The Ultimate Guide to Investing in Series EE Savings Bonds (2024)

FAQs

How much is a $100 EE savings bond worth after 30 years? ›

Series EE savings bonds are a low-risk way to save money. They earn interest regularly for 30 years (or until you cash them if you do that before 30 years). For EE bonds you buy now, we guarantee that the bond will double in value in 20 years, even if we have to add money at 20 years to make that happen.

Key points. Series EE bonds mature in 20 years but earn interest for up to 30 years. The U.S. Treasury guarantees Series EE bonds will double in value in 20 years. You don't receive the interest on your Series EE bond until you cash it.

After 20 years, the Patriot Bond is guaranteed to be worth at least face value. So a $50 Patriot Bond, which was bought for $25, will be worth at least $50 after 20 years. It can continue to accrue interest for as many as 10 more years after that.

EE bonds you buy now have a fixed interest rate that you know when you buy the bond. That rate remains the same for at least the first 20 years. It may change after that for the last 10 of its 30 years. We guarantee that the value of your new EE bond at 20 years will be double what you paid for it.

You can get your cash for an EE or I savings bond any time after you have owned it for 1 year. However, the longer you hold the bond, the more it earns for you (for up to 30 years for an EE or I bond). Also, if you cash in the bond in less than 5 years, you lose the last 3 months of interest.

As of May 2024, there were 96 million matured unredeemed savings bonds held by investors. If bonds are held past their maturity date, the bonds can lose value due to inflation. To understand how this value is lost, see the illustration below. Imagine you bought a series EE bond 30 years ago for $500.

Where do I cash in a savings bond? You can cash paper bonds at a bank or through the U.S. Department of the Treasury's TreasuryDirect website. Not all banks offer the service, and many only provide it if you are an account holder, according to a NerdWallet analysis of the 20 largest U.S. banks.

I bonds offer an inflation-protected return, ensuring your savings keep pace with rising costs. EE bonds, on the other hand, provide a fixed-interest rate for the life of the bond, offering a predictable return.

Key Takeaways. Interest from EE U.S. savings bonds is taxed at the federal level but not at the state or local levels for income. The interest that savings bonds earn is the amount that a bond can be redeemed for above its face value or original purchase price.

What happens to EE bonds after 30 years? ›

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.

The interest gets added to the bond's value

I bonds earn interest from the first day of the month you buy them. Twice a year, we add all the interest the bond earned in the previous 6 months to the main (principal) value of the bond.

As one of the lowest-risk investments on the market, the 10-year Treasury and its yield are important for several reasons. First, investors use the 10-year Treasury as a baseline against which to compare the risks and rewards of other investments.

To give a different example, say you purchased a $100 Patriot Bond on the later end of its availability, in November 2009. That bond would be worth only $56.40 in November 2019, because it wouldn't reach full maturity until November 2039.

They're available to be cashed in after a single year, though there's a penalty for cashing them in within the first five years. Otherwise, you can keep savings bonds until they fully mature, which is generally 30 years. These days, you can only purchase electronic bonds, but you can still cash in paper bonds.

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 two primary reasons a bond might be worth less than its listed face value. A savings bond, for example, is sold at a discount to its face value and steadily appreciates in price as the bond approaches its maturity date. Upon maturity, the bond is redeemed for the full face value.

They're available to be cashed in after a single year, though there's a penalty for cashing them in within the first five years. Otherwise, you can keep savings bonds until they fully mature, which is generally 30 years. These days, you can only purchase electronic bonds, but you can still cash in paper bonds.

Although Series EE savings bonds have published rates of around 2.7% in 2024, if the bonds are held until their original maturity date in 20 years, that effective rate is roughly 3.6% (because they're guaranteed to double in value).