After weeks of reading and investigating you are now interested in investing in Savings Bonds. You have a sizable amount of money to invest so you want to put nearly all of it into this type of security. However, you should be aware that there are maximum amounts of bonds that people can purchase annually.
If you are interested in purchasing Series I Savings Bonds, the maximum amount is limited both by the type of bond and the social security number used for purchasing. Investors can purchase up to $5,000 worth of either Electronic or Paper Savings Bonds per Social Security number in a calendar year. Series EE savings bonds also have the same limit, making the total purchase of diversified bond value $20,000 annually. The Electronic purchasing can only be done through the government website treasurydirect.gov. The total maximum purchase limited to $30,000 per series ($30,000 each for paper or electronic, for a total of $120,000 a year for EE and I bonds). That rule has existed since 2003.
The maximum amount of bonds purchased per year used to be higher, but the limits were lowered effective January 2008. According to a Treasury Department Press release, the limits were introduced “To refocus the savings bond program on its original purpose of making these unmarketable Treasury securities available to individuals with relatively small sums to invest.”
This wasn’t the first time that the maximum amount of bond purchase per year has been capped. Savings bonds have been subject to purchasing limits before in the 1940s when the annual limit was $3,750 for Series E bonds (the predecessor to today’s EE bonds). 1973 was the last time the limit was as low as $5,000.