Are Your Savings Bonds Still Earning Interest?

If you own savings bonds, you may want to check their issue dates to find out if they're still earning interest. Depending on when you purchased your securities, it may be time to redeem them. Below are some guidelines that may help.

Savings Bonds No Longer Earning Interest:

• E bonds through November 1965 that are more than 40 years old,
• E bonds with December 1965 or later issue dates that are more than 30 years old,
• H bonds that are more than 30 years old,
• Freedom Shares (also known as Savings Notes) and
• HH bonds that are more than 20 years old.

Series HH/H bonds pay interest on a semiannual basis, so it's easy to know when they stop earning interest. However, it's not always as obvious in the case of accrual securities like E bonds or Savings Notes – these simply stop growing in value.

This often comes as a surprise to savings bond owners. While all Treasury instruments are issued with an original term to maturity, maturity dates of savings bonds have been extended by as much as 30 years. Original maturity is the maximum amount of time it takes for a Series E/EE bond or Savings Note to reach face value. After your bond reaches original maturity, it automatically enters one or more extension periods (usually ten years long). This allows for additional earned interest but may create confusion for owners about when their bonds reach final maturity.

Holding onto a security that's reached its final maturity date means that your money is no longer earning interest. Why not redeem the matured security and put your money back to work for you? Even if the bonds aren't redeemed, regulations governing savings bonds require the interest income to be reported for Federal tax purposes for the year of final maturity, causing tax problems for unwary bond owners.

As a savings bond owner, you'll want to keep track of your bonds' issue dates and when they stop earning interest.

Treasury Securities that have Stopped Earning Interest

It is important to check your savings bonds periodically to determine if they are still earning interest, and if they are not, they should be redeemed. Use the tables below to determine whether your bonds have stopped earning interest, or for how long you can expect them to earn interest.

Also, marketable securities are subject to bond calls, cases where the Treasury stops paying interest on bonds before the scheduled maturity date. Be sure to note your securities maturity date and check the website for bond calls.

SERIES ISSUE DATE E May 1941 through July 1977 H June 1952 through July 1977 HH January 1980 through July 1987 Savings Notes May 1967 through October 1970 A, B, C, D, F, G, J, K All issues

How long bonds earn interest is based on issue date:

SERIES ISSUE DATE NUMBER OF YEARS BONDS EARN INTEREST E May 1941- November 1965 40 years December 1965 - June 1980 30 years EE All issues 30 years H June 1952- January 1957 29 years, 8 months February 1957- December 1979 30 years HH All issues 20 years I All issues 30 years Savings Notes All issues 30 years

www.treasurydirect.gov

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