Bogleheads.org

When we bought a new car with a loan in 2011-ish (pre-boglehead days), we had the option at our credit union to pay biweekly. They weren't holding the partial payment, they applied it to principle + accrued interest every two weeks. So it did shorten the life of the loan and we paid less in interest. But I think planning for principal-only payments would do the same thing and give more flexibility. It looks like some mortgage lenders offer a similar plan, but there may be an extra fee. Car loans and mortgages don’t work the same way. Car loans (and other simple interest loans) apply the payment to the balance on the day it was made, and calculate the interest due off the average daily balance. Mortgages don’t use average daily balance, the...

fsrph wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 1:31 pm

MP123 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:59 am

fsrph wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:17 am In 2022 I had access to a work retirement plan for the first few months. After April, I reduced my work hours and did not have access to the work plan. Do I qualify for a deductible IRA no matter my income level? Thanks.

Were you an "active participant" in this plan?

Either covered by a DB plan, or contributed to a DC plan, during the year?

Yes, I contributed to the company 401k till April 2022. After that I did not have access to the plan.

Francis

It’s all or nothing. If you were an active participant at any point in the year, then the income limits apply, even if you only had access for a portion of the year.

Thanks, all. In a previous job with BigCorp, I routinely maxed out my 401(k) + catch-up with no issues, so I was never even aware of the discrimination testing/ safe harbor regulations (though I recall running across the latter term in related paperwork). The company has approximately a dozen employees in total, and I know at least 2 of them chose not to participate at all, so, unfortunately, I expect this will be a continuing issue. It's good to hear, at least, that there shouldn't be a penalty. My brief initial search seemed to say that the refunded deferral would count as a withdrawal. II haven't filed yet, so I'll make sure to refigure 2022 income accordingly... Thanks again! Perhaps 2022 was a one-off given the 401k was only institute...

Once again, a thread is created with the OP basically just tossing a grenade in the room and leaving. It should be a rule that you can’t post an article link without adding at least some context or discussion of your own. Something better than the old Mike Meyers “discuss amongst yourself” perhaps but at least something.

I do think it’s a bit naive that people are only now becoming concerned about corporations having more power than governments. That’s been the case off and on since the corporation itself was created. 19th century railroad tycoons anyone? 20th century oil barons maybe?

Stuckinmn wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 10:38 pm since I only worked 2 months I can only contribute 1/6 of the 7750 family max for 2023, or $1291.66.

Your contribution limit is based on how many months you had qualifying coverage, not necessarily on how long you were employed. Did your spouse have eligible coverage after you retired, or did you switch to other non-HDHP health insurance?

avinashmenta wrote: ↑Tue Feb 14, 2023 7:32 pm Thanks everyone for the response. As of now he has filed the complaint with police and also trying to go behind fidelity for more details. Will post the updates as it progresses

Fidelity says the check was sent to MS and cashed. Lots of talk about calling Fidelity and the police, but no mention of whether anyone called Morgan Stanley. Barring any physical alteration of the check, no one could have deposited it except for Morgan Stanley, and you cannot "cash" an FBO check because it is not made out to any particular individual.

VoiceOfReason wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 12:47 pm There will be things left off the build that you had no idea wouldn't come with a house. (grass, landscaping, appliances, toilet paper holders, towel racks)

A brand new house doesn't come with toilet paper holders? Seriously?

exodusNH wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 2:00 pm

TropikThunder wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 1:55 pm Even that's not always true, it depends on your plan. I'm still making payments on a loan I took from an employer I left in April 2022.

Yes, but it requires approval of both employers to allow assumption of a loan. (My SO was able to transfer a loan.) It's not common, though, and shouldn't be relied upon.

I’m not sure what you’re talking about re: assumption. I’m still making payments to the custodian that I originally took the loan from at my old employer. My new employer had no say in it.

exodusNH wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 11:15 am

TropikThunder wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 11:08 am

EdNorton wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 9:22 am I'm retired and no longer have 401k's but wanted to hear an argument that makes sense to me.

The main reason people (especially on BH) say 401k loans are bad is because they believe things that are not true.

Case in point:

gavinsiu wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 10:26 am 2. If you quit your job, your loan has to be pay back immediately.

Laws change, that hasn’t been true since 2017.

The loan isn't immediately due, but must be repaid by the next year's tax filing. In a bad economic cycle, you might be unemployed long enough that coming up with $50k to repay the loan in 11 months could be a hardship.

Even that's not always true, it depends on your plan. I'm still making payments on a loan I took from an employer I left in April 2022.

EdNorton wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 9:22 am I'm retired and no longer have 401k's but wanted to hear an argument that makes sense to me.

The main reason people (especially on BH) say 401k loans are bad is because they believe things that are not true.

Case in point:

gavinsiu wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 10:26 am 2. If you quit your job, your loan has to be pay back immediately.

Laws change, that hasn’t been true since 2017.

Robin1234 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 14, 2023 3:01 pm I am amazed someone like Newton could make investment mistakes, like a commoner would.

Expert in one area =/= expert in all areas. Physicians for example are notoriously bad investors.

avinashmenta wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:37 pm Fidelity(old employer's account) sent him a cheque on Morgan Stanley(new employer's name).

If it was a direct rolloever (which is the usual method), the check would be made out to Morgan Stanley FBO Your Friend's Name, and mailed to Morgan Stanley. It is not the normal process to have the check sent to the account owner, and even if it were, these checks cannot be cashed by an individual. Most likely the check went straight to Morgan Stanley and was deposited there, as others have posted.

Have your friend check his MS account.

brad.clarkston wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 1:29 pm No where in that does it say SAIN is a US fund but it should have said the fund name at least.

So it can’t be click bait if it’s not a US fund? Why are we even arguing this? What do you think “click bait” means?

Cocoa Beach Bum wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 4:20 pm

FIREGuy88 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 3:48 pm As of September 2020, US equities made up 58.3% of global markets.

As of February 2023, what percentage is it now?

How do you stay up-to-date on this number? I was planning on checking in on this every year or so. What's the best way to do that?

According to the most recent update (Jan 31, 2023) of the FTSE Global Total Cap Index, U.S. equities made up 58.51% of the global equities markets.

The above link returns the most recent summary for that index.

At this rate, US will be 100% in about 160 years.

FIREGuy88 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 8:24 pm

Tom_T wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 3:49 pm There is a new thread on international on days ending in 'y'.

I haven't seen that many. Can you point me to any that were worth reading?

That’s kind of the point, hundreds of US/Int’l threads, none of them (IMO) worth reading because the same couple of points are made by the same posters over and over and over again.

But in the meantime:
https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... s-wiz-serp

Ignorant tax question --- I got a small $100 distribution check from a closed rollover IRA at Fidelity . The dividend date was Dec 30, 2022, but the distribution check was dated Jan 3, 2023. I cashed the check and I'm fine paying tax and 10% penalty on this small amount. I am confused if this distribution should be on my 2022 or 2023 1009-R. It is not on my 2022 1099-R - I called Fidelity, and the rep claimed this will be on the account's 2023 1099-R, since that is when the check was cut. Does that explanation make sense to others on this board? I just want to ensure I declare this in the correct tax year. Activity within an IRA (including dividends) has zero tax consequence. As such there’s no place to report them (IRA’s don’t get 1099 DI...

Ignorant tax question --- I got a small $100 distribution check from a closed rollover IRA at Fidelity . The dividend date was Dec 30, 2022, but the distribution check was dated Jan 3, 2023. I cashed the check and I'm fine paying tax and 10% penalty on this small amount. I am confused if this distribution should be on my 2022 or 2023 1009-R. It is not on my 2022 1099-R - I called Fidelity, and the rep claimed this will be on the account's 2023 1099-R, since that is when the check was cut. Does that explanation make sense to others on this board? I just want to ensure I declare this in the correct tax year. Activity within an IRA (including dividends) has zero tax consequence. As such there’s no place to report them (IRA’s don’t get 1099 DI...

Alan S. wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2023 11:15 am With respect to the original post, the excess resulted from a combination of pre tax and Roth deferrals. In that case, the tax code indicates that the excess amount is assigned first to the Roth contributions. Therefore, as long as the pre tax deferral itself did not exceed the 402g limit, a tax program should not add anything to wages because the designated Roth contribution has already been included as wages.

OP didn’t clarify if this was a result of contributing at two different employers, but if they exceeded the limit at a single employer, that would be a BIG problem for that employer, right?

Vanguard published a paper in 2021 on TLH, an interesting read: https://advisors.vanguard.com/e-assets/articles/FAS009518/ISGTLHE.pdf. The benefit of taking the losses to reduce 3K of future income has the least benefit from the investment standpoint. Investing the TLH gains back into the profolio will provide a higher future return, but that will depend on one's ability to have the fund currently to do so. I think Buckley's approach is the way to do it, by capturing the gains from the remaining lots (or other equities) equal to the TLH amount and buy a replacement equity. This would likely increase the cost basis, but would reduce the eventual taxes when sold. This doesn't make sense to me. The marginal rate on those $3k is higher than yo...

The issue is having decided to realize existing losses in your portfolio, how do you want to use those losses and what are the consequences in terms of obtaining "higher after tax returns." One option certainly is to choose to realize some offsetting gains in the same holding. Another option is to realize some gains in another holding. Some other alternatives include offsetting short term gains that have been handed to you (if there are any) or using the losses against ordinary income up to $3000/year and carrying over the rest to future years. Combinations are possible within the process forced by gax law. It is not clear what those options have to do with after tax return of what. It is necessary to see a calculation of the exa...

Pay the extra interest That is easy to say when you aren't the that is looking at paying say 300k+ more interest over the next 25 years. A lot harder when you are the one writing the checks:) I expect this will show up more and more when you have house that go from affordable to unaffordable when the payments go up by 30%. We are going to end up with a subset of the population for which moving is very expensive if rates don't drop back down. Yes, Low interest rates allow people to overspend on a house with the fantasy that interest rates can never go up because they "locked-in"... Well sometimes that lock needs to reset. 300K or more is a small price to pay to have an "ex" not attached to the house ownership or locked i...

sadie wess wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:41 am

bberris wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:53 pm YNAL. (You need a lawyer.)

+1

Yeah I think the lawyer is needed to figure out how to do this. But there’s value in getting input on whether OP should do this in the first place.

I don't know how any of this constitutes a weakness of ERISA protections. The money is safe while it's in the account that's covered by ERISA. Storing your jewelry in a safe deposit box keeps it safe too, until you take it out to wear it.

Eurookat wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 7:09 pm Fidelity is supposed to take out roughly 260/pay (24 pays per year) but as you can see, that's not the case.

Fidelity doesn't withdraw the contribution. Payroll sends it.

clarkster wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 9:45 pm Just so I'm understanding correctly, does VTWAX will have some of the same US Stocks that VTSAX or Does VTWAX have ALL of the same US Stocks in it that VTSAX has?

For what it's worth:
VTWAX has ~9,473 stocks.
VTSAX has ~3,992 stocks; VTWAX has the biggest ~1,800 of them.
VTIAX has ~7,877 stocks; VTWAS has the biggest ~7,630 of them.
https://research.ftserussell.com/Analyt ... nual=False

the_wiki wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 10:09 pm VTWAX has all of VTSAX.

No, it only has about half of them. I don't know how they decided.

exodusNH wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 7:38 pm If it's a savings account, watch out for the 6 transaction limit.

That's not a thing any more.

How much depreciation can we claim for Model Y used used 75% for business in 2023 (section 179 + bonus) If I understand the rules, the max first year depreciation for a vehicle <6,000 lbs GVWR is $18,200 x the business use percentage. So in this case, it’s $18,200 x 75% = $13,650. In the 24% tax bracket, that’s $3,276 in tax savings. Model Y max weight is about 4,500 lbs so it doesn’t qualify for the bonus/special deduction. ETA: they don’t mention this on TikTok, but if you take the 179 depreciation deduction in the first year, you can’t take the mileage deduction in that same year or in any future year.* https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc510 *Someone please check me on this part. The 510 document clearly states you can’t take the mileage d...

400401402 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:15 pm The 6% penalty is levied each year the excess contribution remains in HSA. So this excess contribution of $3 needs to be withdrawn.

The penalty is $0, so I don’t really see much urgency.

I did not even know this was a thing, but went looking and found that Fidelity says: Shareholders who hold fund shares through an IRA or group retirement plan whose plan sponsor does not have the ability to hold shares of ETFs on its platform may need to redeem their shares prior to the applicable conversion, or their broker or intermediary may transfer their investment in a fund to a different investment option prior to the conversion. https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/mutual-funds/thematic-mutual-funds-conversion-to-exchange-traded-funds.pdf Yeah that sounds like what they do when switching 401k or 403b custodians if the new one doesn’t offer funds the current one has. In other words, it’s not a process t...

water2357 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 9:24 pm I only know that I have not as yet received any tax forms in the mail for 2022.

Nobody has! They only generated them yesterday (Jan 23), and Vanguard sends them by standard postal mail, not FedEx overnight.

Since I closed the account early in year 2022, I no longer have online access and all statements were online. I do know the amount was $700 so I'll just create a 1099 INT in turbo tax and wait until March to file. The Bank confused me when I contacted them and told me there was no 1099 to report for the bonus and said not to worry about it. On one hand I hate paying tax for something that is not required, on the other I don't want to find out later in the year that the bank sent in a 1099-INT to the IRS. I thought institutions had an obligation to report 1099s buy a certain date? As a previous commenter said, they have to send you one by Jan 31. It’s not Jan 31 yet so they probably haven’t even generated them yet, which is probably why the...

At Vanguard you can do it as an exchange (sell from taxable and buy in IRA at the same time). It’s still a separate buy and sell but it happens the same day. I don’t know if it works that way at Fidelity. Can you do that if you don't have the cash in the IRA already? Like, can you sell, make an IRA contribution with those proceeds, and buy the same day? Yeah, I’ve done it that way the last couple years. You use the standard “Where is the money coming from?” And “Where is the money going?” screens, select the brokerage and fund you’re selling as the source, then select the IRA and fund you’re buying with the contribution. Then after market close the brokerage sale, transfer, and IRA fund purchase are all processed. The brokerage sale is sti...

DrTobiasFunke wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:51 am First off, I am not trying to avoid taxes on the brokerage account.

I have $6,500 FZROX in a brokerage account. I want to transfer the amount to Fidelity IRA.

As I understand it, I have to sell it in the brokerage on Day 1 COB, and buy it in the IRA on Day 2 COB.

Is there any way to do this without the one day lag time and potential gain/loss on that lag?

At Vanguard you can do it as an exchange (sell from taxable and buy in IRA at the same time). It’s still a separate buy and sell but it happens the same day. I don’t know if it works that way at Fidelity.

the only questions I have or missed (or are misunderstanding) is: 1. Was this passed? I'm seeing links to NY times article about "proposed" changes. I see somethings about it getting rolled out later in 2023. Just want to make sure this was passed and not proposed (and off limits here). 2. Is there to be no more PSLF? I'm seeing revised REPAYE but nothing about PSLF in the article (are there just no changes to PSLF which is why nothing about PSLF is explained in that article?) 3. I'm confused about the explanation from the wci article below. I thought the max timeframe in PSLF was 10 years and PAYE/REPAYE was 20 years. Info below indicates could be longer (?) based on amount borrowed? #5 Shortened Time Frame for Receiving Loan Fo...

toddthebod wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 8:41 am

linate wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 8:06 pm To me it was always intuitive that small caps should do better, cause they can more quickly double etc their profits. A lemonaid stand can quickly double its profits, which something like Walmart can't do.

If there are 50 lemonade stands, and one doubles in stock price while the other 49 go out of business, is that a better or worse investment than Walmart?

Sure it is, just pick which one is going to double and only invest in that one. What’s that Will Rogers quote?

The way to make money in the stock market is to buy a stock. Then, when it goes up, sell it. If it’s not going to go up, don’t buy it!

Simple!

invest2bfree wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 9:00 am

Silk McCue wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 6:49 am “Can Canada\Australia be a proxy for VXUS?” - No. Not even close.

“Canada and Australia have very good immigration systems. Healthcare costs are under control. Very good legal systems.” - What does that have to do with how their stock markets will perform?

Cheers

Why do you think US has performed better than Argentina, Nazi Germany or Czarist Russia?

Legal Systems\Immigration\controlled budget are all important.

Are you saying Czarist Russia’s real problem was a poor immigration policy? Nazi Germany’s real problem was poor budgeting decisions? I kinda think a violent revolution and/or being destroyed in a global military conflict might have had something more to do with it.

Steve723 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 11, 2023 10:40 am

Mr.BB wrote: ↑Wed Jan 11, 2023 10:29 am

investor_power wrote: ↑Wed Jan 11, 2023 10:27 am

starboi wrote: ↑Wed Jan 11, 2023 10:17 am The advisory fee at Vanguard starts at 0.30% for account balances less than $5 million, but it drops with higher balances. It’s 0.20% on account balances between $5 million to $10 million, 0.10% for balances between $10 million to $25 million, and 0.05% for balances over $25 million.

I wonder if there's any other perks, like jumping to the front of the line when calling.

They probably have a secret store where you can actually sit down with someone. Probably behind some secret passage in a coffee shop and you need a special password to get in.

And I bet they serve their Pumpkin Spice coffee year-round in the secret store!

Served in the double-secret Vanguard Coffee Mugs.

Raspberry-503 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 9:19 pm What's less clear is when she meets a client at the shop on the days she worked anyway, so she would have driven there anyway. Her accountant says it doesn't matter and she can still charge for mileage since this is not mileage that had anything to do with her work at the shop.

So driving to her W-2 job on a day she works at that W-2 job doesn't have anything to do with that same W-2 job that she had to drive to in order to work? That doesn't pass the laugh test.

livesoft wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:13 am I do not quite understand. I guess you are writing that it will cost $7,000 in taxes. Since the OP can withdraw money from their Roth at any time without paying any taxes, they could forgo $7,000 in taxable dividends and get $7,000 in tax-free withdrawal if they wanted $7,000.

OP’s not trying to withdraw $7,000. They are $7,000 under the $183k IRMAA cut-off and want to use that space for a Roth conversion. “Unfortunately” OP also has $188,000 in a Vanguard MMF which will generate $7,000 interest, which will use up the space he wants to use for the conversion. So OP’s solution is to move the $188k into an account that pays no interest, thus “forgoing” $7,000 in income. Tail wagging dog kinda thing.

zratis wrote: ↑Sat Jan 07, 2023 5:34 pm

delamer wrote: ↑Sat Jan 07, 2023 5:10 pm Owning two homes in the same geographic area is not very diversified, especially when they make up the largest chunk of your assets.

Why would the same geographic area be not well diversified?

Location, location, location. Which do you see as more diversified in terms of whatever risks RE ownership has: (1) owning two houses in the SF Bay Area; or (2) owning one house in the Bay Area and another in Kansas City.

gavinsiu wrote: ↑Wed Jan 04, 2023 11:36 am Let's say you contribute to a traditional 401K, you will be able to deduct your federal tax, your state tax and your payroll tax like SS/medicare. If you contribute to a Roth 401K, you cannot deduct your federal or state tax. Is your payroll tax such as SS/medicare not deductible as well meaning that you have to pay it on your paycheck?

If this is true, it makes the roth 401K less appealing since I not only have to pay the federal tax and state tax, I would also need to pay the ss and medicare tax. My state of IL doesn't even tax 401K and IRA distribution even though they allow deductions for contributions, making the roth401 a less attractive deal.

Traditional 401k contributions are not exempt from FICA.

Makefile wrote: ↑Mon Jan 02, 2023 9:17 pm Insurance companies being what they are, if there is a good case to be made that the driver's insurance should pay first, wouldn't we expect the OP's insurance company to subrogate and try to make them pay?

I would absolutely expect that. OP’s insurance company will look for anyone else to dump this on.

Lalamimi wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 5:08 pm claim should be on the friend's insurnace, not yours. Most drivers are covered in other vehicles. go see his parents.

This should be getting more attention IMO. It has always been my understanding that liability goes with the driver, comp and collision go with the car. If I drive my friend's car and cause an accident, primary liability coverage would be on me, wouldn't it? Does it not work this way anymore?

Kookaburra wrote: ↑Thu Dec 29, 2022 9:48 pm

TropikThunder wrote: ↑Thu Dec 29, 2022 9:12 pm

Kookaburra wrote: ↑Thu Dec 29, 2022 8:35 pmBumping

I really don't think you're going to get a better answer than alex_686 already gave.

Except it didn’t answer my questions. How can the same fund have a variable % dividend depending on what institution it’s held at?

The dividend ($/share) is the same no matter where you hold the shares, since that is determined by the ETF custodian (like Vanguard). The reinvestment price differs because that depends on the brokerage where you hold the ETF (like TDA, Fidelity, Vanguard etc).

Kookaburra wrote: ↑Thu Dec 29, 2022 8:35 pmBumping

I really don't think you're going to get a better answer than alex_686 already gave.

It's possible your CPA marked individual coverage and not family coverage for one or both of the tax years you mention. Read the relevant part of the Form 8889 instructions to see what the correct answer should be. Perhaps your CPA made a mistake. I bet it’s this. I’ve read posts on here about CPA’s insisting the family limit has to be evenly split when spouses have their own coverage, despite the regs explicitly stating it can be shared however the two spouses want. Your 5329s seem to be using a "self-only" amount rather than the family amount to which you are entitled. That’s exactly what happens when the tax preparer assigns 50% of the family limit to each spouse instead of dividing it how the taxpayer wishes. That said, we ne...

This opens up the possibility of having your cake and eating it too. In theory, you would be able to have one month of the year where you fill up the 12% / $0 LTCG federal tax bracket (~50k for a single person) with roth conversions and capital gains realizing and be eligible for medicaid for the other 11 months of the year. How do you assign Roth conversions to a particular month? They aren’t reported until you get a 1099 the following year. You are required to inform the medicaid administrator when your income changes, and you will also (not one or the other, you must do both) report when you received it on your annual redetermination I’m thinking it’s not really income though since it’s still in a restricted account (Roth IRA). It’s not...

resting wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 3:43 pmThis opens up the possibility of having your cake and eating it too. In theory, you would be able to have one month of the year where you fill up the 12% / $0 LTCG federal tax bracket (~50k for a single person) with roth conversions and capital gains realizing and be eligible for medicaid for the other 11 months of the year.

How do you assign Roth conversions to a particular month? They aren’t reported until you get a 1099 the following year.

MP123 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 8:15 pm What does line 48 on your Form 5329 for 2021 say?

That's how much you'll want to undercontribute for this year to fully absorb the excess and not owe the 6% excise tax over and over.

Exactly. OP's tax software has been creating 5329's along the way to calculate the tax. I would imagine the overage is down to about $500 by now considering OP under-contributed in 2021.

Purry666 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 4:38 pm On the first week of November 2022 I purchased $10,000 of I-Bonds at Treasury Direct and received an acknowledgement of this order.

My concern is that since then when I go to my online account it does not show interest accrued in November and December do not show on my account.

[Unnecessary comment removed - moderator ClaycordJCA.]

You can cash in (redeem) your I bond after 12 months.

However, if you cash in the bond in less than 5 years, you lose the last 3 months of interest. For example, if you cash in the bond after 18 months, you get the first 15 months of interest.

https://www.treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/i-bonds/