I bonds issued from November pay 5.51% as the fixed rate rises to 1.40%

I bonds issued from November 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027 carry a combined rate of 5.51%, the Treasury Department's TreasuryDirect site shows. The fixed part of that rate is 1.40%, up from 0.90% for bonds issued in the six months before.

Two parts, reset every May and November

An I bond's combined rate joins a fixed rate and an inflation rate. TreasuryDirect sets both twice a year, on May 1 and November 1. The fixed rate then applies for the life of every bond issued in the following six months, while the inflation rate applies for six months to all I bonds ever issued.

The new inflation rate is 2.04%, against 1.67% set on May 1, 2026 (a rise of 0.37 percentage point, computed). The fixed rate rose 0.50 percentage point (computed) from 0.90% to 1.40%. TreasuryDirect shows the arithmetic: 0.0140 plus two times 0.0204 plus 0.0140 times 0.0204 gives 0.0551, or 5.51% after rounding.

Bonds bought between May and October 2026 keep their 0.90% fixed rate and earn a combined 5.00% for the six months starting in November, according to the same table.

The rules that come with the rate

The Treasury says a bond can be cashed after 12 months, but that cashing it in less than five years costs the last three months of interest. One Social Security number or employer identification number may buy up to $10,000 in electronic I bonds in a calendar year. A bond earns interest for 30 years unless it is cashed earlier.

Interest is added to the bond's value twice a year and is paid when the bond is cashed, TreasuryDirect says.

The comparison with bank deposits

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's October national rates show an average savings account paying 0.38% and a 12-month certificate of deposit 1.76%. The I bond's combined rate is 5.13 percentage points above the savings rate and 3.75 points above the CD rate (both computed). The two are not like for like: the I bond's rate resets every six months with an inflation measure, its early-redemption rule differs from a CD's, and the FDIC says its figures are averages used to set rate caps, not the best rates available. FinanceInTime covered the deposit figures in October.

A fixed rate that is higher than in recent years, with a six-month inflation part

We think the more durable number in this announcement is 1.40%, not 5.51%. The fixed rate is the part that stays for the bond's life, and it is above the 1.20% set in November 2024 and the 0.90% set in May 2026. The inflation part, by contrast, will be reset in May and could be lower or higher.

For households, the opportunity is a return that moves with consumer prices; the threat is the access limits, the $10,000 annual cap and the three-month interest penalty before five years. We expect the combined rate to follow inflation when it resets on May 1, 2027, if prices keep rising as they have; we do not forecast the rate. Our view would change if TreasuryDirect changes the purchase limit or redemption rules.

The view in this final section is FinanceInTime's editorial opinion, for information only. It is not investment, tax, legal or other advice, and it does not take your circumstances into account. Forecasts are uncertain and past results do not guarantee future ones.