I Bond confusion.

[redchips]

Hi, I bought an I bond in early May for 10,000. I checked treasury direct and it still shows the value as 10,000.
I thought amount would have changed because of interest earned in June and July? I read something about the the
9.62 rate not going into effect till November first. If so should I have got interest based on the rate set on May first?

[kork13]

Treasury Direct is a bit odd in how it manages things... But this is actually a quirk of how they account for the 3-mo early withdrawal penalty. They don't pay interest for the first 3 months of your I-bond, so you'll start saying normal interest earning reflected in your balance starting in August. After owning it for 5 years (when the early withdrawal penalty goes away), you'll suddenly get those 3 months of interest handed back to you & your balance will jump up. It seems like the most backward way of handling things, but I suppose that shouldn't surprise me (federal government and all).

[Drake3287]

I was wondering the same exact thing the other day! I found this Youtube video at the time that explains it all, even though it's still confusing! Yes, we're still getting our interest!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hfHoSijJEk