I'm looking for somewhere safe to stick a little bit of my spare cash for the next few years. I Bonds from the treasury right now are at a 5.64% interest rate.
So, I'm curious:
1) Given the state of the economy and the upcoming stimulus package, can I expect the interest rate to plummet when they revalue the I bonds on May 1st? Go up? Stay about the same?
2) Do E/EE bonds gain interest based off the cost of the bond (Say, $25), or off the face value of the bond ($50)?
3) Between the 2 (E/EE and I), which is the better investment option?
4) Are there any other *safe* short term (3 years minimum, cashing out if I need it to buy a house at that point, otherwise 5-10 years) places to put my money? I'm not talking much here right now; I'd be surprised if I hit the $5k annual limit on I bonds. I'd like more interest than savings accounts typically offer, but I also don't want to have my money totally locked up for any particular period of time - with bonds I'm OK sacrificing 1 quarter's interest to cash out after a year if I really need to.
So, I'm curious:
1) Given the state of the economy and the upcoming stimulus package, can I expect the interest rate to plummet when they revalue the I bonds on May 1st? Go up? Stay about the same?
2) Do E/EE bonds gain interest based off the cost of the bond (Say, $25), or off the face value of the bond ($50)?
3) Between the 2 (E/EE and I), which is the better investment option?
4) Are there any other *safe* short term (3 years minimum, cashing out if I need it to buy a house at that point, otherwise 5-10 years) places to put my money? I'm not talking much here right now; I'd be surprised if I hit the $5k annual limit on I bonds. I'd like more interest than savings accounts typically offer, but I also don't want to have my money totally locked up for any particular period of time - with bonds I'm OK sacrificing 1 quarter's interest to cash out after a year if I really need to.