Number and meet any one of these three conditions:
United States citizen, whether you live in the U.S. or abroad
United States resident
Civilian employee of the United States, no matter where you live
To buy and own an electronic I bond, you must first establish a TreasuryDirect account.
Children under 18
Yes, if they meet one of the conditions above for individuals.
Information concerning electronic and paper bonds:
Electronic bonds in TreasuryDirect. A child may not open a TreasuryDirect account, buy securities in TreasuryDirect, or conduct other transactions in TreasuryDirect. A parent or other adult custodian may open for the child a TreasuryDirect account that is linked to the adult’s TreasuryDirect account. The parent or other adult custodian can buy securities and conduct other transactions for the child, and other adults can buy savings bonds for the child as gifts.
Paper bonds. Adults can buy bonds in the name of a child.
Trust, estate, corporation, partnership and some other entities
Electronic bonds (in TreasuryDirect): Yes
Paper bonds:
Trusts and estates: In some cases, Yes
Corporations, partnerships, other entities: No
iS THERE A LIMIT FOR NON PROFITS
Do I need to open a separate account for my wife or I can just put in another purchase of 10k?
You can earn 8.05% holding GUSD at Gemini. No limits
Interest compounds Daily
Please elaborate how to buy this
Where can I buy GUSD?
why is today the last day? I just put through a purchase and they dated it 12/31.
Exactly. And if you do it tomorrow, they’ll date it for 01/01 (or later because it’s a weekend), because they need to pull the funds overnight.
Dan are you SURE it’s today and deadline wasn’t yesterday? Treasure spokesman quoted here says today no good. https://news.yahoo.com/throw-more-money-inflation-hedge-120122468.html
I’m not sure of anything, this was originally posted yesterday and my bond was issued today.
Either you’ll get it for 2021 or 2022, but you’ll get the 7.12% either way.
I’m referring to this below, not about your bond.
If you want to buy 12/1/21 issue date bonds you’ll want to do so today before 11:59pm ET. You can buy 2022 bonds starting on 1/1/22.
Posted today.
I did it today and the summary says “Purchase Date: 12-31-2021”. To be fair, I don’t know if that means it will actually post by then. But if the issue is Dec 31st being a federal holiday, shouldn’t the treasury have shown me the next business day which would be in January? Or maybe it varies from bank to bank and will only post as 2021 if they can get the funds over by tomorrow?
As an update, I bought yesterday with a purchase date of 12-31-2021 and it looks like it went through just fine with an issue date of 12-1-2021.
Awesome!
Me Too
That Yahoo article seems to have been mistaken. I did it on the 30th and today I see an issue date of 12-01-21. Either they mistakenly inferred that it was only doable on Dec 29, or the treasury spokesperson spoke wrong. It’s likely that he meant that the 29th is most likely to work, and he wouldn’t risk saying the 30th, but when everything is done right and goes through smoothly, it would work on the 30th as well. The 31st is not a federal banking holiday, it’s only when it’s observed as far as giving employees off, etc.
I missed the midnight deadline to buy under my child’s name due to complications setting up the minor account. Now, the site says the effective purchase date will be 01/03/2022. Is there any point in buying ASAP anyway? Or once I’ve missed the interest for December 2021 anyway, may as well wait for January 30th to buy, and it will make no difference anyway?
May as well wait, unless you’ll procrastinate then too 😀
LOL, I got mine in time. It’s my kid’s that was a problem, because I wasn’t expecting setting up a minor’s account to be more complicated.
Schedule the purchase now to process late in the month
Bought yesterday posted today!
Great!
When will the interest be posted? First day of the month, monthly?
If your bonds are still within 5 years from the Issue Date, the Current Value automatically excludes interest earned in the last three months. If you cash out today, you’ll receive the Current Value. That’s why you won’t see any interest in the current value during the first three months.
Good explanation. Thank you.
Thank you for the explanation, Jacque!
@Dan do you see interest added on 1/1/22? I also had purchase date of 12/1/21 but no interest is credited yet..
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/banking/last-chance-buy-2021-series-savings-bonds-earning-7-12-interest/#comment-1557869
Got it thanks Dan.
So, unless you hold the bonds for over 5 years, the Treasury short pays you the 3 month interest? Wish we could do that to our mortgage lenders also.
Did the interest for December not post for anyone else? still saying the value is 10k despite issue date being 12/1.
Look up 1 comment.
When should the interest post?
is today the last day to purchase to get credit for January?
Shabbos, sunday.. but we don’t work then.
@Dan, you should have mentioned that 20 years ago we could buy paper bonds with a credit card. Good times. I kept some of them but I wish I had held on to more. Inflation plus 2 percent is looking pretty good now.
Gosh, before my times! That would have been fun though.
Does the one year hold to pull out funds start from purchase date or retroactive issue date?
What’s the advantage of buying the I Bonds today, instead of waiting for near the end April? Earlier maturity/time to cash out? The rate changes in May and it’s likely we will see an announcement of the new rate at the end of April. Maybe we will have a higher rate for the second half of the year. Regardless of when you purchase between now and April 30, you will get 7.12% for 6 months.
Is there a benefit to waiting? If the rate goes up, then you should get that new upgraded rate for the following six month period anyway. Just sacrificing the 7.12% for no reason, no?
These are great. EE bonds are also a nice way to secure a 3.5% return for 20 years. The only issue is that they yield virtually nothing in interest, but you are GUARANTEED to double it in 20 years.
So – hold for 20 years and you yield 3.5% return. Hold for 19 years and 11 months and you’ll get very little though
Is today too late?
I’m confused, doesn’t the face value of the bond fluctuate with interest rates or does the price of the bond stay relatively close to par because the coupon rate is variable and adjusts every 6 months thus mitigating interest rate risk?
is it too late to buy bonds now if i want to get the interest for the month of january?
Uch missed it Friday is a hard day guess I may as well wait till end of February
FYI I bought one today on Sunday and the purchase date will be January 31st. Not sure whether it will get the issue date of January 1st or not but we’ll see
So what is your purchase date?
It worked.. issue date Jan 1
PLEASE CALRIFY:
Today is 1/31/2022. I saw the post. After reading it it seems to me that the same opportunity will be available
02/28/22
03/31/22
04/30/22
Maybe 05.31.22 (Not sure when the interest rate updates.
Please confirm If I am correct and can do the EXACT same thing on 3/30 with the SAME benefits.
@Dan- 2 important points that you should mention in the post. 1- Within 60 days of selling a bond, you can put the money into a 529 education account and use that money for K-12 tuition (pg 7 of irs.gov/pub/newsroom/7-529-account-funding%20-529-13602_508.pdf). 2- Education credits are only for bonds in one’s personal name, not a company. Thanks
If i buy today (Jan/31) will is still get the 7.12% or am I too late?
if i bought an I-bond on 12/31 does that count for 2021? or for 2022? It looks like it didn’t process until 2022 since 12/31 was technically a holiday? is there any way to determine which calendar year the purchase falls into?
Can a foreign with a visa student have an account? or it’s only for a us citizen!?
Thanks
it says on the website that in a area thats affected by a disaster, special provisions may apply and you can redeem the i bonds back even during the first year
is that now??
inflation 7.5
time to bump the post just to save cash!
how come when i go onto the treasury direct website do i not see the interest i was supposed to recieve? all i see is the amount of money i put in more then a month ago
“Note that if your bonds are within 5 years of the issue date, the current value excludes all interest earned in the last three months. If you cash out today, you’ll receive the current value, which is why you won’t see any interest added to the current value during the first three months. After 5 years there is no cash out penalty, so the current value will reflect the full value with no penalty.”
i bought in dec, yet still do not see any interest added, it’s been more than 3 full months?!
Dan- i purchased i bonds a few months ago and when i go on treasury direct onto my account i dont see any interest, just the ammount that i put in…what would be the reason for that?
It seems after 6 months the interest is added to your base amount and now you begin to earn interest on that as well. Even after 6 months it will only show 3 months of interest (4 months after 7 etc.) as the amount reflected is the amount it is worth at that given moment. Since if you would pull out before 5 years you lose 3 months, therefore it wont be reflected in you total.
New rate – 9.62%
Why should we buy today and not wait for the new interest rate in May?
Because 7.12% is historically high and avoids an unknown locked in rate.
If you buy today you can 7.12% from 4/1/22-9/30/22 and 9.62% from 10/1/22-3/31/31. You can cash out starting 4/1/23, but if rates stay high you will get the next TBD rate from 4/1/23-9/30/23.
If you buy in May you get 9.62% from 5/1/22-10/31/22 and then an unknown amount from 11/1/22-4/30/23. You can cash out starting 5/1/23, but if rates stay high you will get the next TBD rate from 5/1/23-10/31/23.
so if i would only hold on to these for a year (10K) how much would i walk away with
I would guestimate around 6-700..becuase u will lose 3 months of interest,
However if you keep it for 5 years you would likely end up with around 5k profit
and in ten years unless inflation goes down significantly you should more than double your money.
someone Correct me if I’m wrong
Cashing out after 12 months should net about $597 after factoring in the penalty. Much better off (if at all possible) to hold it for 3 additional months (so 15 in total) so as not to waste 3 months worth of 9.62% interest. Holding for 15 months should yield approximately $837 after penalty.
I love I-bonds for their current risk free interest rate, but you’re drastically overprojecting their long term returns.
I don’t think most people expect the CPI to remain this high for long. Presumably it’ll settle to the 2-3% range in the next year or two.
If you were to project 5% for the next year (following the 9.62% period), and then 3% thereafter, the return would come out to approximately $2,500 after 5 years and $4,500 after 10 years.
can i just get my wife a gift I bond for 10k so she doesn’t have to go through the whole hassle to create an account>?
I believe she has to have an account in order to redeem it/receive it
thank you!
Dan, how do you know it’s going up to 9.62%?
I didn’t see that on the site
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkudla/2022/04/25/strike-now-on-i-bonds/
Not officially announced but some financial websites estimate the rate due to the inflation rate.
I think it worthwhile to wait a month to get the higher rate sooner (May 2022).
Why not take the guaranteed 6 months at 7.12+ 6 months at 9.62 instead of the unknown?
And you also get another (around) .6% guaranteed return by not waiting another month for the possibly higher rate. Does that make sense?
Much more than .6% because the way it works is that you get the current rate for 6 months. So you’d be locking in 6 months at the 7.12% rate (and following that, 6 months of the 9.62% rate).
On $100 In a year assuming 6 months 7% and six 9% = $8.00 interest at average 9% would be $9.00 interest
A month of waiting a cost $0.67 assuming it doesn’t cost you anything.
Why didn’t I get any interest yet from funds deposited in December ?
I think it takes 6 moths to first start getting interest
You should have received $60
Is a business considered an individual investor?
Can’t get into my account, it asked me to pick the 3 security questions I chose way back then and answer them, which I have no idea which ones I chose. Tried answering all of them, but nothing doing.
Now I’m locked out.
I had similar situation, you can call them they’re pretty helpful. Wait time is long though..
I waited for 5 hours!
I put $10K in November, now 5-6 months later my account is at $10,116 at a rate at 7.12%
Why is it so low? It Shlome be around $10,350 range.
Thoughts?
I believe its showing 3 months behind on interest payments until 5 years in..
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/comments/stjyxb/ibonds_interest_payout/
You lose 3 months interest if cashed in before 5 years. Still a good deal. No State income taxes on the interest only Federal.
Say I would buy $1000 today, and want to cash out after 6 months. After the penalty how much interest would I be making at the end of the day?
You are locked in for a year. (Rate changes two times a year) If the rate is 8% after a year you should have $1,060 less Federal income taxes.(you lose 3 months interest if cashed before 12 months.)
Correction.
You are locked in for a year. (Rate changes two times a year) If the rate is 8% after a year you should have $1,060 less Federal income taxes.(you lose 3 months interest if cashed before 5 years.)
Isn’t 8% $1080?
Also I will be paying taxes on that money when I pull out no?
Three month interest penalty.
Federal Taxes only on the interest.
Read the fine print. Sounds good, but there is a catch. A few really. One: you cannot take out the money for a while. If you take it out early z there is a penalty. Two:. Historically, inflation has been low. The current high inflation will not continue very long. The high interest rate of these bonds is due to inflation. Once the inflation rate drops, so does the rate in the bond. The fixed rate part of the bond is ZERO (last time I looked).
Final point: Basically, you get a great introductory rate for six months, maybe a year z then it drops to a very very low rate.
Suggestion:. Ask a financial advisor about these. I did.
Suggestion – do your own research and use your own 2 cents, because this is one of the few investment products where financial advisors cannot make a dollar off of.
What are you saying ?
For this upcoming 12 Months, your Gold, after the 12 Months, you can ‘redeem’ and the money plus the interest is yours. (your penalty is 3 months of interest for monies that aren’t there for 5 years), big Deal dude.
This is great!!!!
Fine print: locked in for just one year, rate will be historically high for at least a year 3/23. Why don’t you look up thread at all the naysayers who said the rate will drop to nothing by October…
Suggestion: Don’t ask your financial advisor
Plus if it goes down eventually, you wait 3 months and pay almost no penalty.
Really, Here is the rate history. for the most part it is much higher than the market rate.
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/ibonds/res_ibonds_iratesandterms.htm#compositerate
Nov. 2021 Apr. 2022 7.12%
May 2021 Oct. 2021 7.12%
Nov. 2020 Apr. 2021 7.12%
May 2020 Oct. 2020 7.12%
Nov. 2019 Apr. 2020 7.33%
May 2019 Oct. 2019 7.64%
Nov. 2018 Apr. 2019 7.64%
May 2018 Oct. 2018 7.43%
Nov. 2017 Apr. 2018 7.22%
May 2017 Oct. 2017 7.12%
Nov. 2016 Apr. 2017 7.12%
May 2016 Oct. 2016 7.22%
Nov. 2015 Apr. 2016 7.22%
May 2015 Oct. 2015 7.12%
Nov. 2014 Apr. 2015 7.12%
May 2014 Oct. 2014 7.22%
Nov. 2013 Apr. 2014 7.33%
May 2013 Oct. 2013 7.12%
Nov. 2012 Apr. 2013 7.12%
May 2012 Oct. 2012 7.12%
Nov. 2011 Apr. 2012 7.12%
May 2011 Oct. 2011 7.12%
Nov. 2010 Apr. 2011 7.12%
May 2010 Oct. 2010 7.33%
Nov. 2009 Apr. 2010 7.43%
May 2009 Oct. 2009 7.22%
Nov. 2008 Apr. 2009 7.84%
May 2008 Oct. 2008 7.12%
Nov. 2007 Apr. 2008 8.36%
May 2007 Oct. 2007 8.47%
Nov. 2006 Apr. 2007 8.57%
May 2006 Oct. 2006 8.57%
Nov. 2005 Apr. 2006 8.16%
May 2005 Oct. 2005 8.36%
Nov. 2004 Apr. 2005 8.16%
May 2004 Oct. 2004 8.16%
Nov. 2003 Apr. 2004 8.26%
May 2003 Oct. 2003 8.26%
Nov. 2002 Apr. 2003 8.78%
May 2002 Oct. 2002 9.19%
Nov. 2001 Apr. 2002 9.19%
May 2001 Oct. 2001 10.23%
Nov. 2000 Apr. 2001 10.64%
May 2000 Oct. 2000 10.85%
Nov. 1999 Apr. 2000 10.64%
May 1999 Oct. 1999 10.54%
Nov. 1998 Apr. 1999 10.54%
Sept. 1998 Oct. 1998 10.64%
You got this wrong, this schedule is the current rate if bought…….
You completely misread that, it’s the current rate depending on when you bought it
When I buy today, will the rate be 7.12 till October and 9.62 from October?
Also, When buying as a gift, is the withdrawal date (penalties) counted from the day purchased or the day of gift received ?
Yes.
Purchased.
When you redeem early, you lose the last 3 months of interest or the first three months of interest?
Last
Fwiw, you can allow pasting of your password by modifying the html of the page (e.g. in chrome, right click on the password box and then click “inspect element).
Find the part that says
readonly="readonly"and delete it. Viola, you can now paste in that field. Haven’t tested whether that allows a password manager to autofill.amazing!
works with autofill too 🙂
I purchased bonds jointly with each of my children. How do those count towards the 10K limit for myself and for them?
Thanks Dan. I purchased for myself, wife, and all kids. For those worried that the inflation rate will not stay high then there is a simple solution…you wait 3 months to cash out (after the 1 year (i.e. the 11+ month) holding period) and lose out on the last 3 months of low or even no interest. The overall return will beat by far any other risk free investment, imo.
Exactly!
Does anyone know if you can nick name a bond? How do you do it?
can i buy em with a credit card?
No
There’s a lot of information here. This looks compelling. I have 1 primary question, how long will I have to keep my money in the bond? If I’m reading it right it’s 5 years for full maturity. Am I reading that right?
It’s locked in for 1 year. After 1 year, there is a 3 month interest penalty unless you hold for 5+ years.
12 months required (which could translate into 11 months and a few days depending on the exact date it is purchased). If less than five years you lose the last 3 months of interest.
Can I still buy today and get the locked in rate for 12 months ?
Rate is locked in for 6 Months at a time.
Anyone have experience buying this for a sole prop? Simple? Can just use SSN?
when trying to buy today it says purchase date is 4/29. Am I too late?
Still good.
any idea on best way to unlock a teasuredirect account that got locked due to incorrect passwords attempts? the number it told me to call has a 3 hour wait time…..
Just bought.
Purchases are issued within 1 business day, therefore if you’d buy tomorrow it would be issued on Monday which is 5\2
Is that the reason you write that today is the last day to get the offer?
Yes.
do i need seperate treasurydirect accounts in mine and wifes names to purchase 10k for each of us? or can i add her directly onto my account and make another purchase?
You can use one account for the purchase and do a gift purchase for your wife. But she would need an account to redeem.
there seems to be option to add another registrant in which case i might be able to do it in her name without the gift option. i just dont know whether i have to register her as a “solo” “primary” or “beneficiary”, which are the 3 options given.
@Dan if you buy as a gift do you have to pay tax on the whole $10,000 when you cash out? Or just the interest?
Interest.
Till what time can I do it does it have to be during business hours or till 12 o’clock
According to the Finance Buff article on kids, doesn’t seem so simple cashing them out. Officially the kids money…
Can i buy if living in Canada or do I need to be a US resident? I am a US citizen with a SS#.
Is there a time deadline for today or 11:59EST?
Changing bank information if you ever signed up for a treasurydirect account in the past is a GIGANTIC PIA…FYI
can always have someone gift it to you
can i gift a business?
No
purchased gift for business more then 5 days ago, tried delivering and got the following error – Individual accounts are not permitted to deliver a gift security to an Entity Account.
does anyone know how to cancel? change registration of gift?
did i lose my money???
i purchased max 10k this year then was sent gift of 10k, now my balance is 20k. hmmmm. can anyone explain this
if you over purchased they will cancel the bond as they did to me.. not sure how it works it it came in via gift
but its been posted to my acc for few days. how long did it take them to cancel bond??
Just bought today, but this was the comment I received the following note:
We may have changed your purchase date(s) to the next available business day.
04-29-2022 IAAAA
Does that get me in by today’s deadline?
Yes. I already factored that in.
phew, just happened to me to
How do you adds funds your treasury acct to be able to purchase?
You’re not adding funds to a treasury account, it’s a direct purchase from your bank account.
Question: My wifes account which I did not purchase from yet this year got a hold on it cuz I messed up when trying to do the bank information. The need her to send in a whole form via mail and they said can take 2 to 3 weeks. Can I gift her from my account now? Will she receive it immediately (and obviously only be able to access it when we fill in the forms and papaerwork)?
good question
Should work.
I bought for myself and my kids thanks Dan!
I want to buy more but the money will only transfer from my savings account into my regular account tomorrow, Dan what are the chance that if buy tomorrow that I’ll get the 4/1 purchase date?
why not do direct ACH from savings?
Because it seems its real hard to change accounts
@Dan, If I bought this in December at 7.12%, will I also get the increased 9.62% at some point?
Yes
Is it possible to set this up tonight to lock in for 2021?
trying to buy now. saying that purchase date will tomorrow 4/29/22. will i still get these interest numbers?
Yes. That’s why two days the last day not tomorrow because it goes into effect the next business day
Wow Dan, a big yasher koiach. This is great for some money we had saving up for a down payment, but has just been sitting and depreciating. Thanks for sharing!
Just keep on mind that you can’t take out that money for a year, so if you’ll need it for a down payment within the year, you won’t be able to access it.
Why can’t I buy on 4/29 and still get interest for the month of April?
I just bought 10k and it is showing a purchase date of 4/29. Does that mean I won’t receive the backdated interest?
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/banking/last-chance-buy-2021-series-savings-bonds-earning-7-12-interest/#comment-1569767
if i purchase on 5/02/22 what would be my rate am i just losing month of April?
too late?
Just too late to get interest for April Prob.
i accidentally made an second purchase of 10k and it was processed. how does that work with the 10k limit?
It’ll get cancelled takes over a month to get back your money
If I buy today, it wont work?
The first comment claims that you get interest for the WHOLE month (meaning 30-31 days of interest) REGARDLESS OF WHICH DAY of the month it was purchased on. Doesn’t make much sense to me, and if it’s untrue, please respond to it, as it is highly misleading and causing ppl to lose out 2-3 weeks of interest by buying later in the month.
That is correct. The post says the same thing.
just curious, when do i get the interest? is it after every 6 months or id see an update after every month?
Is it ends for good or only for the April interest rate?
If the inflation rate gonna stay the same +- on may, is it the same deal?
If the rate from April 29th is 9.62%, what was the attraction of buying on the 28th with a lower interest rate?
1. Lock in a historically high interest rate.
2. Know that the interest rate will be high for the entire 1 year lockin period.
says theres a hold on the account unti lthey receive the authorization form that has to be mailed in and can’t purchase until then. is there any way around that? How can we buy today?
@Dan I bought in Dec 2021 and then again in Jan 2022. For the first 3 months of the Dec 2021 purchase it showed the value of the bonds as the purchase price because of the losing the last 3 months of interest if you dont hold for 5 years rule. Once April 1 came the Dec 2021 bond showed $60 in interest and the Jan 2022 bond showed $0 as expected. Now on May 1, the Dec 2021 bond shows $116 in interest and the Jan 2022 bond shows $60 in interest. I am having trouble figuring out why that should be. If the Jan bond got $60 in interest for the month of Jan, why wouldn’t my Dec 2021 bond get $60 for Jan too, why did it only get $56….i don’t get it. Dan can you figure this out?
I have the same issue and trying to figure it out. Maybe it’s because there are 31day in March and 30 in April? But then why is it $4 difference?
The interest showing should be for the initial months, which for me was December and January which both have 31 days. Secondly, for January my older bonds had $56 in interest and my newer bonds had $60 of interest. Both have the same principal….so?????
When does the interest show up on the account?
Every month, or quarterly?
Dan, If my wife & I bought $10k of I Bonds with our own Treadsury Direct accts, can we still gift each other another $10k each without going over the $10k limit? Thanks!
You can, but you can only receive the gift in 2023. But it will earn interest starting now.
Thanks Dan! Quick follow up..So I can purchase a ‘gift’ bond now, but wait until next year to deliver it to my wife, yet it will start accruing interest immediately?
Correct. And she can do the same for you.
On the treasury direct website it says that you purchase up to $10,000 in electronic buns and a additional $5,000 in paper bonds. What’s the process in buying paper I bonds
You need to use your tax refund to buy those.
Bummer! Got an email my bank info was not right so I have to do it again. Guessing that means I missed April lock in.
Ok, so I just bought. So at this point my high interest is only guaranteed for 6 months, not 1 year. Am I understanding correctly? Oh well…
If you bought in April when I posted you get 7.12 for 6 months and 9.62 for 6 months.
If you buy now you get 9.62 for 6 months and then TBD for 6 months.
Is there any point in still doing this if I missed the April deadline? I only saw this blog on 5/5. Is there any reason to still do this? What would I be gaining percentage wise?
Yes, you will get 9.62% for 6 months and then a TBD amount for 6 months.
“Interest is paid on the 1st of every month and you get interest for the entire month in which you buy them.”
I bought on April 26th should i have received the interest for May 1st already?
Just wondering is there a downside of purchasing bonds today? will I still be getting the 9.62% rate for the next 5 months?
You will get that rate for the next 6 months. You just won’t know what you’ll get for the following 6 months.
i bought them end of april but dont c any interest on them yet does that make sense?
ends tom. to get full credit for May.. just purchased a gift..
i bought them end of april but dont c any interest on them yet does that make sense?
happened to me too
i tried calling them but no response
Yes, please read the post and previous comments.
i did and didnt see anything about what i am asking
Just got some for all of June!
Dan can you tell me why the bonds that I bought in the end may is still valued at the same $10000 and I dont see any gains? Thank you
Read the post 🙂
has anyone had issues with account verification? my wife received an email starting with
“Thanks again for opening a TreasuryDirect account. We are having difficulty verifying the information you provided when opening your account. We are not provided with any information related to issues with the account verification. The online application process is automated and the TreasuryDirect system attempts to verify information the customer provides with commercially available services. Only a Pass/Fail notification is returned to the TreasuryDirect system. The verification process does not involve your banking information or data from your credit report/rating. We cannot answer questions via phone calls or emails related to this topic.”
We are currently in Israel, is there any way around this from here?
just had the something what did you do?
Any benefit in buying these bonds vs custom whole life policy as a way to save?
i bought bond in February and i never received any interest?
Bought end of april and still don’t see any interest its been 5 months counting april
You have to click where it says your total of I bonds and press submit and it will tell you the updated amount.
Took a while to find
Is this still a buy?
TD site is getting slammed. Some are having issues opening an account. I would not wait until the last day and do it today.
Can one open an account on behalf of a family member who just has an ITIN?
When is the earliest that you can cash out and still receive the full interest?
30 years at maturity. Otherwise, anytime after 12 months subject to a 3 month interest penalty.
5 years for no interest penalty.
To note, there is a possibility that the fixed rate increases above 0% in November. It supposedly loosely follows TIPS yields, which have increased and could imply the fixed rate going above 0% (1 blog guesstimated it’ll be between .1% and .6%).
For someone just holding for a year or so, now will still be the best time to buy. But if anyone is considering holding long term, a potential fixed rate would yield an increased rate for the life of the bond, regardless of the inflation rate.
A bird in the hand may be worth 2 in the bush, but it’s something work keeping in mind.
I purchased $10k for myself and tried to purchase for my daughter. Got a notification that I need to complete a Treasury Direct Account Authorization form (FS5444E) which needs to be signed and mailed in and will of course mean I lose out on this month. Anyone know why this happened or a workaround?
Some info could not be verified. You can buy in your account now as a gift for your daughter and transfer to her account once it is set up. Daughter’s name first then POD with your name. Make sure you select gift.
Treasury Direct Account Authorization form (FS5444E) needs to be signed by the BANK….
So me and my wife both need to “verify” our identity. Currently it can supposedly take 13 weeks(!!) for them to process the verification form.
So yeah, I’m pretty bummed out. Cheers!
Hopefully G-d has better investments in store for me 🙂
Hi Dan. So if I buy today, I will receive 9.62% for 10/1/22- 3/31/23 and “expected” 6.47% for 4/1/23 through 9/30/23? Or would that 6.47% be just until May 2023?
the former. 6 months each rate change
I’m trying to buy I-bonds but there was an issue with the routing number I entered for my treasury direct account. (Apparently, Chase NJ has different routing numbers for deposit slips and checks/debit. I copied from a deposit slip.)
Is there any way to get it fixed in time to buy at this rate? Or is there another way to buy I-Bonds?
If anyone has any ideas, you can reply here or on DDF: https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=52248.msg2645345#msg2645345
I do not know how to reply on DDF. I actually called Chase today about online payment for an organization located in NJ and I needed the routing #, they said for payments always use the 021000021 # (NY Routing).
Yeah, but I already put in the NJ Deposit routing number: 580201028 and treasury direct will not allow me to change it.
Keep us posted on what happens. Thanks
Last time I did it and did too much money per name. They said money will automatically be refunded. So far didn’t come it’s been 6months.
Any ideas?
Any tips on best browser or time of day to access the web site?
Just keep trying.
Purchased, wow their website is being slammed.
Yup, need to buy more gift bonds and can get the registrations to take.
I opened an account but i did jot get the email with my account number. Any ideas?
site is down for the count
Try early morning or late at night. I needed to check something and after several tries was able to get in just now.
can’t open site.One time i was able to open and put in info and was trying to submit and didn’t go.Maybe any ideas how to do it
Can this still be done over the weekend by Monday since Monday is the October 31st to capture the 9.62%.
TY
I’m wondering the same thing. I tried logging in yesterday and had trouble as I couldn’t put my password in with a virtual keyboard, my computer didn’t have a virtual keyboard to input my password. Is there a way around the virtual keyboard?
Use the mouse to click in your password. NOT CASE SENSITIVE.
I’m buying now. It says “purchasing date will be on the next available business date 10/31/ 2022.” That means that I missed it?
No, that means you made it.
Thanks! Purchase confirmed
Backdated for 1 month… Headline bit misleading
Proud to have $50K in I bonds.
In terms of today’s deadline, I saw a WSJ headline that was concerning but I couldn’t get past the pay wall.
The Wall Street Journal: Treasury Says Orders for I Bonds With 9.62% Rate Might Not Be Completed by Deadline.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-investors-scramble-to-buy-i-bonds-treasurydirect-site-has-outages-11666817951
how can I purchase a gift bond for 2023 and 2024?
https://thefinancebuff.com/buy-i-bonds-as-gift.html
If the cut off date is 31/10, then why can’t I buy on Sunday?
@Dan, isn’t he right?
Because they closed sales after Friday.
I missed the October deadline to buy for the next two years ( the site was jammed and then shabbos came♀️) can I buy for November or has the date changed already?
TreasuryDirect services are unavailable at this time due to scheduled system maintenance.
Special Announcements for TreasuryDirect account holders:
Buy a Series I savings bond and ensure you get your confirmation e-mail for the purchase by 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 28 and you will get 9.62% interest for the first six months.
1. Can I still buy today (10/30) and lock in the Oct rates? I see it now says “TreasuryDirect services are unavailable at this time due to scheduled system maintenance”
2. Can I buy I Bonds for my Non Profits?
1-No, 2-Yes but will have the new lower rate.
seems a new rate hike is being considered. perhaps waiting pays, and next month rates will be higher!
If anything rate hikes would have the opposite effect; the I Bond are based off of the inflation rate, not the interest rate.
Has the treasury posted the new Nov. rates? I still only see the Oct. rates
New I Bonds rate is 6.89.
Still better then any 1 year CD’s even if you think the second 6 months rate will be 0 (it won’t)
Does the interest rate depend on when you buy the bonds? From what I see in the chart looks like if you purchase in May you’ll end up getting the best rates, does that make sense?
Getting 9 month cds now at 4.65% apy
Is it backdated now?
Sure, to 12/1.
If we’re saving up to buy a house now, and let’s say a house becomes available for sale in a couple months and we’ll need the money… Is it a bad idea to put my money in these bonds now?
“You can’t cash out an I Bond within 1 year of purchase. If you cash them out between 1 and 5 years after purchase, you will pay a relatively low penalty of the previous 3 months interest.”
For those that are required to fill out form 5444 to get an account open a notary seal is now acceptable.
Can someone please explain if I am a 5 year old with real $$ example
I placed $10 k for myself and my wife before the last deadline to capture the ~9% interest rate. Fast forward 6 months later and now it’s ~6%. I understand I am “maxxed out” for the year (correct?) so I cannot capture this 6%.
Does that mean I have ~10,900 per account now and then for the second 6 months, it would be ~10,900 + 654 (from the 6% rate) and so on and so forth compounding over time? (if I never place more money in)
No, the limit is per calendar year, so you can buy more now.
Your Bonds will earn 9.62% for 6 months and then 6.48% for 6 months. The next 6 months will likely be 3.38%, but that will be confirmed on 5/1.
You can close it after holding it for 12 months with a penalty of the last 3 months of interest earned, so you’ll want to wait at least 3 months into the 3.38% period. If you hold for 5 years you can close with no loss of interest.
Does anyone know why I bought it in September but only got $320 for 6 months in March? Why didn’t I get half of 9.62%? ($10k)
The system populates the interest some 3-4 months behind, to show the current value if you were to close it today with a loss of the past 3 months of interest.
Then again, you can’t actually close it within 12 months.
Nope, CIT No Penalty CD for 4.8 for 11 month, I believe is a better option.
No longer recommended compared to other better and more flexible options – e.g. money markets, CDs, etc.
At these rates, finally the real risk of the US government defaulting is being priced in!
what’s interesting is that the ones who buy now at 6.89% with a fixed rate of 0.40% can potentially be ahead in a few years than the ones who purchased when the rate was 7.12% and later 9.62% since the fixed interest rate on those was 0%
It sure feels like these bonds were more trouble than they were worth. Not necessarily regarding the interest returned, but for the hassle involved in buying them and now disposing of them. The interest rate obviously makes little intuitive sense. Is there any program you could plug in your purchase date to guide you as to when to liquidate them? It does not seem like that date is here yet, but I suspect it could be within the next year.
Will you lock in ….. or will you invest in other high yield options that are now available?
*****************
Such as?
Thanks.
https://www.dansdeals.com/advertisement/new-product-launch-cit-bank-earn-4-75-apy-platinum-savings-account-plus-earn-4-80-no-penalty-cd/
Thank you.
Keep in mind the those are taxable while this isn’t.
I Bonds are taxable for fed, just exempt from local.
If used for qualified higher education, they are exempt from federal tax too.
Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Assuming I’m correct, if one purchases 10k in I Bonds and receives 1k in interest, does he need to use the total 11k for higher ed. to be tax-exempt or just the 1k interest?
Thank you.
Yes, but with many conditions attached:
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/tax-information-ee-i-bonds/using-bonds-for-higher-education/
Correct, if you meet all the conditions, the requirement is only on the interest.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8815.pdf
Thanks, Dan.
The new rates were already announced and the fixed rate is even higher than expected at 0.9!
6.89 for the first 6 month and 4.3 for the next 6 month is not so bad in net return.
Dan, just wanted to say thank you! I put in $10k in I bonds at 9.62% after seeing your post. Just pulled it out almost exactly a year later as I need the cash now, but even with losing my last 3 months of interest, I gained 6.5% on it. I checked out S&P 500 for that same time frame and it is actually a drop LOWER today than it was when I put the money into the I bond. Big win, thanks for the tip.
Someone please advise what is the earliest date to redeem bonds such that the 3 month penalty will only affect interest accruals AFTER the May 1st change?
I purchased the I Bond in end of October 2022, when is earliest that I can cash out? September 1, 2023 or October 1, 2023?
If i bought a 6 month bond in december 2021 and did nothing about it after the 6 months and it’s still sitting there, is it earning any interest still?