I-Bonds have rules. For example, you have to hold the bond for five years or you must pay back three months interest. I expect in about 12 months there will be a horde of people upset when they find that out.
It is recalculated every six months. For simplicity let us assume the 7.12% April rate stays the same for 12 months.
$10,000 individual purchase. Interest is added monthly but it does not compound, ever. After one year you have earned $712 in interest. However, if you sell at this time you must pay 3-months interest which amounts to $178. Your net gain for the year is $534 for an actual rate of 5.34%.
5.34% is pretty good for a guaranteed return, but it is significantly less than people are expecting.
...especially people such as OP who decided to seemingly purchase a Series I bond on a whim.
And those people will have gotten all their advice from a page that humorously details just how hard it is to use the website and warning them to be careful.
