Your savings bond's value will change as it takes time to mature to face value, but you don’t need to calculate its current worth and accrued interest manually. You can look up your savings bond’s value by its serial number on the U.S. Treasury Department’s TreasuryDirect website. Where is the serial number on a savings bond? I want to check how much money is on my savings bonds and i need the serial numbers but there are so many different numbers on them, how do i know which one is the serial number?
- Where Is Serial Number On A Savings Bond
- Serial Number On A Savings Bond
- Where To Find A Serial Number On A Savings Bond
What is a Series EE Bond
The Series EE Bond is a non-marketable, interest-bearing U.S. government savings bond that is guaranteed to at least double in value over the initial term of the bond, typically 20 years. Most Series EE bonds have a total interest-paying life that extends beyond the original maturity date, up to 30 years from issuance.
Series EE bond is also known as the Patriot Bond. Download game dragon ball z super butouden 3.
BREAKING DOWN Series EE Bond
The Series EE bond is one of two types of savings bonds issued by the US Treasury, the other being the Series I bond. The Series I bonds come with a fixed coupon rate and receive an additional inflation-adjusted interest rate that is adjusted semi-annually. Paper I bonds are no longer sold directly, but can be purchased electronically or indirectly as part of a tax refund. Unlike Series EE bonds, I bonds do not come with a guarantee to at least double in value over the initial term of the bond.
Series EE bonds are government savings bonds that have a guarantee from the US government to at least double in value over the first term of the bond. The initial term usually lasts for 20 years, but most EE bonds have an interest-paying life that extends an additional 10 years past that term. They cannot be bought or sold in the open market, hence, they are classified as non-marketable securities. Series EE bonds issued after May 2005 are assigned a fixed coupon rate; rates are set twice per year on May 1 and November 1, and apply to all issuances for the ensuing six months. Bonds issued after this date increase in value monthly, but interest payments are semiannual.
Paper EE bonds were re-issued as Patriot Bonds after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. They are identical in every way to the paper Series EE Bonds except that any paper bonds purchased through a financial institution after December 10, 2001 have the words 'Patriot Bond' printed on the top half of the bond between the Social Security Number (SSN) and the issue date. Financial institutions no longer issue Series EE bonds in paper form, but the paper 'Patriot Bonds' can still be cashed or converted to electronic bonds.
The minimum investment that can be made is $25 for an EE bond with a face value of $25. There is also a limit to how much a bond investor can invest in the savings bond; the limit is set at $10,000 each calendar year for each Social Security Number.
Where Is Serial Number On A Savings Bond
Savings bonds must be held at least one year before they can be redeemed by the bondholder. If they are held for less than five years, a penalty of three months' interest will be assessed when the bonds are redeemed. This means that a bond investor will lose the last three months of interest accrued on the bond if he redeems the bond early. Windows forensic environment iso download. Since EE bonds earn interest for up to 30 years, the longer the bonds are held, the more they are worth.
Paper bonds were issued at a 50% discount to par, while bonds purchased electronically (through TreasuryDirect) are purchased at face value; the latter are still guaranteed to be worth twice their original value at first maturity date after 20 years, and pay interest the same way as paper EE bonds.
Series EE bonds are considered ultra-safe, low-risk investments. Interest on Series EE bonds is typically exempt from state and local taxes, and coupon rates are assigned based on a percentage of the long-term Treasury rates at the time of issuance. It is subject to federal tax, however, but only in the year in which the bond matures or is redeemed.
US citizens, official US residents, and US government employees (regardless of their citizenship status) can buy and own EE Bonds. Minors can also own EE Bonds.
Whether you got them as a birthday gift from Grandma or bought them through a payroll deduction on your first job, you may own U.S. Savings Bonds that have stopped earning interest.
Series EE Bonds, the common variety first issued in 1980 -- and still being issued today -- were designed to pay interest for up to 30 years. So any bonds dated 1989 or earlier – the first generation, so to speak – will have stopped paying by the end of 2019. At that point, their value is frozen, so there is no reason other than nostalgia to hang onto them. Instead, you can cash them in and put the money to more productive use.
Before the advent of Series EE Bonds, Grandma might have bought you a Series E Savings Bond. Those were issued from 1941 to 1980, and all of them have stopped earning interest, too.
The more recent Series I Bonds – the kind that pays a combined fixed and inflation-adjustedrate of interest – were first issued in 1998. They’re good for 30 years, so the earliest of them will stop gaining value in 2028.
How much unclaimed money is out there in the form of savings bonds that have stopped earning interest but have yet to be redeemed? The U.S. Treasury Department estimates that it’s in the billions of dollars.
What Your Bonds Are Worth
To determine the value of your old bonds, you can use the Savings Bond Calculator on the TreasuryDirect website. You’ll just need the type of bond, its denomination, and the date it was issued. There’s also a place to type in your bond’s serial number, but you don’t need that in order to get a value.
The calculator’s answer may pleasantly surprise you. For example, a $50 bond issued in August 1982, for which Grandma would have paid $25, is now worth $146.90. A $100 bond from February 1984 is good for $230.64.
If you believe you own some old savings bonds, but have lost track of them, you may be able file a claim for the bonds with the Treasury, by filling out Fiscal Service Form 1048, Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds, available with instructions on the website. Unfortunately, the popular online tool Treasury Hunt was discontinued in early 2017.
How to Cash In
You can redeem your old paper bonds at many banks and other financial institutions. The TreasuryDirect website doesn’t maintain a list, but suggests you call around.
Serial Number On A Savings Bond
Bear in mind that savings-bond interest is subject to federal income tax, though not to state or local tax. You can either report it and pay tax every year that you hold the bond or wait until the end and pay the tax all at once, as most people do. After redeeming your bonds, you’ll receive an IRS Form 1099-INT, reflecting your taxable gain.
An exception, in certain cases, is if you use the proceeds from bonds issued in 1990 or later to pay qualified higher-education expenses for yourself or your child. Those rules, which include income limits, are explained in the Education Planning section of the TreasuryDirect site.
The Bottom Line
Don't sit on cash that's coming to you. But before you cash in your bonds, it’s a good idea to record what the Savings Bond Calculator says they’re worth, just to be sure you get every dollar you're owed.
Where To Find A Serial Number On A Savings Bond
Grandma wouldn’t want it any other way.