Savings Bonds

Written by: Paul Murray, CPA, ABV, CFF

During the past several years I’ve met with a number of clients whose parents or grandparents steadily invested in U.S. Savings Bonds during World War II and beyond. They were diligent savers and supported our country through the purchase of various issues of bonds. The most common scenario; “my grandparents purchased $25 U.S. Savings Bonds every month for years and stored them in their safety deposit box, dresser, file cabinet, etc.”. There they would sit for years and years with little attention or thought. The problem arises when these bonds mature and stop earning interest. The bond holders are aware of the maturity date when initially purchased but that’s it. No subsequent notices are ever sent by the financial institution or U.S. Government to the bond holder. IT’S UP TO THE BOND HOLDER TO TRACK THESE DATES AND REINVEST OR REDEEM THE BONDS AS THEY MATURE. I recently met with a client whose parent passed away and he discovered $8,000 face value worth of bonds and cashed them in for over $75,000. The unfortunate part of the story (other than losing a parent) was that the bonds quit paying interest 10 years prior to his parents death!

Our Depression Era generation for the most part were hard working conservative savers. They bought and held bonds and securities for the long term. You may want to ask your parents and grandparents if the unfortunate situation mentioned above could apply to them or any of their siblings.

Outlined below are important dates to check and see if your savings bonds continue to earn interest and a link to see if your bonds have matured.

The following savings bonds no longer earn interest:

How long bonds earn interest based on issue date:

You can also check Treasury Hunt, if you’re not sure whether you own any bonds that have matured.