# Series I U.S. savings bonds are paying 7.12% \[update - now 6.89%\]\[Down to 5.27% Mar2023\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 28, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092 "2021-11-28T23:03:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/141 "2022-11-02T14:30:59Z")
Updated as requested. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/142 "2022-11-02T21:20:34Z")
A little better than expected! TYVM for the update. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/143 "2022-11-02T22:24:33Z")
That 6.89% includes a .40% fixed rate. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/144 "2024-03-13T04:24:17Z")
I sold my 10k I-Bond yesterday. $1040 profit on $10k. Current yield is 3.49% Everybody else hanging tough? ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/145 "2024-03-13T04:34:23Z")
Currently my stocks are doing better, but stocks and bonds have always been a long game. This site says that the current interest rate is 5.27 for the bonds we all bought during the rush. [I bonds interest rates — TreasuryDirect](https://www.treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/i-bonds/i-bonds-interest-rates/#:~:text=Current%20Interest%20Rate%20Series%20I%20Savings%20Bonds%205.27%25,issued%20November%201%2C%202023%20to%20April%2030%2C%202024). The most important thing to remember about I series bonds is that you cannot lose your money with them no matter how bad things get. The US government owes you the amount you lent them with interest until the loan matures. They can’t take the interest you made last year if the interest rate tanks this year, that money is still yours. If you sell before your loan to the government matures, you will lose the last three months of interest, but the rest of everything you earned is yours at the interest rates it was earned. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/146 "2024-03-13T04:38:45Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > This site says that the current interest rate is 5.27 I was probably looking at the inflation rate @ 1.97 x2 = 3.94 and conflated. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/147 "2024-03-13T04:40:59Z")
It’s all a gamble 🙂 That’s why you should never put all of your money under the same mattress, LOL! ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/148 "2024-03-13T04:50:35Z")
I recommend this website for those (like myself) who are obsessed with Treasury inflation protected securities, including I-bonds (savings bonds): > **[Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities](https://tipswatch.com/)** > > TIPS: Perfect investment for imperfect times? News, ideas, alerts It’s written by David Enna, who is also on twitter. [https://twitter.com/TipsWatch](https://twitter.com/TipsWatch) [https://twitter.com/Dave\_Enna](https://twitter.com/Dave_Enna) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/149 "2024-03-13T06:38:58Z")
Wells Fargo got CDs at 4.65% right now. Better than the .003 I’m getting at Capital One. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/150 "2024-03-13T15:26:26Z")
You must use a different Capital One than I do. 1 year CDs at my Cap One are at 4.9%. Their straight up savings rate (well, they call it “performance”) is 4.35% and doesn’t require any sort of commitment. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/151 "2024-03-13T16:52:05Z")
Fidelity offers a wide variety of CDs through various banks. Presumably other brokerage firms do as well. The best call-protected 12-month CD at Fidelity right now is at 5.15%. They have 90-day CDs, call-protected, at 5.35% ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/152 "2024-03-13T16:55:32Z")
We have a lot of cash (we also have a lot in stocks, bonds, etc) that we won’t need for a long time (it’s money we’ll use to pay for medical insurance once we retire and not yet 65) so we’ve locked it all into 5 year CDs. Safe, secure, and earning decent money. I should know since our tax bill is up quite a bit due to all that interest. At some point, decent interest on any of these will drop. At least, I think it will drop. 🤷 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/153 "2024-03-13T18:45:47Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > The most important thing to remember about I series bonds is that you cannot lose your money with them no matter how bad things get. Well… that’s true, and it’s important for people who simply can’t risk their base capital, but there’s another way to look at it: If you invest in a 5 year bond that winds up returning 3%, and another investment could have returned 5%, you are ‘losing’ money. In both cases, you put $5,000 away for 5 years and can’t touch it. At the end, if you invest at 5% you will have $6381, at 3%, $5796. So you’re losing over $500. I have some of the Canadian Equivalent of I-Bonds. They’ve been underperforming. I think of them more as a hedge than an investment. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/154 "2024-03-13T18:52:44Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > If you invest in a 5 year bond that winds up returning 3%, and another investment could have returned 5% But when you invest your money, you don’t ‘know’ that the second investment will return 5%. You know that the bond will return 3%. The second investment might return 2%, or might even lose money. In that case, you have made the correct decision. If we could only look into the future… ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/155 "2024-03-13T18:55:21Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > That’s why you should never put all of your money under the same mattress, LOL! I’m sorry I wasn’t clear, what this is meant to mean is do not invest all of your money is the same place. Bonds are not short-time investments but at least they are safer than stocks. Currently my stocks are returning twice the rate of my bonds, but that can drastically change very quickly. I could lose all of my money in the stock market if my money guys underperform, I won’t lose all of my money in bonds if the stock market tanks. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/156 "2024-03-13T22:49:16Z")
My father, who died last October, had multiple small accounts here and there, and my brother, who has POA, helped liquidate them and my mother got a nice chunk o’change. I asked her about putting some of that money in short-term CDs, 6 to 12 months, because they’re earning good interest right now (and she wouldn’t be as liable to go crazy with it) and she said she had never purchased them before and didn’t want to now. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/157 "2024-03-13T23:14:44Z")
My heart goes out for your mother and to you. Death of a long time life partner does things to one’s mind. It’s probably best she won’t be making big choices for at least a year. Maybe bring it up again next year? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/158 "2024-03-13T23:18:24Z")
Dad was 90 (Mother is too) so it wasn’t a total shock. On another note, I knew that they really enjoyed going to the neighborhood senior center for lunch, and she’d only gone once since Dad died, about a month later when she finally felt comfortable doing so. She hasn’t been back, because 3 men hit on her, and a 4th told her later when she saw him at the grocery store that around that time, he had parked outside the house, hoping she would see him and “invite me in for dinner.” She didn’t find any of this as amusing as other people who have heard about it, myself included, did. I mean, I’ve certainly heard plenty of stories about newly widowed elderly men having women throw themselves at them, but this was a first for me. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/159 "2024-03-13T23:26:24Z")
Can we update the title? They are 5.27% until April 30th ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092/160 "2024-03-13T23:29:14Z")
Sure; go ahead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-i-u-s-savings-bonds-are-paying-7-12-update-now-6-89-down-to-5-27-mar2023/955092.md?page=7)