It doesn’t take a financial genius to notice that it’s tough being a responsible saver these days. Interest rates are low, and have been for a while, that it seems as though there isn’t much difference, outside of FDIC insurance, between opening a CD and stuffing the money in your mattress. The term high yield savings account is comedic… since when was 1.11 of anything considered high?

There are, however, a few options out there for savers with more flexibility in their finances. While the national debt has seemed to take hold in our political discussions, it hasn’t been as prominent in our financial discussions. Treasury debt, such as bonds and bills, has never been a sexy pick for main street savers. It’s about time we gave them a serious look as an option and my favorite of the group is the Series I savings bond.

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It looks like the Series I Savings Bond may be competitive again. After a few pathetically low rate adjustment cycles, we can blame low inflation and the economic recession for that, it seems as though the variable rate for Series I Savings Bonds will once again make them competitive with savings account rates again.

To recap, Series I Savings Bond rates are a combination of a fixed rate, which is for the life of the bond, and a variable rate, which is adjusted for inflation as measured by the CPI-U. The equation itself is a little more complicated but you can use this Series I bond rate calculator to help you do the math (the equation isn’t very hard, it’s just hard to explain).

How are we able to predict the rate in May? Easy, the CPI-U we will use is for March and is announced in April (this time it was April 15th). We simply calculate the change from September 2010 (announced in October 2010) and March 2011 and know what the variable interest rate is.

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With another September come and gone, it’s time to take a look at our good friend, the Series I savings bond. Savings bonds are a nice safe way to diversify your savings since they are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. They won’t make you rich but they have a lot of nice benefits (deferral of gains, no state and local income taxes on the interest, and there is an exemption from federal taxes for educational use) that make them attractive. I wouldn’t put all of my money into bonds but a little bit is good as a safety net.

11/2/10 Update: The Treasury Department announced that the fixed rate component on Series I bonds will be 0.00% for bonds issued November 2010 through April 2011.

That being said, I like Series I bonds the most because they offer a protection against inflation. With the release of inflation figures in September, we can now easily calculate what the interest rate portion of the Series I Savings Bond will be this upcoming month. The September 2010 CPI-U was 218.439 and the March 2010 CPI-U was 217.631. This yields a semi-annual increase of 0.37%.

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As we near the end of April, we also near the announcement period of Series I Savings Bond interest rates. For the uninitiated, here’s a quick recap – Series I Savings bonds are Treasury bonds whose interest rate is pegged to the rate of inflation. The rate is determined by an equation (I just use my Series I bond rate calculator) involving the bond’s fixed rate and the inflation rate, announced in May and November.

I think Series I bonds are great if you need something 100% safe and a respectable interest rate. My favorite part is that the interest is free of state income taxes plus federal if used for qualified educational expenses. If you have a short term need, like education in a few years, that you want to still accrue interest but not put in the market, a savings bond isn’t a bad idea.

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One of the unintended, though predictable, consequences of the unprecedented rescue of the United States financial system is that there will be higher than average inflation figures for years to come. While it’s been popular to dispute the reported Consumer Price Index (CPI), the reality is that the marketplace doesn’t really listen to the reported stats. It reacts to reality. Your boss doesn’t walk into your office and say “Oh, CPI says I need to give you an x% raise this year to maintain your purchasing power.” and the grocery store doesn’t increase the price of a head of cabbage a few cents every month because the BLS came out with another report.

So we need to be proactive and be aware that inflation is a real concern, before it becomes front page fodder for newspapers.
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Update: The Treasury Department announced the fixed rate component on new Series I bonds would be 0.30% for the bonds issued in the next six months. Coupled with the inflation component we all know ahead of time (see below), the new Series I bond rate will be 3.36% for the next six months.

For the last six months, my Series I Savings Bonds have been earning exactly 0.00% APY interest. If you remember from the Savings Bond Foundation post, Series I savings bonds earn interest based on an equation that has both an inflation rate component and a fixed rate component.

The inflation rate component is set twice a year, November and May, and calculated based on six months of inflation data. The November rate is set based on inflation between March and September, the May rate is set based on inflation between September and March (see how that works out?).

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Between the various bailouts, rescues, and spending packages, the United States Treasury has been working overtime issuing debt. If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering how this is even possible and how the government goes about doing it. During the First World War and World War Two, we went through a similar period where the government needed to borrow a lot of money to help fund the war effort. That gave rise to the patriotic posters that called for ordinary Americans to buy war bonds to support our soldiers fighting the enemy on foreign soil. That same mechanism, public debt, is what we use today to help fund many of our programs. This makes it a prime topic for the third installment of the Foundation Series.

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It’s hard to be a saver in the United States. Between the constant assault on our senses from the advertising and marketing industry to the systemic disincentivization of saving by the Federal Reserve (lowered interest rates means savings earn less interest, which means savers are punished if interest rates are below inflation rates as their purchasing power is eroded), it’s really difficult to justify not going out and spending your entire paycheck on junk from Bed Bath & Beyond (don’t forget those 20% off coupons!).

If you look carefully though, there are still opportunities to save but they are quite fleeting. One good place to consider are CD rates, though the rates have been going down as the Fed rate plummets to the depths we haven’t seen (well, that I’ve never seen) for many decades.

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Series I Bonds are inflation-pegged bonds offered by the Treasury. The interest rate you earn is a calculation that takes into account the fixed rate of your particular bond, a rate set every 6 months and follows your bond for the rest of its life, and an inflation rate that changes every six months to correspond with the CPI-U inflation rate. Here is a list of the Series I bond’s historic rates.

This post was updated to reflect the November 1st, 2009 interest rate changes.

The equation itself isn’t particularly complicated and is:
Composite rate = [Fixed rate + (2 x Semiannual inflation rate) + (Fixed rate x Semiannual inflation rate)]

Using it to calculate the latest inflation rate data (announced November 1st, 2009), we calculate bonds bought in this period to be earning an APY of 3.36%:

Fixed rate = 0.30% (this fixed portion remains the same until you redeem the bond)
Semiannual inflation rate = 1.53% (in May 2010, this number will change)

Composite rate = [Fixed rate + (2 x Semiannual inflation rate) + (Fixed rate x Semiannual inflation rate)]
Composite rate = [0.0030 + (2 x 0.0153) + (0.0030 x 0.0153)]
Composite rate = [0.0030 + 0.0306 + 0.0000459]
Composite rate = [0.0336459]
Composite rate = 0.0336
Composite rate = 3.36%

Series I Bond Rate Calculator

Here’s a handy calculator to help you calculate the yield:

Remember, your fixed interest rate does not change, it is based on when you purchased your bond. You will need to look up your bond’s fixed interest rate to get an accurate calculation of your composite interest rate.

(photo by allyrose18)

Since I couldn’t buy electronic Series I bonds in time because of user error, I went to the local bank and purchased paper Series I bonds instead. The next step is to convert the paper bonds into electronic bonds and the Treasury Department makes that pretty easy.

Why Convert?

I’m converting because I don’t want to lose the certificate. If you lose the bond, you can always replace it by filling out Form PDF 1048 Claim For Lost, Stolen or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds but if the conversion process is easy, why risk it?

Another good reason to convert is that you’re able to redeem the bonds in any increment, you aren’t restricted to the increments you converted. The only rule is that you must redeem at least $25 and what’s left can’t be less than $25, which shouldn’t be an issue.

Lastly, after thirty years, the bonds are automatically redeemed. There’s no chance you’ll find the bonds in the attic somewhere in sixty years, after missing out on thirty years of interest. (there are more reasons and I just realized they have them listed on the SmartExchange site, so check them out there if you’re not convinced)

How To Convert

The system TreasuryDirect uses is called SmartExchange. Anyone with a TreasuryDirect account can convert paper bond certificates into electronic bonds (if you don’t have a TreasuryDirect account, open one… it’s easy but it takes a week or two to get everything all set up).

The next step is to log into your account and use their Contact feature to notify TreasuryDirect that you’d like to convert your bonds. Then, after a few days you’ll receive this email confirmation:

Hello.

You can now create your own conversion linked account by following these steps:

* Access your TreasuryDirect account.
* Click the ManageDirectsm tab.
* Select the “Establish a Conversion Account” option from the Manage My Linked Accounts menu. The Establish a Conversion Account page will display. Review the information.
* If you wish to create a Conversion Linked Account, click the Create Account button

The next few instructions are just as the email describes except instead of looking for a “Establish a Conversion Account” you’re actually looking for “Establish a Conversion Linked Account.” On that next page, click on Create Account and with that, you have created a Conversion Linked Account! (* Welcome to your new Conversion Linked Account! You may begin converting your paper bonds at any time. Yay!)

The process from here is simple and mechanical with detailed instructions available on the TreasuryDirect site in the ManageDirect page. You will essentially create a list of bonds, print out a manifest, and mail in the bonds (there’s no point in me republishing the actual details, they give step by step instructions). The process takes about three weeks once they get the bonds and you can track it by viewing your electronic manifest through ManageDirect. Use that to track the status of your bonds.

As an aside, having logged into TreasuryDirect about a million times in the last few days, I have to say the security access card is a pain in the rear. Luckily if you fail too (3?) many times (I kept forgetting to pick a serial number), they report that you failed but don’t actually lock you out. You can just keep trying, great security!

(Image by joan_thewlis)