I-bonds

[Jim_n_NYC]

19 hours ago, handiacefailure said:

Why would you invest emergency funds in an Ibond?   You can't access the money for one year.    

As long as you know you can go 28 days without needing the money I would do 28 day t-bills and just renew them if you don't need the money.   I've always had the money right on time as T-bills matured into my savings account   

If you are talking about emergency funds, why put them in a bond or bill at all?  I have money in a treasury fund at Schwab that's getting 3.96% (last 7-day yield) and is state and local tax exempt, so just like a US bond.  I can get the money out with one day notice, not 28.

[jayjaycali]

Etrade has a 4.00% high yield savings that you can instantly fund and instantly withdraw.  

[BuffaloKyle]

Here's a really cool video I just found. There is a option on treasury direct to have federal taxes withheld, from not only i bonds but any security you own at the time, when you partially or fully redeem them. Then you don't have to worry about owing taxes on it when you file your taxes. There really is no reason then to go through the hassle of reporting it every year. You can choose to have 0% - 50% of the redemption amount withheld for federal taxes:

 

[BuffaloKyle]

Forecast for the new i bond rate coming Nov 1 is a variable rate of 2.8% - 3.0% and a fixed rate of 0.9% for a total rate of roughly 3.7% - 3.9%

Forecast: I Bond’s fixed rate is likely to fall to 0.90% | Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities

TIPSWATCH.COM

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By David Enna, Tipswatch.com In two months, probably on Halloween morning, the Treasury will announce a new fixed rate, inflation-adjusted variable rate and...

 

[Bokomaru]

On 7/5/2025 at 2:09 PM, BuffaloKyle said:

Here's a really cool video I just found. There is a option on treasury direct to have federal taxes withheld, from not only i bonds but any security you own at the time, when you partially or fully redeem them. Then you don't have to worry about owing taxes on it when you file your taxes. There really is no reason then to go through the hassle of reporting it every year. You can choose to have 0% - 50% of the redemption amount withheld for federal taxes:

I guess I should get off my ass and sell my old ibonds which are now paying less than 3%.
 

Question: why would anyone withhold 50%? Federal income taxes only go to 37%. 

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

1 hour ago, Bokomaru said:

Question: why would anyone withhold 50%? Federal income taxes only go to 37%. 

If one has other sources of income (such as income from escort or masseur activities) where federal taxes are not automatically withheld from a paycheck, then increasing the withholdings on other income streams is a way to make the required tax payments throughout the year in lieu of submitting estimated quarterly payments for the taxes owed on income from other sources in the same tax year.

Edited September 8, 2025 by Vegas_Millennial

[handiacefailure]

I'm really liking the etf "SGOV"    Has a dividend yield of around 4.4% and is exempt from state tax since it's government securities and unike a 28 day t-note you have next day access to the money if you need it.   

[Lotus-eater]

15 hours ago, Vegas_Millennial said:

If one has other sources of income (such as income from escort or masseur activities) where federal taxes are not automatically withheld from a paycheck, then increasing the withholdings on other income streams is a way to make the required tax payments throughout the year in lieu of submitting estimated quarterly payments for the taxes owed on income from other sources in the same tax year.

New tax law gives $25K deduction for tips (Treasury Tipped Occupation Code 602 for massage therapists), so you can adjust withholding accordingly. 

[BuffaloKyle]

The i bond rate is supposed to reset at the beginning of next month but with the shutdown there is a big problem. They are not planning on releasing the inflation report for this month if we are still in a shutdown and that info is needed to calculate next month's i bond rate. Here's an article on the issue:

I Bond rate reset: We’re heading toward chaos | Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities

TIPSWATCH.COM

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AI-generated image for savings bond investor in chaos. Source: Perchance.org By David Enna, Tipswatch.com With the U.S. government on indefinite shutdown and...

 

Edited October 6, 2025 by BuffaloKyle

[Kevin Slater]

45 minutes ago, BuffaloKyle said:

The i bond rate is supposed to reset at the beginning of next month but with the shutdown there is a big problem. They are not planning on releasing the inflation report for this month if we are still in a shutdown and that info is needed to calculate next month's i bond rate. Here's an article on the issue:

I Bond rate reset: We’re heading toward chaos | Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities

TIPSWATCH.COM

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AI-generated image for savings bond investor in chaos. Source: Perchance.org By David Enna, Tipswatch.com With the U.S. government on indefinite shutdown and...

 

Thanks for sharing.

Kevin Slater

[BuffaloKyle]

Forget what I posted above, no i bond crisis on the way. They are going to release the CPI report on October 24, later than the October 15 originally scheduled date but in time for the new i bond rate to not be affected.

CPI inflation report will be released by Labor Department, while other data is delayed by shutdown

WWW.CNBC.COM

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The Labor Department will bring back staff to work on a key inflation report.

 

[topunderachiever]

On 9/8/2025 at 5:40 PM, handiacefailure said:

I'm really liking the etf "SGOV"    Has a dividend yield of around 4.4% and is exempt from state tax since it's government securities and unike a 28 day t-note you have next day access to the money if you need it.   

Have you held this for any length of time?  I'm wondering whether the yield is even the slightest more or less than a short term TBill?  I, too, like it's fluidity.  

[handiacefailure]

On 10/14/2025 at 3:12 PM, topunderachiever said:

Have you held this for any length of time?  I'm wondering whether the yield is even the slightest more or less than a short term TBill?  I, too, like it's fluidity.  

I started buying it about a year ago.    Keith Fitz-Gerald recomended it for emergency/liquid funds.    Return is similar to a 28-day Tbill and interest is also state tax free and love how fluid it is.

I bought a new condo a few weeks ago and had only ten days to close after I made the offer so it was great having access to those funds right away, where if it would have been in a Tbill

I would have had to have waited until maturity.    Not sure how they are going about paying the dividend now though with the government shutdown.

[jawjateck]

12 hours ago, handiacefailure said:

  Not sure how they are going about paying the dividend now though with the government shutdown.

I had a 2 year Treasury note that matured last week. The face amount of the note and the 6 month interest payment were transferred to my bank account as usual. Treasury is still servicing the national debt.

[mike carey]

1 minute ago, jawjateck said:

I had a 2 year Treasury note that matured last week. The face amount of the note and the 6 month interest payment were transferred to my bank account as usual. Treasury is still servicing the national debt.

So it would appear that payouts at maturity are automated. That is something I would have expected, but given the nature of bureaucracies, both public and private sector, it would not have surprised me if they were not.

[BuffaloKyle]

Social Security for instance is paid out by the treasury. They are still operating.

[+ augustus]

US Treasury 5-year TIPS are paying a fixed rate of 1.32% as of today.   Greater than the 0.90% estimated real rate for the next 6 months for US Savings Bonds.

Edited November 11, 2025 by augustus

[BuffaloKyle]

I locked myself out of my Treasury Direct account last night. I wanted to update something which triggered a security question. I couldn't remember what I had put, it was between two answers. Then I wasn't sure if I had a space or not between the two words. You get two chances and once I failed twice it locked my account. You then have to call to unlock your account. I read online back in 2022-2023 you might spend one or two hours simply on hold waiting to talk to someone. That luckily isn't the case anymore. I got right through. They asked for my name, date of birth, email, account number, driver's license number, and the answers to all my security questions. I actually only got two out of the three right but luckily they went ahead and unlocked my account. I went on the site and changed my security question selections to three with one word answers and ones that I'll for sure remember.

Edited December 12, 2025 by BuffaloKyle

[Kevin Slater]

What are they?  I'll be happy to remember them for you.

Kevin Slater

[BeamerBikes]

8 hours ago, BuffaloKyle said:

locked myself out

Slightly off-topic - Cyber advice - get a quality password manager. I use Keeper Security because of deal through work. A good password manager will let you put in secure notes in a separate entry for these questions.  Also, you’re less likely to forget them.    

[BuffaloKyle]

12 hours ago, BeamerBikes said:

Slightly off-topic - Cyber advice - get a quality password manager. I use Keeper Security because of deal through work. A good password manager will let you put in secure notes in a separate entry for these questions.  Also, you’re less likely to forget them.    

Yeah, I read to do that. 👍

[BuffaloKyle]

19 hours ago, Kevin Slater said:

What are they?  I'll be happy to remember them for you.

Kevin Slater

The answers to my security questions ain't gonna help you when you don't even know my log in info 😋

[GlenDale]

On 4/12/2022 at 7:55 AM, Kevin Slater said:

The WSJ reports that based on today's CPI numbers, I-bonds purchased from May through October 2022 will pay 9.6% interest (up from the current already generous 7.12%).  One can purchase up to $10k via TreasuryDirect.gov, plus up to an additional $5k if she chooses to receive a tax refund in the form of a paper I-bond. 

Kevin Slater

May I ask for some assistance in understanding this?

I bought $10k bonds in 2022 and 2023. I just checked the balances this morning.

one is at $11,200, the other $11,500. The interest rates shown are 3.12% and 3.27%

How do my numbers jive with interest rates you’ve listed?

[Lotus-eater]

1 hour ago, GlenDale said:

May I ask for some assistance in understanding this?

I bought $10k bonds in 2022 and 2023. I just checked the balances this morning.

one is at $11,200, the other $11,500. The interest rates shown are 3.12% and 3.27%

How do my numbers jive with interest rates you’ve listed?

I-bond interest rates are reset every 6 months, so those high interest rates back in 2022 are long since gone. The interest rates paid on your bonds have been steadily declining as interest rates in general have declined.

Edited Tuesday at 08:42 PM by Lotus-eater

[GlenDale]

2 hours ago, Lotus-eater said:

I-bond interest rates are reset every 6 months, so those high interest rates back in 2022 are long since gone. The interest rates paid on your bonds have been steadily declining as interest rates in general have declined.

Thank you for the response. I don’t think I ever saw those high interest rates applied so I’ll go back and check the history of each bond to verify.

There’s this comment from an early thread that confuses me also:

Important to note that the I bonds are a variable + fixed rate.  The variable rate adjusts every 6 months.  There may come a time in the coming years where it makes sense to cash in the bonds issued this year when the fixed rate exceeds the inflation rate.  There's no penalty after 5 years.  The 1 year to 5 year penalty is forfeiting the last 3 months interest. 

 

Edited Tuesday at 11:16 PM by GlenDale