Can IRA or Roth IRA be place in a Government I bonds

[Guest muckmail]

Can IRA or Roth IRA be place in a Government I bonds? Is it a good ideal? At this time I bonds

are 6.?? percent which I think are not too bad? Maybe you have a better Ideal on where to put

an Roth or Traditional IRA in a safe investment?

thank you,

[John G]

You might think that is a simple set of questions, but it is not. We don't know your age, how close to meeting your retirement objectives you are, your investment experience, etc.

Generally, you don't want to place any investment with a tax shelter component into a tax sheltered retirement account. The reason is because any bond with a tax break tends to have a below market yield because the government that issues them doesn't need to offer a top percent rate. (I bonds are subject to federal income taxes but exempt from state/local income taxes.) I can't speak to the question of what custodians will allow you to buy I bonds in a IRA/Roth. That probably varies by custodian.

I am no big fan of I bonds. One of the problems with supposedly "safe" investments like CDs and I Bonds is that folks often overlook erosion factor of inflation over many decades. I Bonds supposedly "reduces" the impact of inflation... I don't think that feature is strong enough. Most retirement accounts are held for decades.... even if you start late, because we live so long. I personally believe that most (not all) folks are much better off investing in a mix of bonds and equities (aka stocks). But, since you told us very little about yourself I will not presume what might work best for you.