topic Re: US Savings Bond Interest in Community Chat

US Savings Bond Interest

occasionalrain — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 22:12:25 GMT

While I was looking for my cat's vaccination record, I came upon some US Bonds, not Treasury, just EE, and wondered about their value. I Googled and was dismayed to learn that our government is paying only .60%, not even an entire 1%.

I'm sorry I looked and learned the truth, cheapskates.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

Mz iMac — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 22:20:21 GMT

@occasionalrain Call your bank. Don't go by Google.

I always purchase savings bond for the grands right after their birth. My oldest who is 22, cashed his after his 21st birthday. He got the full value plus interest.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

itsmagic — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 22:23:20 GMT

We have some which are almost mature (30 years old) and the interest rate is closer to 6%.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

occasionalrain — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 22:30:11 GMT

@itsmagic

Maybe it depends on the series. Will any bank know?

I also found my footprints that were done at the hospital when I was born. I wonder if they still footprint new borns.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

Sooner — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 22:30:53 GMT

That is still more than a lot of banks pay now.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

itsmagic — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 22:33:12 GMT

@occasionalrain Mine are EE series. I think it depends on the year and month that you originally bought your savings bonds. If you take them to the bank they will look it up for you.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

judy0330 — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 22:34:41 GMT

We had the same experience as @itsmagic in terms of the interest accrued on Series EE bonds. Go to "treasury direct dot gov" and you will be able to calculate the exact value of all the savings bonds you have. Interest accrues every month and stops after 30 years.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

occasionalrain — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 22:36:38 GMT

@Sooner That's true, interest isn't what it used to be.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

violann — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 22:55:38 GMT

Check ALL of your double E bonds. There was a window of time in the late '80s when at least some EE bonds paid 4%, much higher than most double EEs.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

millieshops — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 23:06:06 GMT

Banks also use the info available on Google. Use the US government site on savings bonds. just be careful to use the gov site, not a business one. Gov site is free and accurate.

interest rate depends upon when the bonds were purchased.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

Sooner — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 23:10:12 GMT

The bonds also reach a maximum at some point then no longer earn interest. And you pay taxes on them at some point--either after they max out or you cash them if I remember.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

Sooner — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 23:11:17 GMT

@occasionalrain wrote:
@Sooner That's true, interest isn't what it used to be.

@occasionalrain And if it goes up, so do loan rates as many of my vintage can testify. I remember home loans 14 to 18 percent. Yikes.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

millieshops — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 23:23:57 GMT

@Sooner Interest is due when our bonds expire or sooner if you cash them in before maturity.

I started following the bond info carefully in the 1980s when when mother died and part of my inheritance turned out to be bonds. Had some I purchased myself to defer taxation. Pretty funny since my tax rate has never declined! And the under 1% bonds? I received several of those as a gift. They did earn more in some years, but they pretty much track what banks pay for their short-term accounts. Those I cashed and reinvested long before their maturity.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

suzyQ3 — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 23:24:29 GMT

@Sooner wrote:
@occasionalrain wrote:
@Sooner That's true, interest isn't what it used to be.
@occasionalrain And if it goes up, so do loan rates as many of my vintage can testify. I remember home loans 14 to 18 percent. Yikes.

@Sooner, so do I. I think that was close to the percent we paid for the mortage on our first house. Of course, we refinanced several times over the years.

But this is the reason that I roll my eyes when I hear people griping about any slight uptick.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

Marp — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 23:36:13 GMT

https://treasurydirect.gov/BC/SBCPrice

You will need to provide the series, denomination and issue date.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

RedTop — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 23:40:11 GMT

@occasionalrain

Yes to your bank being able to tell you what the bonds are worth, and yes to hospitals doing footprints of all newborns.

One of my daughters had the bank figure up the value of her bonds recently. She liked the amount, but decided not to cash them in right now.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

BirkiLady — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 00:41:07 GMT

Check with your tax accountant before cashing them at one time. They are worth their face value, but the interest now accrued is very low.

The money (after taxes) and should be invested elsewhere. Probably a wise decision at the time, but if you have a lot of them you may face a hefty tax burden when cashing them in at once. Be very careful; it may take several years to keep from going into the next tax bracket. Your tax preparer will give you excellent advice on how much to cash in each year.

Then, reinvest the money again and pay taxes on the dividends annually.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

occasionalrain — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 15:52:25 GMT

Thank you, one and all. I now know more about bonds then I did this time yesterday.

We complain about the BB, often deserved, but no matter the topic, all of us know we can come here and get help.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

Cats3000 — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 09:19:15 GMT

Depends on when the bonds were issued. Old bonds earned a much higher interest. The fascination with bonds was that they were "safe" and consistent. I had some decades ago. Don't have any now.

Re: US Savings Bond Interest

Lipstickdiva — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 14:31:41 GMT

You can go to Treasury Direct on-line and there is a savings bond calculator. You can find out what your bonds are worth. You need the information from the bond.

The rate now on newly issued bonds is horrible but bonds issued previously may carry a better intereste rate. Your series EE bonds will keep the interest rate they had when issued.

I deal with bonds for work on a fairly regular basis. I just had to send some on to be liquidated and the interest rate was 4.5% but I know I've seen higher for older issued bonds.