May 2022
Financial Planning

Savings bonds are as old-school a money tool as you’ll find, but one type in particular is having a real moment, with a historic rise to a 9.62% annual rate. The Treasury Department announced the new rate on May 2, which is active through October this year. Between a stumbling stock market and inflation soaring to 8.5% in March for the biggest year-over-year gain in four decades, inflation-protected Series I savings bonds have drawn new interest from savers and investors.

How do I Bonds work? I bonds benefit from the inflation surge as they pay both a fixed rate return, which is set by the U.S. Treasury Department, and an inflation-adjusted variable rate return, the latter of which changes every six months based on the Consumer Price Index. In other words, they can protect your cash against inflation.

Note that individuals can’t buy I bonds through a brokerage account, only through the U.S. Treasury Department’s website, and there is a limit to how much you can invest. You generally can’t buy more than $10,000 in I bonds each year, plus an optional $5,000 extra if you put your tax return in paper bonds.

I bonds mature after 30 years, meaning you can continually earn interest on them for 30 years unless you cash them out first. While you can redeem them as early as one year after your initial purchase, cashing in early, specifically within five years, means you forfeit the last three months of interest earned. For tax benefits, you can defer declaring your interest until maturity or until you cash out.

What Are the Benefits of I Bonds?  The chief benefit of I bonds is that they protect the purchasing power of your cash from inflation. When prices rise across the economy, they erode how much the same amount of dollars can buy, but safe investments like I bonds can help you maintain the value of the cash component of your asset allocation.

Any security offered by the U.S. Treasury has nearly zero risk of default, and, as noted above, I bonds offer attractive tax benefits. Their interest payments, for instance, are exempt from state and local taxes, and they may be entirely tax free if used to pay for college tuition and fees at an eligible institution.

How To Buy I Bonds? You can buy I bonds electronically online at the TreasuryDirect website. You can also purchase up to $5,000 per year of paper I bonds with the proceeds from your tax return. There is no secondary market for trading I bonds, meaning you cannot resell them; you must cash them out directly with the U.S. government.

I bonds are an excellent choice for conservative investors seeking a guaranteed investment to protect their cash from inflation. Although illiquid for one year, after that period you can cash them at any time. The three-month interest rate penalty for bonds cashed within the first five years is minimal in light of the fact that they preserve your initial purchase amount and you would find similar penalties for early withdrawals from other safe investments. If you have questions on I bonds, or wonder if they are an appropriate investment for you and your portfolio, give us a call at the office to discuss!

If you have questions, please contact us.

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