savings bonds?

[Soundguy]

mine are e, ee and i

 

[kenmac]

Yep , the 529 is the best place to part the funds. Not savings bonds. I set up a 529 years ago through my financial advisor for my youngest son's college. He is in his 3 yr of a 4 yr degree and there should be plenty of $$ left when he finishes his 4 th yr. When I need money to pay tuition , I just contact my F A and he transfers $$ to my account.

 

[grsthegreat]

yeiks. i have never purchased any regular savings bonds, but have purchased I bonds. Those are simply purchased thru a bank. I bought a $5,000 I bond 2 years ago... had no issues what so ever. All my other bonds are Inherited, so all i had to do is re-issue them in my name.

Personally im happy with the interest the I bonds and the EE series bonds have made. The older ones i inherited are currently earning between 4.0 and 6.28% per year...depending on issue date. The newer I bonds vary between 3.89 and 4.6%.

Compared to 0.25% that Wells Fargo offers, bonds are great

 

[lilranch2001]

I have a few old EE bonds I have had for 20 years
This thread made me think to look up their value and interest rate.
Pathetic really
What is weird, they are all the same vintage, two of them earned 4% and one earned 1%

 

[Soundguy]

almost anything is better than bank interest nowadays.

 

[grsthegreat]

I have a few old EE bonds I have had for 20 years
This thread made me think to look up their value and interest rate.
Pathetic really
What is weird, they are all the same vintage, two of them earned 4% and one earned 1%

it depends on the value of the bonds and the year issued. Treasure direct has free software for tracking your bonds.

I dont think its pathetic in the least. My bonds have mads a great return...as some of them are nearly 30 years old. As an example, one bond my mom bought in 1984 for $50 out of a paycheck is now worth $221.28. She had bonds taken out of every monthly check. So did my father.

I think its a great way to save. the money isnt sitting there making you want to purchase an ipod or some other gizmo.

My parents lived on these investments for nearly 20 years after they retired. This was on top of pensions and other stock investments. They had a very comfortable retirement.

They are the ones that taught me to live debt free if i could. I have no debt...none at all. Its whats saved my business in these past lean years.

 

[timswi]

The problem I have with savings bonds (and I have a fair amount) is that you have to pay taxes on the interest.

You lend the government money then have to pay taxes on the interest received on the loan to them..

 

[grsthegreat]

The problem I have with savings bonds (and I have a fair amount) is that you have to pay taxes on the interest.

You lend the government money then have to pay taxes on the interest received on the loan to them..

errrr. you pay taxes on any savings interest. they report all interest income you earn.

heck, i sold some gold years ago, and i had to pay taxes on the profit i earned in the gold. that really sucked.

 

[MossRoad]

and hope you can get near 8%...

We've been averaging 26% per year for the last 2 years. 2008 kinda sucked eggs, though. :laughing: We got it back in two years and doubled it since then. We are more aggressive with the younger one's money. Each year they get closer to college we shift the investment from high risk towards lower risk. We're spread out between home, land, 529 college plans, Roth IRAs, 401k, Roth 401K, pensions, other investments, etc.... Some very aggressive investments and some safer ones. But while we're young we're being very aggressive. Some folks in our families live to be 100. If I plan to live to 85 and live to 100 I'm screwed. So I'm planning on 100 and if me and the wife croak, the kids will get a nice surprise. If we don't croak early, at least our funerals will be paid for. :confused3:

 

[MossRoad]

almost anything is better than bank interest nowadays.

Yeah. We just financed a used car through a different credit union. They are offering .13 percent interest on savings accounts. We're currently getting .10. So that's what? a whopping 3 cents more on every 100 dollars. 30 cents on a thousand and $3 bucks on $10,0000. Not worth the labor in paper work to switch accounts. Pathetic.