Treasury Reminds Veterans to Redeem their Matured U.S. Savings Bonds; Veterans (2024)

FAQs

How do you cash in savings bonds that have matured? ›

You can also cash them in by mail through TreasuryDirect.gov. Complete FS Form 1522 and mail your bonds with the form to the address provided. Your funds will be transferred to your checking or savings account via direct deposit.

Savings bonds are sold at a discount and do not pay regular interest. Instead, as they mature, they increase in value until they reach full face value at maturity. The time to maturity for savings bonds will depend on which series issue is owned.

There is no penalty if you simply hold onto the bond after five years. There is value in holding onto most bonds. The longer they mature, the more interest bonds earn.

If you discover that your savings bonds have matured, you should cash them in and invest the money elsewhere. If you have paper bonds, contact your bank to see if it cashes savings bonds (not all banks do, and some will cash in savings bonds only for customers who have had accounts for at least six months).

Most savings bonds stop earning interest (or reach maturity) between 20 to 30 years. It's possible to redeem a savings bond as soon as one year after it's purchased, but it's usually wise to wait at least five years so you don't lose the last three months of interest when you cash it in.

You can roll savings bonds into a 529 college savings plan or a Coverdell Education Savings Account (ESA) to avoid taxes. There are some advantages to either approach. With a 529 college savings plan, you can continue saving money on a tax-advantaged basis for higher education.

Note: Do not buy savings bonds from someone else or in an online auction site. You cannot cash them. You can only cash bonds that you own or co-own unless you have legal evidence or other documentation that we accept to show you are entitled to cash the bond. How do I know how much my bond is worth?

Don't cash the bond.

The customer must have a certified death certificate.

All U.S. savings bonds purchased after that year have an electronic record. The U.S. Treasury Department set up an extremely convenient database at Treasury Hunt.com, which allows you to enter in your social security number to see if any matured savings bonds are ready for you to grab.

What happens to a TreasuryDirect account when the owner dies? ›

The surviving person becomes the owner as if the survivor had been the only owner from the date we issued the bond.

Effective today, Series EE savings bonds issued May 2022 through October 2022 will earn an annual fixed rate of .10% and Series I savings bonds will earn a composite rate of 9.62%, a portion of which is indexed to inflation every six months.

You can cash in (redeem) your EE 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.

EE bonds earn interest until the first of these events: You cash in the bond or it reaches 30 years old. Therefore, many of these bonds have stopped earning interest. If you moved your EE bond into a TreasuryDirect account, we pay you for the bond as soon as it reaches 30 years and stops earning interest.

There are circ*mstances under which a bank can refuse to issue payment for a bond, or in fact may be legally unable to do so. In these cases, the bearer may have to visit a Federal Reserve Bank Savings Bond Processing Site to redeem the bond.

Series EE and I bonds mature 30 years from their issue date.

They are still taxable. The interest income of the savings bond will be taxed to the bond's owner—i.e., the recipient of the gift—when the bond matures and is redeemed for cash (or the owner will be taxed each year if they elect to report the interest income annually).

Banks and credit unions can redeem savings bonds over the counter.

We guarantee that the value of your new EE bond at 20 years will be double what you paid for it. (If you have an EE bond from before May 2005, it may be earning interest at a variable rate. See more at EE bonds.)

Do I have to report savings bonds on my taxes? ›

For paper savings bonds

The interest will be reported under the name and Social Security Number of the person who cashes the bond or who owns it when it matures. The 1099-INT will include all the interest the bond earned over its lifetime.

If you have cashed paper savings bonds, you will receive a 1099-INT in the mail. If you have paper HH savings bond that pay you interest every six months, you will also get a 1099-INT in the mail.

More about savings bonds

The interest earned by purchasing and holding savings bonds is subject to federal tax at the time the bonds are redeemed. However, interest earned on savings bonds is not taxable at the state or local level.

When savings bonds reach final maturity, and cease earning interest, the Bureau does not notify the bondholder. For those fully matured bonds remaining unredeemed, there is no active program by the Bureau to locate the bondholders and pay them the proceeds to which they are entitled.

Use the Treasury Hunt tool

“A shortcut you can take to find missing savings bonds is to head to treasuryhunt.gov, which shows matured, uncashed savings bonds,” says Leslie H. Tayne, founder of the Tayne Law Group.

Unfortunately, millions of Americans either don't realize this or have forgotten they even have savings bonds. There are 25 million U.S. savings bonds that have never been cashed in.

If your savings bond from a Series other than EE, I, or HH has finished its interest-earning life, you could cash it and use the money for something else – a project, a financial need, or a new investment like an interest-earning savings bond or other Treasury security.

You report the interest that accumulated on the bond during the bondholder's lifetime on their final tax return. The estate would be responsible for paying any tax due and going forward, you'd owe tax on any interest that continues to accrue on reissued bonds.

Along with other retirement accounts and life insurance, savings bonds are often considered “non-probate assets,” meaning that they are not typically bequeathed in accordance with a person's will.

Treasury Hunt is our online search tool for finding matured savings bonds or missing interest.

How do I find a Treasury bond in my name? ›

Information dealing with the purchase, redemption, replacement, forms, and valuation of Treasury savings bonds and securities is located on the TreasuryDirect.gov website which is managed by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.

If you're the owner or co-owner of the bond, write a letter to the Treasury Department requesting a manual check to see whether the bonds are still unredeemed. Include your SSN or EIN and complete name, as well as the bond's serial number, issue date and the face value of the bond in your query letter.

The name of another person may be added as a coowner or beneficiary.

If the person entitled wants to cash the bond(s): The person entitled to the bond(s) must complete a Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities Where Use of a Detached Request Is Authorized (FS Form 1522).

The 3 options for individual registrations

However, if the owner dies, instead of the bond going into the person's estate, the beneficiary automatically becomes the single or sole owner. The beneficiary must be a person, not an entity. The registration says "POD" standing for "PAYABLE ON DEATH."

The composite rate for I bonds issued from November 2022 through April 2023 is 6.89%.

The May 2023 I Bond inflation rate is projected at 2.40%* based on 4 months (out of 6 needed) CPI-U data.

That said, I bonds do have some disadvantages, such as the fact that the bonds cannot be redeemed for one year after purchase and their early redemption penalties. If you redeem your I bond within five years of purchasing it, you'll lose the last three months of interest the bond earns.

EE Bond and I Bond Differences

The interest rate on EE bonds is fixed for the life of the bond while I bonds offer rates that are adjusted to protect from inflation. EE bonds offer a guaranteed return that doubles your investment if held for 20 years. There is no guaranteed return with I bonds.

Because Series E savings bonds are in paper format, the easiest way to cash them in is to bring them to your financial institution. Your bank or credit union can use information about when the bonds were issued and the interest rate at the time to calculate the value and provide you with the money you're entitled to.

What is the easiest way to cash savings bonds? ›

Series HH bonds can't be cashed in at a bank or other financial institution. Instead, you can cash them in by mail through TreasuryDirect.gov. Complete FS Form 1522 and mail your bonds with the form to the address provided. Your funds will be transferred to your checking or savings account via direct deposit.

There is no penalty if you simply hold onto the bond after five years. There is value in holding onto most bonds. The longer they mature, the more interest bonds earn.

When those bonds mature and stop earning interest, it is time to redeem them. Redeeming bonds is easy - just take them to a local bank or send them to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Directions are available on our web site at TreasuryDirect.gov.

The interest on EE bonds isn't taxed as it accrues unless the owner elects to have it taxed annually. If an election is made, all previously accrued but untaxed interest is also reported in the election year. In most cases, this election isn't made so bond holders receive the benefits of tax deferral.

In addition to the bonds, you'll need to provide proof of identity, like a United States driver's license, and partner with a notary to notarize and certify your signature on an unsigned FS Form 1522 to your local bank or credit union. Note: When cashing in a paper bond, they must be cashed in full.

There are circ*mstances under which a bank can refuse to issue payment for a bond, or in fact may be legally unable to do so. In these cases, the bearer may have to visit a Federal Reserve Bank Savings Bond Processing Site to redeem the bond.

You can roll savings bonds into a 529 college savings plan or a Coverdell Education Savings Account (ESA) to avoid taxes. There are some advantages to either approach. With a 529 college savings plan, you can continue saving money on a tax-advantaged basis for higher education.

Banks and credit unions can redeem savings bonds over the counter. Find out more about becoming an agent and redeeming savings bonds.

If a surviving co-owner or beneficiary is named on the savings bond, the bond goes directly to that person. It does not become part of the estate of the person who died. If you are the named co-owner or beneficiary who inherits the bond, you have different options for paper EE or I bonds and paper HH bonds.

All Series EE Bonds reach final maturity 30 years from issue.

Do you pay taxes when you cash in EE bonds? ›

The interest will be reported under the name and Social Security Number of the person who cashes the bond or who owns it when it matures. The 1099-INT will include all the interest the bond earned over its lifetime.