mshen11

on the home page, click Savingsbond online direct, then hit go shopping.

right now the link is not working for me though.

mshen11, yes, because bonds generally exceeded returns on savings accounts by a fair bit.

In theory, if interest rates went high enough and the bank interest/bond interest spread low enough, then the flipping strategy wouldn't work, as 3 months (minus any float) in forgone interest would exceed the CC rewards. In pratice, I can't see this ever happening, and certainly not last year at 6%.

Pat, the strategy I like is buying them with a FBB Visa or similar card, ala NotaFool's strategy, then using your checks to pay off that FBB balance. That way, you get the fat rewards and the 0% interest benefit.

Not sure what you mean by the 1 year thing though, as bonds need be held only until the 6th month after purchase.

When is the last day that you can buy bonds dated for July? I can't find this listed on the savingsbond.gove site. TIA.

DH, Thanks for the info.

Btw, where do you find this "last date to purchase" on the savingsbond.gov website?

A "by request" bump from a FW member earlier this evening...

and (OT) an honorary bump for the last undeleted NOTaFool post I could find, just above this one. His posts have been invaluable over the last 4 months. The fact that we disagreed pointedly from time to time doesn't diminish that at all.

I hope he reconsiders and returns. Peace to you, NOTaFool.

DH and NOTaFool have both indicated that they keep them at home. Evidently they can be replaced if lost since they are associated with your social security number. Keeping track of the serial number for each bond would help facilitate their replacement if you did loose them.

Leaving small denomination gift EE bonds at home is one thing, but I think the large 5k bonds seems risky to leave just anywhere. Like you said (thanks taylor and DH for your replies) the SSN will help getting a replacement in case a bond gets lost, just that you have to keep good records and not lose your list of bond serial numbers I guess. I think a safe deposit box might still be worth the peace of mind.

tooshy, I have about $28K in bonds in my drawer. With them all having my SS#, and the website instructions explaining how easy it is to get them replaced, I see ZERO risk, even if you don't have the serial numbers.

DWooley, I don't think that's possible, but it would be a nice idea.

in about 30 days the rates will change again for i and ee bonds. any theories on what it will be and why?