What Savings Bonds can do for you
Savings Bonds customer support
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The $75 I Bond |
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The $75 Series EE |
With Savings Bonds your earnings keep ahead of inflation and track securities market rates.
You earn these rates while taking the lowest possible risk.
Your initial savings and earned interest are protected because Savings Bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.
You can use Savings Bonds as a perfect complement to 401(k) and other investment tools as the conservative part of your diversified portfolio.
Beginning savers can easily start building their wealth with Savings Bonds.
A variety of denominations make saving painless on any budget.
Most interest-bearing checking accounts and certificates of deposit require you to start with and maintain a large minimum balance to get the kind of interest rates paid by Savings Bonds.
Remember that earnings from Savings Bonds are exempt from state and local income taxes. In most cases, this should increase your actual earnings.
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When you buy Savings Bonds, you don't risk losing any the initial principal you put into them.
In adverse market conditions, the worst that would happen is that you would simply stop earning interest. Your principal and all earnings to date would be safe, unlike investment tools.
With the I Bond, your principal and earnings are even safe from inflation.
Savings Bonds are registered with the Treasury Department, so if yours are ever lost, torn or stolen, you can have them replaced at no cost to you.
Remember, you pay no fees or service charges when you buy or redeem U.S. Savings Bonds.
You can further tailor your savings to meet your goals and needs because Savings Bonds come in eight denominations - $50, $75, $100, $200, $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000.
After an initial holding period of 12 months for bonds issued in or after February 2003, the money you've placed in Savings Bonds is accessible to you when you want it. Bonds issued earlier than February 2003 may be redeemed six months after the date of issue.
If you want or need your money on short notice, it's there for you.
In fact, in the event of a qualifying emergency, the Treasury Department will waive the holding period so you have access to your money when you need it.
As with most forms of saving, your benefits increase the longer you hold your Savings Bonds.
The Treasury Department encourages you to hold onto your Savings Bonds by withholding three months of interest if you cash them before five years from the purchase date.
You can effortlessly save your money with an automatic allotment on a regular basis here at SRFCU.
However, there may be times when you want to buy Savings Bonds.
You might want to buy Savings Bonds as gifts, or you might have a windfall from taxes or an inheritance that you want to protect with Savings Bonds.
For those special cases, there are several other ways for you to buy Savings Bonds.
This table can give you a rough idea of how savings of $50 a month will grow at sample return rates of four, five, and six percent.
While no one can predict future market and inflation rates, these examples show how compound interest works to your benefit as a saver.
Savings growth at $50 per month
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