New EE bonds are electronic only. You must have a TreasuryDirect account to buy and manage new EE bonds. You may own a paper EE bond that we issued between 1980 and 2012.
Some paper EE bonds that we sold between 2001 and 2011 say "Patriot Bond" on them. They were a special edition to fund anti-terrorism. Everything about EE bonds applies to these Patriot Bonds.
How does an EE bond for sale today earn interest?
EE bonds earn interest monthly.
Interest is compounded semiannually, meaning that every 6 months we apply the bond’s interest rate to a new principal. The new principal is the sum of the prior principal and the interest earned in the previous 6 months. Thus, your bond's value grows both because it earns interest and because the principal gets bigger.
Since May 2005, new EE bonds earn a fixed rate of interest that is set when you buy the bond. They earn that interest for the first 20 years. We may adjust the rate or the way they earn interest after 20 years.
For older EE bonds, rules concerning interest may have varied.
You can cash in (redeem) your EE bond after 12 months.
However, if you cash in the bond in less than 5 years, you lose the last 3 months of interest. For example, if you cash in the bond after 18 months, you get the first 15 months of interest.
$25 minimum or any amount above that to the penny. For example, you could buy an EE bond for $36.73.
Is there a maximum amount I can buy?
In any one calendar year for one Social Security Number, you may buy up to $10,000 in EE bonds. The limit applies to the Social Security Number of the first person named on the bond.
All Series EE bonds reach final maturity 30 years from issue. Series EE savings bonds purchased from May 1995 through April 1997 increase in value every six months.
You can cash in (redeem) your EE bond after 12 months. However, if you cash in the bond in less than 5 years, you lose the last 3 months of interest. For example, if you cash in the bond after 18 months, you get the first 15 months of interest.
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