Treasury raises Series I bond rate after CPI shocks markets
Key takeaways
- Newly purchased Series I savings bonds will pay a 4.26% annual composite rate from May 1 through October 31, 2026, up from the 4.03% yield that applied through April 30, the Treasury Department announced.
- “I Bonds are no longer a ‘no-brainer’ like they were in 2022, but they are still a simple way to help part of your savings to beat inflation,” said Jeremy Keil, CFP, Keil Financial Partners.
- Related: Treasury Secretary delivers surprise take on economy
Treasury raises Series I bond rate after CPI shocks markets Damilola Esebame Wed, May 6, 2026 at 11:47 PM GMT+7 6 min read Gas prices above $4 a gallon, grocery bills creeping upward, and an annual inflation rate that just jumped from 2.4% to 3.3% in a single month have given millions of Americans a reason to rethink their savings.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury responded on May 1, 2026, by resetting the interest rate on Series I savings bonds, and the new composite yield reflects exactly the kind of price acceleration that has rattled financial markets since late February.
For savers who remember the 9.62% I bond rate that crashed the TreasuryDirect website in 2022, the new number will look modest by comparison, but the fixed-rate component tells a more nuanced story about what these bonds can do for your purchasing power over the next three decades.