Use the Education Exclusion With that in mind, you have one option for avoiding taxes on savings bonds: the education exclusion. You can skip paying taxes on interest earned with Series EE and Series I savings bonds if you're using the money to pay for qualified higher education costs.
That said, I bonds do have some disadvantages, such as the fact that the bonds cannot be redeemed for one year after purchase and their early redemption penalties. If you redeem your I bond within five years of purchasing it, you'll lose the last three months of interest the bond earns.
The interest earned by purchasing and holding savings bonds is subject to federal tax at the time the bonds are redeemed. However, interest earned on savings bonds is not taxable at the state or local level.
I bonds issued from May 1, 2023, to Oct. 31, 2023, have a composite rate of 4.30%. That includes a 0.90% fixed rate and a 1.69% inflation rate. Because I bonds are fully backed by the U.S. government, they are considered a relatively safe investment.
If you hold the bond for five years or more, you won't lose any interest. I bonds can earn interest for 30 years unless you cash them out before then. Neither the author nor editor held positions in the aforementioned investments at the time of publication.
A single entity can purchase up to $25,000 worth of savings bonds in a year. Series I and EE bonds have annual electronic limits of $10,000 each and up to $5,000 of paper bonds can be purchased in a year using your tax refund.
If you choose to purchase electronic I bonds, you can buy up to $10,000 worth and access them through your TreasuryDirect account. On the other hand, paper I bonds can be purchased for up to $5,000 by filing IRS Form 8888 with your taxes.
Individuals, organizations, fiduciaries, and corporate investors may buy Treasury securities through a bank, broker, or dealer.
EE Bond and I Bond Differences
The interest rate on EE bonds is fixed for at least the first 20 years, while I bonds offer rates that are adjusted twice a year to protect from inflation. EE bonds offer a guaranteed return that doubles your investment if held for 20 years. There is no guaranteed return with I bonds.
The 4.30% composite rate for I bonds issued from May 2023 through October 2023 applies for the first six months after the issue date. The composite rate combines a 0.90% fixed rate of return with the 3.38% annualized rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U).
You can cash in (redeem) your I bond after 12 months. However, if you cash in the bond in less than 5 years, you lose the last 3 months of interest. For example, if you cash in the bond after 18 months, you get the first 15 months of interest.
Paper Series I savings bonds: You may be able to cash these bonds in at your bank if it provides that service. You can also cash them in by mail through TreasuryDirect.gov. Complete FS Form 1522 and mail your bonds with the form to the address provided.
Another advantage is that TIPS make regular, semiannual interest payments, whereas I Bond investors only receive their accrued income when they sell. That makes TIPS preferable to I Bonds for those seeking current income.
The downsides are that you can only buy a limited amount each year (and can't buy back the ones you sell), and you can't redeem them for at least a year. If you redeem them in less than five years, you forfeit three months of interest.
I bonds are a great idea for retirees and other investors looking for competitive inflation-adjusted returns. “They offer such a great deal that the government limits the annual purchase amount to $10,000 per Social Security number,” Reilly notes. “There are no coupon payments.
Step 1: Max out your $10,000 per person calendar year limit conventionally. You can buy $10,000 yourself and your spouse can buy $10,000 through their Treasury Direct login. Step 2: You could buy $10,000 or more in gift I Bonds in May that you could deliver to your spouse in future years.
They earn interest regularly for 30 years (or until you cash them if you do that before 30 years).
10 Year Treasury Rate is at 3.64%, compared to 3.69% the previous market day and 2.85% last year. This is lower than the long term average of 4.25%. The 10 Year Treasury Rate is the yield received for investing in a US government issued treasury security that has a maturity of 10 year.
The most common way to buy I Bonds is to visit TreasuryDirect, the government website that allows for the purchase of government securities.
I bonds earn interest from the first day of the month you buy them. Twice a year, we add all the interest the bond earned in the previous 6 months to the main (principal) value of the bond. That gives the bond a new value (old value + interest earned).
Many brokers now give access to investors to purchase individual bonds online, although it may be easier to purchase a mutual fund or ETF that specializes in bonds. Government bonds can be purchased directly through government-sponsored websites without the need for a broker.
The limit is per person — so if you're married, each spouse is allowed to purchase $10,000 in I bonds (plus the paper bonds if they have a tax return). You can also purchase up to $10,000 in I Bonds for your children, but they must be used for the child, to save for college, perhaps.
$10,000 limit: Up to $10,000 of I bonds can be purchased, per person (or entity), per year. A married couple can each purchase $10,000 per year ($20,000 per year total). 7.12% interest: The yield on I bonds has two components—a fixed rate and an inflation rate.
Buying paper Series I savings bonds
You can buy any amount up to $5,000 in $50 increments. We may issue multiple bonds to fill your order. The bonds may be of different denominations. We use $50, $100, $200, $500, and $1,000 bonds.