Why would anyone want to buy I Bonds? Does a guaranteed, annualized interest rate of 9.62% for the next six months do anything for you?
How do you buy these I Bonds? It’s not as simple as buying shares of BND or VBTLX from Vanguard, but it’s not terribly complicated, either.
Interest in I Bonds is credited twice a year, but you do not pay taxes on that interest until you decide to cash out your bond. It is automatically reinvested.
Vanguard’s Total Bond Fund yields 1.5% and the value of the underlying fund is subject to change, unlike the value of an I Bond, which can never drop (or rise) in value.
Congress will play games and kick the can down the road, but the odds of our government actually defaulting on debts owed to investors is exceptionally low.