Series I Bonds | Ultimate Guide to 9%-Plus Interest

Series I Bonds are the best opportunity for investors right now. These guaranteed investments pay a 9%-plus interest rate and will protect your money from a stock market crash…but do you know how they work?

Series I Savings Bonds were started in 1998 to give investors a way to protect their money from inflation while still providing that guarantee of a U.S. government bond. The power of the I Bond goes beyond that high yield. Besides the high I Bond rates, you also get inflation protection and a guaranteed return on your money.

The Series I Bonds feature some of the greatest and most inspirational Americans, from Hellen Keller, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Chief Joseph, General Marshall and Albert Einstein himself!

You buy IBonds directly from the Treasury website and I’ll walk you through that later in the video. You can buy any amount from $25 to $10,000 and the savings bonds earn interest every month. Every six months, the interest is added to your bond so you start earning interest on that interest…another great feature you don’t get with other bond investments.

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The interest rate paid on I Bonds is made of two parts, a fixed interest you get for as long as you hold the bond and that’s locked-in when you buy it. The fixed rate is set for new bonds every six months and you can see here, it’s not much of a factor, only half a percent at the most but does help boost the overall rate you get in a calculation we’ll look at.

In this video, I'll explain the Series I Bond and show you how to buy IBonds for a guaranteed return. I'll cover Series I Bond rates and the rate history as well as calculating how the rate is determined. I've left a clickable index to the I Bonds video below but watch through because these are a great investment!

0:00 I Bonds Explained
1:10 What are Series I Savings Bonds?
2:52 Who is on the Series I Savings Bonds?
3:15 How Do Series I Bonds Work?
3:40 Series I Savings Bond Rates
4:36 Series I Bonds Rate History
5:04 Are Series I Savings Bonds a Good Investment?
5:58 Pros & Cons of Series I Savings Bonds
8:15 How to Buy Series I Savings Bonds
11:18 Series I Bonds Limits
11:40 How to Gift Series I Savings Bonds
11:59 Taxes on Series I Savings Bonds

Joseph Hogue, CFA spent nearly a decade as an investment analyst for institutional firms and banks. He now helps people understand their financial lives through debt payoff strategies, investing and ways to save more money. He has appeared on Bloomberg and on sites like CNBC and Morningstar. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a veteran of the Marine Corps. #ibonds #savingsbonds #investing

[OroborusFMA]

There are several quirks to I-Bonds. Purchase them between the 25th to the 27th of the month. The government backdates the purchase to the first day of the month. Conversely, when you cash in do it on the first day of the month, because you get the interest of the entire month. If you do this that three month penalty for redeeming in under five years is lessened. Many people are confused when no interest is showing at their Treasury Direct account. The government imposes the three month early redemption penalty to the *first* three months not the last three. You get the three months of interest added back if you hold until the five year mark. The bond I purchased in December did not show interest until March, for example.

[josephhogue]

😯 CORRECTION!!! The composite rate table shown is the current rate those bonds would be receiving, NOT the rate they received in years past. I misspoke during the video. THANK YOU to everyone that caught the mistake! Bow Tie Nation ROCKS! 👏

[SandDuneProperties]

Have never invested in ANY bonds, but have been hearing this I- Bond thing lately. Thanks for the info.

[teams]

I bought about $20, 000 when they first came out (paper bonds) on a credit card. That was when Delta American Express was offering double miles. I then took the money out of savings paid the credit card off and got a free round trip for a vacation and the bonds have more than doubled and still gaining.

[N]

Semper Fi my bow tie wearing friend!! As always, thanks for the education.

[chriss]

I’m pissed I haven’t been doing this for years. What a great return! Thanks for the clear information

[redbyron]

Sounds like a great investment compared to the stock market right now.

[soundmoneystacker]

I bought mine back in September so far so good I'm keeping them at least 7-10 yrs

[tomlaw]

Thank you for this video. Very helpful. Please make more to do videos. Thank you.

[opticnirvana]

Thanks so much for this information. As someone who of late was investing in high divi stocks, this looks like a good alternative to branch out. Never have ventured into bonds, thanks for the step by step in the government website, informs on how easy it is to do. Thank you.

[rowdystrongarm]

Another great video Joe, please start doing videos on other instruments that have healthy payouts like dividend paying ETF's, CTF's, ETN's and even preferred stocks, munis and other fixed income ideas. I know you have done videos on alternative investing stuff in the past but in this world of high inflation I think folks I desperately searching for safe, cash generating investments they can depend on for good safe returns. Hope you doing well.

[zachary]

It's amazing that no one is talking about this interest rate.

[evanschneider]

I have never invested in a savings bond but will start

[joeg]

Hey would you mind doing some etf/bonds for EU investors..
you and ppcian are my favorites but its very USD based..

[rockydraud]

Thanks so much! Great info! Why didn’t anyone tell me about these until now!!??

[darrisnelson]

I’ve been buying I bonds for 30 years. It’s a solid place to hold some extra emergency cash. The 10k limit is a bit constraining but that is for individuals-if you’re a married couple you can each purchase 10k. I believe you can leap over 10K if you are getting a tax return…you can roll that into an I bond instead of taking the return but it mist be done by the Feds…you cannot accept the return. They’re easy to buy. You no longer receive paper so make sure you print out a list of your bond numbers and keep two copies in a safe place.

[chuckmurray]

I've been purchasing I Bonds and STIPS since early last year.

[OneclickOutside]

Good stuff! I could only afford $5000 but I had my parents do 10k and told people at work to do it if possible. Too good to pass up.

[NoName-xoss]

These are things I wish I was taught in school .

[rhjiotq]

If I buy $10K in I-Bonds today, can I buy another $10K on January 1, 2023 or do I have to wait a full year?