By Lisa Gerstner
From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
Q: I see that U.S. Series I Savings Bonds are currently paying a rate of paying 9.62 percent. How is the interest rate determined?
A: The composite rate has two parts: a fixed rate, which remains the same for the life of the bond, and an inflation rate, which is based on the consumer price index.
Each May and November, the U.S. Treasury Department announces a new fixed rate and inflation rate that apply to bonds issued during the following six months. The inflation rate changes every six months from the bond’s issue date. If your bond is issued in October 2022, for example, the current inflation rate will apply through March 2023. The fixed rate for I bonds issued from May through October 2022 is 0 percent.
Q: How does interest accrue on I bonds?
A: The bond earns interest monthly from the first day of the month of the issue date, and interest is compounded semiannually. Interest is added to the bond’s principal value.
You can’t redeem an I bond in the first year, and if you cash it in before five years have passed, you forfeit the most recent three months of interest. If you check your bond’s value at TreasuryDirect.gov within the first five years of owning it, the amount you’ll see will have the three-month penalty subtracted from it. Consequently, when you buy a new bond, interest does not show until the first day of the fourth month following the issue month. If your bond has an October 2022 issue date, for example, interest will be first posted in February 2023.
U.S. Savings bonds. Jason Raff/Shutterstock
Q: Is there a limit on the amount of I bonds I can buy?
A: An individual can buy up to $10,000 per calendar year in electronic bonds through TreasuryDirect.gov. In addition, you can buy up to $5,000 each year in paper bonds with your tax refund. (For those who are married filing jointly, the limit is $5,000 per couple.)
Q: How are I bonds taxed?
A: I bond interest is free of state and local income tax, and you can defer federal tax until you file a tax return for the year you cash in the bond or it stops earning interest because it has reached final maturity (after 30 years), whichever comes first. You can also report the interest every year, which may be a smart choice if you’d rather avoid one large tax bill years down the road. If you use I bond proceeds to pay for certain higher-education expenses for yourself, your spouse or your dependents, you may avoid federal tax.
(Lisa Gerstner is a contributing editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. For more on this and similar money topics, visit Kiplinger.com.)
