Aloha and welcome to today’s blog How to Buy U.S. Savings Bonds Step by Step!
Jordan won the Cash Flow board game at our Christmas Party and the prize was a $25 U.S. savings bond!!!
So I finally figured out how to do it and I’m sharing the steps here with you.
Open a Treasury Direct Account
Go to https://www.treasurydirect.gov and open an account. I clicked on Log In and on the following page there was a button to create a new account.
Before you open the account – if you are saving for higher education expenses for your kids it’s better to open the account in your name as the parent. If you are 24 years or older when you open it, then depending on your income you could get a tax deduction on interest if it’s cashed the year you pay for qualifying higher education expenses.
Jordan and I decided to buy it in my name even though the money is for him.
Decide Which Bond to Buy – EE or I
There are 2 kinds of bonds for sale, one is EE and one is I. The EE bonds have a fixed rate, whereas the I bonds adjust with inflation. You can visit this link for more information – https://www.treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/
The I bonds are currently at 6.89% since we are having inflation and the EE are 2.1%. Note that if we have deflation, the I bonds will go down to 0%, but will never go negative, so you will never lose money.
We decided to go with the I bonds, as high yield savings accounts and regular treasury bonds currently pay much higher than 2.1%.
Click on BuyDirect in the Menu to Buy a Savings Bond
When you are ready to buy your bond, to the BuyDirect choice on the menu and select the Savings Bond you want to buy. They will send you a confirmation e-mail.
Conclusion
It’s pretty easy to buy U.S. Savings bonds for your kids or for yourself. Please comment and share and have a bright day!