Man Page Writing: Life/Times of Man Page Writer

I confess to doing a double take when I read the fixed rate for May-Oct 08 period for I-Bonds:

Nada. I.e., zero percent.

That means the small saver will get nothing above the rate of inflation (CPI-U) for the life of bonds purchased in May-Oct. That, I think, is truly extraordinary.

I hope anyone with money to add to the fixed income portion of their portfolio took advantage of the Nov 07-Apr 08 fixed rate.

At this point, an investor seeking inflation protection would do better to wait for the 10- or 20-year TIPS auctions, which occur in mid-year. It used to be that you had to buy such securities in increments of $1000, but I believe the Treasury has relaxed that restriction, for TIPS and for all other T-notes and bonds.