The U.S. Treasury Division in Washington.
Al Drago/Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures
I bonds broke each day, weekly and month-to-month gross sales data
The Treasury offered $979 million of I bonds earlier than the deadline on Friday — almost as a lot in sooner or later as through the three years from 2018 to 2020, when traders purchased barely greater than $1 billion, in response to Treasury Division figures shared Tuesday. Traders opened 95,482 new accounts on Friday, additionally a file.
Traders bought greater than $3 billion of I bonds final week and virtually $7 billion in October — which signify weekly and month-to-month data, too, in response to preliminary estimates the Treasury Division supplied Monday.
Traders opened 359,822 new accounts final week and 731,336 new accounts throughout October.
TreasuryDirect.gov — the web site the place traders buy I bonds — crashed Friday as the quantity swelled. TreasuryDirect turned “one of the crucial visited web sites within the federal authorities” within the ultimate days of the 9.62% fee window, the Treasury Division mentioned Friday. It usually hosts only a few thousand concurrent guests.
I bond charges shift twice a yr primarily based on inflation.
There are two components to the speed: a hard and fast fee, which stays the identical after buy, and a variable fee, which shifts twice per yr primarily based on inflation. The Treasury Division proclaims new charges each Might and November.
Traders might lock within the new 6.89% fee for six months by buying I bonds any time earlier than the top of April 2023.
You should purchase the property on-line by TreasuryDirect, restricted to $10,000 per calendar yr for people. You can even use your federal tax refund to purchase an additional $5,000 in paper I bonds.
The Treasury Division supplied up to date gross sales numbers after this story was initially printed.