So what do I do with these savings bonds?

[Alessan]

So my mom as going through her papers a few weeks back, and she found a bunch of U.S. savings bonds my grandfather had taken out in my name back in the 1990s. Not a huge amount of money - 7 EE bonds with a face value of $200 each, sent once a year on my birthday, from 1991 to 1997. My question is, as a U.S. citizen residing abroad, what do I do next?

Now, I know I could hold on to them for a few more years and maybe get a bit more money, but say I want to cash them: how do I proceed? I know my options are to send them in by mail, or take them to a bank. For the former, how long will it it take, and how reliable is the process? As for cashing them in myself, I’m going to be in New York next month, and it would be nice to have some extra walking-around money. However, I haven’t had a U.S. bank account since 2002. Can I just walk into a random bank, passport in hand (I don’t have a U.S. driver’s license) and try to cash them in?

[mikecurtis]

you can only do it through the treasury now
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/ebonds/res_e_bonds_eeredeem.htm

[Alessan]

Link doesn’t work.

[mikecurtis]

does for me
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/ebonds/res_e_bonds_eeredeem.htm
or google -how to redeem savings bonds and its the first one

[Mithras]

@mikecurtis

you can only do it through the treasury now
Cash EE or I savings bonds — TreasuryDirect

From that link:

You can cash paper EE and E bonds at most local financial institutions. This is the easiest way to cash bonds and the quickest way to get access to your money.

[mikecurtis]

Fascinating. . .MY financial institution told me I could only do it through the Treasury. . .
I apologize for the bad info!

mc

[mikecurtis]

and also from that link

and some banks may have a policy to not redeem savings bonds at all.

I’m pretty sure my bank told me I had to go through the Treasury. . .either I misunderstood them, or the teller misunderstood their policy. . .

anyway, I never got around to cashing mine in so I really have no useful info at all. . I’ll be leaving now.

mc

[Alessan]

For some reason I can’t get the Treasury site to work, from any device. Maybe it can’t be accessed from outside the United States.

Anyway, my main question is this: does anyone know if a bank will cash my bonds, even if I don’t have an account there?

[Riemann]

The treasury site says that 95% of paper bonds are cashed at your local bank. Whether they will do it for a non-account holder will just be up to bank policy, I think.

I have an HSBC account in New York. It’s MLK day tomorrow, if you PM me on Tuesday morning to remind me, I will call them to ask if they will do it for a non-account holder.

Obviously your name is on the bonds? Do you have straightforward I.D. that exactly matches the name on the bonds, a U.S. passport perhaps?

[Duckster]

What will I need to redeem a paper bond?

       If you plan to take your bonds to a local bank, check with   the financial institution beforehand to see whether it redeems savings   bonds.  If it does, find out what dollar  limit, if any, it has on  redemptions and what identification and other  documents  you need. 

[ul]
[li]If you are a customer of that bank, establishing identity could be as simple as having an active account open for at least six months, plus proper identification.[/li][li]If you aren’t a customer, banks have varying policies ranging from not redeeming your bonds to redeeming limited amounts (generally less than $1,000 total value) with acceptable identification, such as a valid driver’s license.[/li][/ul]

Cash EE or I savings bonds — TreasuryDirect

[k9bfriender]

@mikecurtis

Fascinating. . .MY financial institution told me I could only do it through the Treasury. . .
I apologize for the bad info!

mc

Did you have H bonds? I had some of those, I think, either that or I bonds, and those had to be sent into the treasury.

E bonds can be cashed at the bank.

[TSBG]

You can cash bonds at a bank where you don’t have an account, but the bank doesn’t HAVE to. My credit union wouldn’t, so I went to a Wells Fargo branch (I don’t have a WF account). They were confused and a little put out, but they eventually did it. You might have to try a couple branches.

[Alessan]

Okay, thanks a lot, everyone.

@TSBG

You can cash bonds at a bank where you don’t have an account, but the bank doesn’t HAVE to. My credit union wouldn’t, so I went to a Wells Fargo branch (I don’t have a WF account). They were confused and a little put out, but they eventually did it. You might have to try a couple branches.

So in other words, I have to decide how much of my vacation I want to waste waiting in banks. Thanks.

[Riemann]

@Alessan

…So in other words, I have to decide how much of my vacation I want to waste waiting in banks. Thanks.

Many years ago you could walk into the Fed on Liberty Street as a retail customer and buy treasuries. If you have any Chinese friends in NY, you should get one of them to go and stand on the street outside the Fed, wave your bonds and scream that they won’t give him his money back, see if you can start a run.

[UltraVires]

@Riemann

Many years ago you could walk into the Fed on Liberty Street as a retail customer and buy treasuries. If you have any Chinese friends in NY, you should get one of them to go and stand on the street outside the Fed, wave your bonds and scream that they won’t give him his money back, see if you can start a run.

But you’re money’s not here, why, it’s in Jim’s house and Dave’s house. Remember when your couldn’t pay your note, Dave? You think Potter would have let you keep it?

[thatguyjeff]

I recently found the same thing - handful of E or EE (I forget which of the top of my head) bonds that were purchased in the early to mid 90s. I planned on cashing them in as they had matured 2012-2016, but through some additional reading I found that whatever particular series I have (I didn’t cash them after all) continues to earn interest beyond full maturity for (I think it was) an additional 10 or 15 years at somewhere around 2.5%. Back in the 90s, 2.5% wasn’t that hot, but now? Hell yeah I’ll take 2.5% for a small investment that’s basically liquid, practically guaranteed, and a principal that I don’t really need at the moment.

I suggest looking into any continued interest you might be able to earn beyond maturity. If you don’t need the cash for anything right away, might be better to hang on to them a few more years - until they stop earning interest.

edit - check that interest rate, 1.5% not 2.5%. Still, considering traditional bank savings earns nothing and CDs are - I don’t even know - half a percent?

[JerrySTL]

EE bonds earn interest for 30 years from their issue date. I just happened to be looking a mine last week. I have about $1400 face value stashed away from the mid-1990s so there’s a few more years to go.

[kopek]

@Alessan

So in other words, I have to decide how much of my vacation I want to waste waiting in banks. Thanks.

For $1400 plus interest, since you are going to be here anyway, I would probably spend the time. Otherwise you could be basically giving the US Government a $1400-ish gift since if they are still out there after you die the situation can get more complicated. This assumes your heirs are not US citizens. In our case, us and the deceased were both “here” and it still took a bit of extra paperwork and effort back in the day when savings bonds were more common. Today I don’t even want to think about it.

[MikeS]

There’s also a special page with instructions for redeeming bonds when you’re outside of the country. Since you may not be able to access that one either, here’s what it says:

If you are in another country, you can redeem (cash in) your paper bonds in one of these ways:[ul][li]If you are a U.S. citizen and you can get to a branch of a bank that is incorporated in[/li][list][li]the United States, or[*]a U.S. territory or possession, or[/li][li]the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico[/ul][/li]That bank may be able to redeem your bonds. Contact the bank to find out.
[li]If you are not a U.S. citizen or if you are a citizen but cannot find a bank locally that is authorized to and willing to redeem your bond, you must sign the request for payment for your bonds in the presence of an appropriate official and that official must certify your signature. [/li]
Appropriate officials are:
[ul][li]a U.S. diplomatic or consular representative[/li][li]an officer of a foreign branch of a bank that is incorporated in the U.S., a U.S. territory or possession, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico[/li][li]a notary or other official authorized to administer oaths. However, if you are in a country that is not a party to the Hague Convention, a U.S. diplomatic or consular officer should certify and attest to the official’s character and jurisdiction.[/li][/ul] U.S. citizens: You must include a statement over your signature that you are a U.S. citizen and you must provide your Social Security Number.

Non-U.S. citizens: You must fill out and include IRS Form W-8BEN.[/list]

In particular, glancing at your profile, it appears that Citibank has a presence in your city. Couldn’t hurt to call them and ask before you go to the trouble of trying to redeem them while you’re on vacation.

[TSBG]

It’s not $1400 though–E bonds are purchased at a discount and earn X% interest until they reach face value (and sometimes continue to earn it, as noted above). You can find out how much each is worth and the interest rate through the treasury site–which sadly you can’t access where you are. Maybe you can give the serial numbers to a trusted friend in the US and they can look it up for you?