My mom is getting ready to move out of our old house, and she found a bunch of Series EE savings bonds that I got for my bat mitzvah (in 2001). She and my brother insist that I can cash them in for face value next year (seven years after issuance).
This calculator on the Treasury website indicates that (for example) my $100 bond is currently worth about $60 - which leads me to believe that it will not be worth $100 only 1 year from now.
I googled, but I’ve only been able to figure out that (1) I would have been penalized if I cashed in the bond within the first five years after its issuance and (2) the bond will “continue to earn interest” for 30 years.
So, my question is: can I get $100 next year? Do I get $100 in 2031? Or do I get more than $100 in 2031? I’m pretty broke right now, so I’m very interested in getting the straight dope on this … :dubious:
You will not get $100 next year. You may get more than $100 in 2031, as the interest rate on your bond is variable. It is currently at 4.15%. These rates change every six months. Assuming it has been and will continue to earn an average rate of 3.5% , it should reach $100 around 2020, and be worth almost $150 in 2031.
Follow up question: any idea why my family insists that bonds mature in seven years? Was this ever the case? The reason I posted this thread is that they are very, very sure about the seven year thing (and they’re normally perfectly rational people!). Weird!
It was for bonds issued from 1982 to 1986. May 2005 and later — TreasuryDirect They are guaranteed now to be worth face value in 20 years. shimmery’s bond is guaranteed to be worth face value in 17 years, so I guess they’ll tweak the interest rates to return a slightly higher yield than it’s been getting currently, so that it’ll meet that goal.
Oh, okay. Most of the bonds I had in my name were ones my parents bought for me early in my life, so most were indeed issued between 1982 and 1986. That’s probably where I got that impression from.