I savings bonds earn interest monthly. Interest is compounded semiannually, meaning that every 6 months we apply the bond’s interest rate to a new principal value. The new principal is the sum of the prior principal and the interest earned in the previous 6 months.
Thus, your bond's value grows both because it earns interest and because the principal value gets bigger.
We list interest rates for all I bonds ever issued in 2 ways:
- Matrix showing fixed rates, inflation rates, and combined rates together
- See rate chart (PDF)
- Separate tables for fixed rates, inflation rates, combined rates
With a Series I savings bond, you wait to get all the money until you cash in the bond.
Electronic I bonds: We pay automatically when the bond matures (if you haven’t cashed it before then).
Paper I bonds: You must submit the paper bond to cash it.
You can cash in (redeem) your I bond after 12 months.
However, if you cash in the bond in less than 5 years, you lose the last 3 months of interest. For example, if you cash in the bond after 18 months, you get the first 15 months of interest. See Cash in (redeem) an EE or I savings bond.
If you have a Series I electronic bond, you can see what it is worth in your TreasuryDirect account.
To see what your paper Series I bond is worth, use our Savings Bond Calculator.
Federal income tax: Yes
State and local income tax: No
Federal estate, gift, and excise taxes; state estate or inheritance taxes: Yes
You choose whether to report each year's earnings or wait to report all the earnings when you get the money for the bond.
If you use the money for qualified higher education expenses, you may not have to pay tax on the earnings.
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Paper I bonds: $50, $100, $200, $500, or $1,000
- up to $10,000 in electronic I bonds, and
- up to $5,000 in paper I bonds (with your tax refund)
For individual accounts, the limits apply to the Social Security Number of the first-named in the registration.
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