Where do you keep your i-Bonds?

[Nords]

Nords, you are probably aware of this but if you are selling 2007 I-bonds, they pay about 1.2% before inflation. The current 5yr TIPS is -1.0% (negative rate). Those older I-bonds are keepers in my opinion.

Made me look. I haven't been paying much attention to the yields. These were just a safe place to park the college fund when we needed to move from stocks into principal protection.

One I bond is from July 2006 with an interest rate of 4.48% (1.4% over inflation). A second is from Jan 2005 with an interest rate of 4.08% (+1%). A third is from Oct 2005 at 5.83% (+1.2%). Not quite the gold-rush days of 1998-2001.

These are great bonds to have if you're seeking government bond assets, but government bonds are no longer appropriate for us. We have enough annuitized inflation-adjusted federal income (my pension now, spouse's starting in 2022) that we're selling off the bonds when we get a good chance. Paying for college is a good chance.

Tuition is covered by NROTC so we can't use them for tuition expenses. However all together they'll pay about four more semesters of room & board, plus a "happy graduation" modest contribution to her first year of the Thrift Savings Plan. For her next two college years, we're cashing them in the order of lowest yield to highest and sending them through a 529 account so that the accumulated interest is tax-free. Of course we'll pay the taxes on anything that doesn't go through the 529.

I don't mind paying taxes, but for the next few years we're paying right at the top of the 15% bracket to finish converting our conventional IRAs to Roths. Starting 2022 we'll be in the 25% tax bracket just from pension checks, so this is the time to convert.

Harvesting the I bonds allows us to conserve the college fund's CDs (2.75%-3.5% maturing in 2015) for other investment opportunities. (I'm thinking equities-- a small-cap value index and a large-cap dividend index.) All we need is a nasty recession or two, and I suspect we'll have at least one more before the decade is over.

 

[Kerqak]

I felt a twinge of mortality today and actually filled out beneficiaries for a few of my online accounts. When I got to TD, I couldnt find anywhere to put it in. I admit I was starting to lose focus and my invincibility was starting to return so I gave up looking. Is there an icon to hit in your account to type it in or do they want you to die, and send it treasury to pay down national debt?

It is there, although they make it really hard to find.

Click "Current Holdings" on the top menu bar. Scroll to the bottom, select the radio button next to "Series I Savings Bond" and click Submit.

You should see a list of each IBond you have on account. Select one of them and click the Select button.

This should show you that bond's current value, interest rate, maturity, and registration. You want to change the Registration. Click the Edit button.

You might have to answer an additional security question at this point. I hope you remember what your first cat's name was, or whatever question you answered when you first set up the account.

Now you have a drop-down menu with all the different registrations available to you. You probably only have one, the "Sole Owner" that's the default when you create your account. Click Add New Registration.

Make the new registration a Beneficiary type. Put your name in at the top, and the person you want as your beneficiary in the bottom.

Now back at the edit screen, you should have two options for the registration: your original Sole Owner, and another one that looks something like "Mulligan POD Mrs Mulligan". Change to the new registration and save your change.

Now do this for each bond you have in the account (you only have to make the new POD registration once).

 

[Mulligan]

It is there, although they make it really hard to find.

Click "Current Holdings" on the top menu bar. Scroll to the bottom, select the radio button next to "Series I Savings Bond" and click Submit.

You should see a list of each IBond you have on account. Select one of them and click the Select button.

This should show you that bond's current value, interest rate, maturity, and registration. You want to change the Registration. Click the Edit button.

You might have to answer an additional security question at this point. I hope you remember what your first cat's name was, or whatever question you answered when you first set up the account.

Now you have a drop-down menu with all the different registrations available to you. You probably only have one, the "Sole Owner" that's the default when you create your account. Click Add New Registration.

Make the new registration a Beneficiary type. Put your name in at the top, and the person you want as your beneficiary in the bottom.

Now back at the edit screen, you should have two options for the registration: your original Sole Owner, and another one that looks something like "Mulligan POD Mrs Mulligan". Change to the new registration and save your change.

Now do this for each bond you have in the account (you only have to make the new POD registration once).

Thanks, Kerqak. It is obvious now, I never had a chance. I will give this a shot. I going to have to print this off,because when its time to buy another one, I wont remember how to do it. I definitely know all my security questions as I wrote them down in a notebook labeled " Account passwords". This way either me or the house burgler will have no problems accessing the accounts.