Maybe it’s just me?
By David Enna, Tipswatch.com
TreasuryDirect has posted an updated notice about the upcoming change in rates for U.S. Series I Bonds, and this time it almost nailed it.
At times in the distant past, TreasuryDirect would have posted nothing at all about the I Bond rate change. But after the I Bond mania of 2022 it began trying to give investors a heads up about the upcoming changes and when they would actually take effect.
Sometimes the warning was a little too “nuanced” to make effective sense. This is what it posted last year at this exact time:
The logical question was: “What does complete your purchase mean?”
But then, a few days later, it updated that message to say:
Investors can easily get confused when TreasuryDirect says they must “complete” the purchase before midnight Oct. 31. The problem is the meaning of the word “complete.” When you place an order for an I Bond — let’s say on Oct. 30 — it is actually completed on the next business day, Oct. 31.
I liked the wording last year saying you must “request your purchase by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, October 30.” That was a clear statement, which corrected the earlier misleading (but technically accurate) alert which said “complete your purchase” by Oct. 31.
So now what?
Clearly the new I Bond rates to be in effect for purchases from November 2025 through April 2026 will be announced on the morning of Oct. 31. (This has been the practice in recent years.) At that point, all purchase requests will be filled as November 2025 issues with the new rates.
This October 2025 alert seems to move up the date of the I Bond purchase by one day, stating you must “complete your purchase” by 11:59 p.m. on October 30. Technically, that means you must “request your purchase” by 11:59 p.m. on October 29.
TreasuryDirect provides a link to questions and answers, which sort of helps:
When will the overall (or, composite) interest rate for I bonds on sale in TreasuryDirect change?
The current rate of 3.98 percent remains until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, October 30. Then the next rate becomes available at midnight. Savings bond purchases in TreasuryDirect are processed on the next business day, so a bond purchased on October 31 will receive the newest interest rate.
This again raises confusion. If an investor places an order on Oct. 30, does that mean the bond was “purchased” on Oct. 30, even though the sale would not be finalized until Oct. 31? In the past, that has how it has worked. But right now I am not so sure.
To be more accurate, if this is indeed accurate, I think the TreasuryDirect notice should have said:
To receive the current 3.98% rate for I Bonds in TreasuryDirect, you must request your purchase by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, October 30. The bond would have an issue date of October 2025 and secure the current interest rate.
However, TreasuryDirect’s advice to place orders a day or two early is excellent, no matter how you read it.
The solution: Do not delay!
Many I Bond investors are eager to buy in October to lock in the permanent fixed rate of 1.10% for the life of the savings bond. That rate seems likely to fall to 0.9% at the November 1 reset, even though the composite rate is likely to rise slightly.
See this: September inflation report sets I Bond variable rate at 3.12%
I have been advising I Bond investors to lock in purchases on Tuesday, Oct. 28, to make sure you absolutely, positively will get the October 2025 issue with the 1.10% fixed rate. And yes, it is also likely that Oct. 29 will be fine for you risk takers.
Placing the order on October 30 always seemed risky, and given this new wording from TreasuryDirect, I’d definitely advise against it.
In summary. Regular readers will know I am projecting the November rate reset will drop the fixed rate to 0.90% (pretty certain) from 1.10% and the variable rate will rise from 2.98% to 3.12% (very certain), resulting in a new composite rate of 4.03%, up from the current 3.98%.
However, I believe it is a better move to make the investments in October (no later than Oct. 28) to lock in the fixed rate of 1.10%. You’d get 3.98% for six months and then 4.23% for the next six months.
• Confused by I Bonds? Read my Q&A on I Bonds
• Let’s ‘try’ to clarify how an I Bond’s interest is calculated
• Inflation and I Bonds: Track the variable rate changes
• I Bonds: Here’s a simple way to track current value
• I Bond Manifesto: How this investment can work as an emergency fund
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David Enna is a financial journalist, not a financial adviser. He is not selling or profiting from any investment discussed. I Bonds and TIPS are not “get rich” investments; they are best used for capital preservation and inflation protection. They can be purchased through the Treasury or other providers without fees, commissions or carrying charges. Please do your own research before investing.
Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities 
I scheduled the purchase on Treasury Direct on 10/30. Purchase date was shown as 10/31.
perhaps I should have done it earlier for safety, but scheduling a purchase for the last day of the month seems to work fine
It should be fine. Alert us if it isn’t.
I scheduled a purchase for 10/31 many weeks ago. Funds were withdrawn from my bank shortly after 5 am and the bond was issued this morning with an October date. This confirms that if you schedule an I Bond purchase in the future, it should execute on that date.
I always took TreasuryDirect’s wording “the new rate becomes available at midnight” to mean that a purchase made from midnight onwards on the 31st would get the new rate, not that TD would publish the new rate at that time.
I was vacillating about how much, if anything, to invest, but I just had an agency bond called yesterday, so I went for another gift box purchase. At least I’m pretty sure these will never be called, and I appreciate the no maintenance and no state tax features!
Thx, David.
Just a heads up on a typo: you wrote “much” rather than “must.”
Thank you Karlos. I appreciate all my “editor readers.”
Wife and I just made our I-Bond purchase for this year. I was a little hesitant to do so, but it really seems like one of the best places to park a long term emergency fund as I approach retirement. This will give us about 1-year expenses in I-Bonds for just-in-case peace of mind or a larger unplanned expense in the future.
Thanks for taking the time analyze the I-Bond (and TIPS) offerings … it’s been very helpful to us in filling out the fixed income portion of our portfolio 🙂
I wish I did not have to deal with all the drama but I own Ibonds.
There’s one thing I can say about this with certainty. It’s not just you!
Well, my next paycheck will be deposited on 30 October, so if I’m going to buy some I Bonds, that’s when it will happen. Wish me luck.
Based on past practices, a purchase order on Oct. 30 should work. But … good luck.
FWIW, my order placed last night was in the gift box this morning.
Based on past experience, I’m going to assume TreasuryDirect means you must request your purchase by 11:59 pm October 30. In theory, a pre-scheduled purchase for October 31 should also work, as any purchase made on October 30 would be issued on the 31st.
For the general public, “completing your purchase” is easier to understand language than “requesting your purchase.” But who knows, maybe this time is different.
A buyer has no control over “completing your purchase” and has complete control over “requesting!”
This worked. I put in the order on 30 October and it completed on 31 October with a 1 October issue date.
I just read David they are not releasing a CPI report next month no matter what as they have not been collecting any data at all this month due to the shutdown. The one after that is likely to be messed up as well if we end the shutdown next month. So interesting what happens for the i bond calculation rate for May 2026.
It seems highly likely we won’t get an October inflation report from the BLS because no data were collected this month. The October report isn’t nearly as important as the September report, so this many not be a huge issue. The BLS will issue a “calculated” CPI index for October based on inflation over the last 12 months (very important for TIPS inflation accruals). That would have no immediate effect on I Bonds. Eventually, when the November report comes out with accurate data (we hope) the inflation numbers would rise or fall to reflect reality.
I had scheduled my purchase for today (10/27/25). Noticed that the withdrawal from my bank is “processing” but at Treasury Direct it already shows under my purchased IBonds. That’s a change. Earlier I used to see it on TD the next day after the scheduled date.
Very interesting, thank you for that update.
If a person buys an I Bond online, the TreasuryDirect confirmation screen just says flatly that “The purchase date(s) will be on the next available business day.”
But somewhere on the TreasuryDirect site I’ve seen–and just tried to search for it but regret to say that I couldn’t find it–language referring to the date Treasury actually receives the buyer’s money through the banking system.
I think this is another source of potential confusion for buyers, so the lesson, as David has already recommended, is: Don’t wait to the last minute. It’s a nice little free lunch that I Bonds issued near the end of the month are considered to have begun earning interest at the beginning of the month–meaning that the money used to buy them has already been earning interest somewhere else while waiting to be used for the late-month purchase–but IMO it’s just not worth an extra day or two of interest, expecially in late April and late October just before rate changes, to risk causing the bond’s official purchase date to kick over into the next month.