A Bond Guaranteed to Beat Inflation
Do you want an investment that's absolutely safe? And earning a higher interest rate than you can get at the bank? And tax-deferred?</br></br>Take a look at the up-to-date version of U.S. Savings Bonds--the "Series I" bonds. They're paying an amazing 7.49 percent (that's an annualized rate) on savings as low as $50.</br></br>Small savers can't get a higher rate anywhere. Sophisticated savers, with larger portfolios, are buying them, too. If you're balancing risky investments with safe ones, I bonds are the place to look.</br></br>Series I bonds were introduced in September 1998. So they're still pretty new, and savers may not have heard about them.</br></br>The "I" stands for inflation. These bonds guarantee you an attractive, real rate of return, no matter what happens to the inflation rate. Lately, inflation has been rising--so the I bond's total return is rising, too.