{ "presentation": "complete-card", "format_version": 3, "overview": "I-bonds are U.S. Treasury savings bonds combining fixed interest with an inflation adjustment. Their appeal is protecting savings from rising prices; the normal first-year lock makes them different from immediately accessible cash.", "overview_sources": "TreasuryDirect · checked 20 Oct 2026", "overview_source_ids": [ "money20-i-bonds-overview" ], "sections": [ { "role": "explanation", "title": "How I-bonds work and how to buy them", "items": [ { "label": "The fixed rate stays; the inflation part changes.", "text": "The inflation part follows CPI-U, a U.S. consumer-price index. Treasury announces changes in May and November; your bond switches every six months from its issue month. The total rate can fall below the fixed rate during deflation, but stops at zero. Monthly interest joins the balance every six months and earns further interest, until redemption or 30 years.", "source": "TreasuryDirect · checked 20 Oct 2026", "source_ids": [ "money20-i-bonds-rates" ] }, { "label": "New May–October 2026 bonds start at 4.26% annualized.", "text": "That rate applies for the first six months, not the whole year or lifetime. It includes a 0.90% fixed component. An older bond keeps its own fixed component, so it can earn a different total rate.", "source": "TreasuryDirect · checked 20 Oct 2026", "source_ids": [ "money20-i-bonds-overview" ] }, { "label": "Open TreasuryDirect with a linked U.S. bank account.", "text": "Individual account holders must be legally competent, at least 18, with a Social Security number and U.S. address. Have bank routing/account numbers and an email ready. An adult can establish a linked minor account.", "source": "TreasuryDirect account FAQ · checked 29 Sept 2026", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-account" ] }, { "label": "Choose BuyDirect, then Series I.", "text": "Specify owner, amount, funding source and purchase date; review the order. Purchases start at $25 and allow cents. Owners must be U.S. citizens, residents or civilian federal employees. New bonds are electronic; tax-refund paper purchases ended January 1, 2025.", "source": "TreasuryDirect buying guide · checked 29 Sept 2026", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-buy" ] }, { "label": "The standard I-bond purchase limit is $10,000 per calendar year.", "text": "It uses the first-named owner's SSN. Child ownership uses the child's limit; gifts count for recipients when delivered. Individual and qualifying entity accounts can have separate limits even using the same SSN. Total holdings are uncapped; paper conversion does not consume the limit.", "source": "TreasuryDirect purchase limits · checked 29 Sept 2026", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-limits" ] }, { "label": "Redeem through ManageDirect when the bond is eligible.", "text": "Select Redeem securities and review the amount and payment destination. Electronic partial redemptions must be at least $25 and leave at least $25 in the bond. Keep the confirmation; the account provides a 1099-INT interest-tax form the following January.", "source": "TreasuryDirect redemption guide · checked 29 Sept 2026", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-cash" ] } ] }, { "role": "benefits", "title": "Why people use them", "items": [ { "label": "Inflation-linked savings without a market sale.", "text": "I-bonds are redeemed with Treasury rather than sold to another investor at a fluctuating price. The inflation link helps preserve purchasing power, but does not guarantee coverage of your household's particular spending.", "source": "TreasuryDirect I-bond comparison · checked 29 Sept 2026", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-comparison" ] }, { "label": "Federal tax can wait; state/local income tax is exempt.", "text": "Interest can generally be reported annually or deferred until redemption, maturity or another taxable disposition. Deferral changes timing, not ordinary interest's taxability. Online tax forms keep account access useful after redemption.", "source": "TreasuryDirect savings-bond taxes · checked 29 Sept 2026", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-tax" ] } ] }, { "role": "cautions", "title": "Good to know", "items": [ { "label": "Normally locked for 12 months; early redemption loses three months' interest.", "text": "The interest loss applies before five years and is already deducted from the displayed value. This limits use as the only emergency reserve. Officially declared disasters can permit earlier redemption through Treasury's separate process.", "source": "TreasuryDirect redemption rules · checked 29 Sept 2026", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-cash" ] }, { "label": "There is no TreasuryDirect account, purchase or management fee.", "text": "The early-redemption interest loss and possible federal tax still affect what is available to spend.", "source": "TreasuryDirect service rules · checked 29 Sept 2026", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-fees" ] }, { "label": "ID.me online login is required October 29, 2026.", "text": "Traditional login remains through October 28. Missing the date restricts online access until verification/linking; it does not forfeit bonds. Paper-form management and mailed tax-form requests remain available.", "source": "TreasuryDirect ID.me FAQ · 2026 transition · checked 20 Oct 2026", "source_ids": [ "money20-i-bonds-idme" ] }, { "label": "The education tax exclusion has separate eligibility tests.", "text": "Qualifying bonds need an adult owner aged at least 24 when issued, eligible expenses in the redemption year, an allowed filing status and income within that year's limits. A bond owned by the child does not qualify merely because it pays for college.", "source": "TreasuryDirect education rules · checked 29 Sept 2026", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-education" ] } ] }, { "role": "community", "title": "From community discussion", "items": [ { "label": "Zero to three months of expenses in I-bonds.", "text": "Accounts kept starter cash in savings, recorded the locked amount/release date and built the I-bond portion across years. Others stopped buying because administration outweighed the appeal.", "source": "Community", "provenance": "preserved-community-record" }, { "label": "A six-month I-bond reserve prompted a simpler-account preference.", "text": "A 2018 plan put six months' expenses in I-bonds after the lock. A reply preferred credit-union savings plus I-bonds over extra Treasury-bill tiers. Its 0.5% fixed/2.83% total rates and additional $5,000 tax-refund paper route were 2018 terms.", "source": "Community · Mr. Money Mustache", "source_ids": [ "money-rebuild-i-bonds-mmm-tiers" ] }, { "label": "The CD comparison included the exit cost.", "text": "A September 2024 reply weighed I-bonds against a five-year certificate: $10,000 limit, three months' interest forfeited and a then-current 4.28% rate. That was the reply's purchase window.", "source": "Community · Mr. Money Mustache", "source_ids": [ "money-rebuild-i-bonds-mmm-cd-thread" ] }, { "label": "Emergency use, penalty objections and simpler alternatives.", "text": "One r/Bogleheads holder redeemed for an emergency and intended to rebuild. Another disliked the five-year penalty period; a reply considered the interest loss manageable. Others preferred simpler alternatives or had enough bonds already.", "source": "Community · Reddit", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-reddit-use" ] }, { "label": "The 2022 excitement did not settle the holding decision.", "text": "Accounts recall the historical 9.62% rate, then feeling stuck as rates fell. Some redeemed around month 13 despite the interest loss; others kept purchases for a house or the five-year anniversary and stopped checking weekly.", "source": "Community", "provenance": "preserved-community-record" }, { "label": "Account records mattered as much as the rate.", "text": "Holders describe password managers, recoverable paper backups and information a trusted person could find. Gifts, child ownership and entity accounts also created practical questions; an issue date mattered more than vague purchase-timing folklore.", "source": "Community", "provenance": "preserved-community-record" }, { "label": "Login verification took another device and more troubleshooting.", "text": "A poster's video call launched on a desktop without a camera. Switching devices and completing verification did not resolve login immediately; they later reported access after clearing cache and rebooting. That is one experience, not a universal fix.", "source": "Community · Reddit", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-reddit-login" ] }, { "label": "Beneficiary information proved difficult for an executor.", "text": "David Enna's September 2026 article described a friend unable to get that information after a relative died. Clear ownership records matter; his proposed exit strategy remains opinion.", "source": "Community · Tipswatch", "source_ids": [ "money59-i-bonds-creator-estate" ] } ] } ], "related": [ "hysa", "full-emergency-fund", "starter-emergency-fund", "the-windfall", "three-fund" ] }