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Ask HN: Have you bought I bonds yet? Why not?

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Re: Ask HN: Have you bought I bonds yet? Why not?

#91
post #86
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What sign-up bonuses?

Things like https://account.chase.com/consumer/banking/seo or https://www.bankrate.com/investing/best-brokerage-account-bo... or similar. They're not quite as good as they used to be, but if you had $10k in cash you could cycle through some and collect a few $hundreds.

Interesting. Yeah, I've haven't seen many of those offers in recent year. I didn't know they were still around.

Re: Ask HN: Have you bought I bonds yet? Why not?

#92

No one has yet mentioned the tax-advantaged aspect. Interest income from I-bonds is exempt from state income tax, and federal tax can be deferred until you cash them in or 30 years, whichever comes first. Paying tax on the interest when you are in a lower tax bracket later in life makes a lot of sense. The income can also be tax-free if used for qualified educational expenses for you or some family members (not going…

Great point on tax deferral and state income tax exempt.

Re: Ask HN: Have you bought I bonds yet? Why not?

#93
post #85
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you get a physical bond? I thought they went all virtual these days.

https://www.irs.gov/refunds/using-your-income-tax-refund-to-... You can still get them if you get them as part of your tax return. Overpay estimated tax or increase your withholding. 10. Will I get actual paper bond certificates? Yes. Savings bonds purchased with a tax refund will be issued as paper bond certificates in your name. If you are married and filed a joint return, the savings bonds will be issued in your n…

Looks like you have to paper file to get them, right?

Re: Ask HN: Have you bought I bonds yet? Why not?

#94
post #34

Things I wish I knew earlier. When you buy them, you lock in the current rate for 6 months from the date you purchase & then you get the next rate for 6 months after that. So today you get 9.62% for 6 months, so you'll technically earn 4.81% interest on your money after 6 months from the date of purchase. You'll then get the next rate which is most likely 3% for 6 months (often quoted as 6% annually). This site does…

Yes, I-bonds are a bit of a meme right now, and IMO, overhyped. The other important things to note are that your money is locked for a year from purchase , you incur a penalty (3 months of interest) if you sell before 5 years, and the APY values being quoted are not indexed to inflation. I-bonds issued today yield essentially zero percent after inflation, and this will be true for as long as you hold them. Do not buy…

They were great when they had a fixed rate component. They are also nice in that tax liability is deferred until you redeem them.

Re: Ask HN: Have you bought I bonds yet? Why not?

#95
post #34

Things I wish I knew earlier. When you buy them, you lock in the current rate for 6 months from the date you purchase & then you get the next rate for 6 months after that. So today you get 9.62% for 6 months, so you'll technically earn 4.81% interest on your money after 6 months from the date of purchase. You'll then get the next rate which is most likely 3% for 6 months (often quoted as 6% annually). This site does…

Yes, I-bonds are a bit of a meme right now, and IMO, overhyped. The other important things to note are that your money is locked for a year from purchase , you incur a penalty (3 months of interest) if you sell before 5 years, and the APY values being quoted are not indexed to inflation. I-bonds issued today yield essentially zero percent after inflation, and this will be true for as long as you hold them. Do not buy…

A CD that returns almost 10%. You'd be crazy to pass that up.

Re: Ask HN: Have you bought I bonds yet? Why not?

#96
We have been buying I-series bonds for now 15 years. We haven't yet bought this year, will buy after November reset, just to make sure next reset doesn't increase fixed rate portion. In the long term, fixed rate portion makes a big difference. Variable rate portion changed every 6 months.

I-series Bond Mega Thread on Bogleheads forum https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=346091...

Re: Ask HN: Have you bought I bonds yet? Why not?

#97
post #93
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.irs.gov/refunds/using-your-income-tax-refund-to-... You can still get them if you get them as part of your tax return. Overpay estimated tax or increase your withholding. 10. Will I get actual paper bond certificates? Yes. Savings bonds purchased with a tax refund will be issued as paper bond certificates in your name. If you are married and filed a joint return, the savings bonds will be issued in your n…

Looks like you have to paper file to get them, right?

I think it works with e-file, at least TurboTax has asked about it (I’ve never actually done it).

Re: Ask HN: Have you bought I bonds yet? Why not?

#98
I think folks mentioning that it’s not worth due to the yearly limit might not be thinking in the long term.

If every year you invest $10k, in 20 years you will have $200k that will have grown tax deferred to likely $400k, which should be a really nice sum equivalent to perhaps 5-10 years of living expenses, which pairs well with the equity side of the portfolio.

I’ve been building my ibonds position for 8 years now, and to me they are an excellent long term holding to BND that will help me in retirement to dampen the volatility of my equities in my 80/20 allocation.

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