I-Bond Interest Update at Treasury Direct

[Ian S]

I bought an I-Bond in May 2022 and now want to redeem it. While I can see the total interest, I can't see if there is a way to see when and how much interest was actually earned. As far as I can tell, It should have an update for January 1 but is there a way of seeing that for sure? Clicking on "History" really doesn't show anything.

It's such an annoying website. I've been clicking several times this morning only to get an error and have to login again.

 

[audreyh1]

You can’t see when the interest was earned. How much was earned is simply the difference between what you paid for it and that initial value is shown in some of the views.

The IBonds were updated for Jan 1 as of yesterday. I know because I also had a Dec report to compare.

Before you confirm your redemption they will show you the total interest earned on that bond.

I redeemed a couple of IBonds late last year.

 

[erkevin]

Their website is pretty annoying; you cannot use the back button on your browser to view previous pages. You have to use their webpage navigation buttons.

 

[Andre1969]

If you really want to keep up on how much interest it's earning, you have to check in every month. I think the interest gets updated on the last day of the month.

I just checked one of my iBonds this morning, and it was worth $10,440. It went up $32 from the month before. I had bought it on 1/1/23, for $10,000.

I didn't keep track of it for the first few months, but the data points I have are:
6/1/23: $10,112
7/6/23: $10,172
8/7/23: $10,228
9/5/23: $10,288
10/10/23: $10,344
10/31/23: $10,376
11/30/23: $10,408
1/2/24: $10,440.

Those dates are when I happened to check on its value, and not necessarily the day the interest was added. But yeah, the website is pretty annoying, and clunky.

 

[audreyh1]

I have an IBond spreadsheet that I update every quarter. I also track in Quicken - the spreadsheet gives me the interest numbers to input.

I believe the interest earned the prior month is added on the first of the month.

 

[Ian S]

Thanks for the responses. I'll just assume they got the interest included and proceed with the redemption

 

[Gumby]

I redeemed an I-Bond yesterday. It had the correct interest for December included.

 

[audreyh1]

Thanks for the responses. I'll just assume they got the interest included and proceed with the redemption

I think you are safe.

I have my current holdings summary from 1/21/23 and 1/1/24 and the bonds have more interest as of 1/1/24.

 

[qwerty3656]

I purchased some I-Bonds on Oct 1st a few years ago and the interest rate dropped Oct 1, 2023. I thought if I waited til today, I would lose the last 3-months (which keep all the higher interest rate and lose the last 3 months of lower interest rate), but the I-bond value wasn't any higher today than it was last week?

 

[audreyh1]

Well that’s not what I’m seeing.

 

[Gumby]

If you sell now, you lose the interest from October, November and December.

Well that’s not what I’m seeing.

Me neither.

 

[qwerty3656]

Well - actually, its only a difference of less than $30 (1 month high interest vs low interest on $10,000). It probably made the adjustment and I was just expecting a much bigger number

 

[bjorn2bwild]

Since I planned to redeem a tranche of I-Bonds in January, I checked the balance on 12/31 and again on 1/1.
The balance on 1/1 was higher - 4.7% when annualized, I did not check each bond individually.
So I initiated the redemption on 1/1.

 

[Robert the Red]

You can setup a Google Sheet to track your Series I bond values. The prototype is found at https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=389497

If you input a date, it shows you the values of your bonds as of that date. I have a version of this as a tab in my personal "Pension and Finances" spreadsheet. Very useful, as I have over 100 I-bonds (included the tiny ones you get from income tax refunds).

 

[audreyh1]

Well - actually, its only a difference of less than $30 (1 month high interest vs low interest on $10,000). It probably made the adjustment and I was just expecting a much bigger number

Yes, some of my bonds the difference was small.

 

[jldavid47]

This should help you:

I Bonds Home $1,000

 

[cyber888]

I redeemed my iBonds yesterday (Jan.1). Calculations were correct. It's the interest you got every 6 months (minus 3 months where you are paid no interest). I'm hoping to get it by tomorrow Jan. 3 or maybe Jan.4.

 

[xlf11]

I just redeemed on 1/1/24 as well. It actually hit my bank account today as the bank has an early deposit policy (TD says it should be in my account on 1/3).

 

[erkevin]

My wife and I each redeemed two Ibonds today.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

The interest rate is updated the first of every month I think.
This is the website I use to calculate the value of the I-Bond. It may be off by a few cents and if you purchase in smaller denominations you should enter them separately.

I used the example of $10k bond purchased May 2022, hopefully it agrees with your balance.

https://eyebonds.info/ibonds/10000/ib_2022_05.html

 

[qwerty3656]

The interest rate is updated the first of every month I think.
This is the website I use to calculate the value of the I-Bond. It may be off by a few cents and if you purchase in smaller denominations you should enter them separately.

I used the example of $10k bond purchased May 2022, hopefully it agrees with your balance.

https://eyebonds.info/ibonds/10000/ib_2022_05.html

Worked for me. I have a 10,000 bond issued on 10/1/2021 and I sold it today and the cash value is 11,404 (which is the date from10/1/2023 - 3 months ago)

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Good to know, thanks for reporting back.

 

[audreyh1]

Treasury Direct shows me the current vale of each IBond.