How do I redeem my savings bonds? (2024)

FAQs

How do I redeem my savings bonds? ›

You should contact your bank directly for more information. For redemption or other information about U.S. savings bonds, visit the U.S. Treasury Department's web page, www.treasurydirect.gov, or contact their office directly by calling (844) 284-2676 (toll-free).

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.

How do I cash my electronic bonds? Go to your TreasuryDirect account. Go to ManageDirect. Use the link for cashing securities.

Log into your primary TreasuryDirect® account. Click on the ManageDirect tab at the top of the page. Click "Redeem securities" under the Manage My Securities heading. On the Redemption page, choose the radio button beside Zero-Percent C of I and click "Submit".

You can do this in a couple of ways: Cash out the bond at your local bank or via TreasuryDirect. You'll need to call your local bank to see if they cash out I bonds and their requirements for doing so. With TreasuryDirect, you can redeem your bonds in a few short steps: Do not sign the bonds.

You can skip paying taxes on interest earned with Series EE and Series I savings bonds if you're using the money to pay for qualified higher education costs. That includes expenses you pay for yourself, your spouse or a qualified dependent. Only certain qualified higher education costs are covered, including: Tuition.

Banks and credit unions can redeem savings bonds over the counter.

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.

Maturity dates for Series EE bonds

Although they technically mature after 20 years, these bonds actually don't expire for 30 years. You'll keep earning interest for an extra decade. As long as you cash in your bond at the maturity date, you can guarantee your investment will double.

How long does it take to get money from TreasuryDirect? ›

You just bought a security from the U.S. Treasury. Securities are generally issued to your account within two business days of the purchase date for savings bonds or within one week of the auction date for Bills, Notes, Bonds, FRNs, and TIPS.

While the Treasury will not penalize you for holding a U.S. Savings Bond past its date of maturity, the Internal Revenue Service will. Interest accumulated over the life of a U.S. Savings Bond must be reported on your 1040 form for the tax year in which you redeem the bond or it reaches final maturity.

It's possible to redeem a savings bond as soon as one year after it's purchased, but it's usually wise to wait at least five years so you don't lose the last three months of interest when you cash it in. For example, if you redeem a bond after 24 months, you'll only receive 21 months of interest.

Whether you received U.S. Savings Bonds as a gift from your grandparents or bought them through a payroll deduction on your first job, you may own U.S. Savings Bonds that have stopped earning interest. It is relatively simple to cash in savings bonds that have matured and are no longer earning interest.

TreasuryDirect.gov is the one and only place to electronically buy and redeem U.S. Savings Bonds.

Do the address and Social Security Number on the bonds have to match the customer's address and Social Security Number? Not necessarily. The customer may have moved or the bonds may have been a gift and contain the purchaser's information.

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.

In general, you must report the interest in income in the taxable year in which you redeemed the bonds to the extent you did not include the interest in income in a prior taxable year.

Most bonds can be cashed in after one year, but you will lose three months' worth of interest if you cash them in before five years. If you are holding hundreds of dollars in savings bonds, you will still get them back at their current value.

Remember, when you cash out your I Bonds you don't earn the interest until you complete the month and that you lose the prior 3 months' interest. If you want to keep all your good interest and get the most out of your I Bonds you should cash out: after earning 3 months of lower interest and.