Many of those paper bonds started as birthday and graduation gifts that went into a drawer and never came back out. In 2019, the Treasury put the total at more than $26 billion in savings bonds that had stopped earning interest and were still uncashed.
The 30-year limit covers Series EE and I bonds, and every savings bond issued 30 or more years ago, whatever its series, has already stopped growing. Series HH bonds earned interest for only 20 years, so the newest stopped in 2024. A $50 EE bond from a 1992 birthday card cost $25 and earned its last interest in 2022. Every year it stays in the drawer, inflation shrinks what that frozen balance can buy.
Waiting doesn’t postpone the tax, either. Unless you reported the interest year by year, it counts as federal taxable income in the year the bond stops earning, whether or not you cash it. State and local income taxes never apply to savings bond interest.
Gather every paper bond you can find, including any in a parent’s files.
- On an EE or I bond, the issue date appears in the top right corner, just below the series. Add 30 years to get the date its interest stops. TreasuryDirect’s Savings Bond Calculator shows what each bond is worth.
- Call your bank or credit union and ask whether it cashes paper bonds. If it won’t, mail them to the Treasury with FS Form 1522. Bonds worth $1,000 or less in total need only a copy of your ID. Above that, sign the form in front of a notary or a certifying officer at a bank or credit union.
- Search Treasury Hunt for bonds you can’t find. It covers bonds issued in 1974 or later and searches by Social Security number or by the owner’s name and state, so it can turn up a late parent’s bonds too. If it finds a bond you no longer have, file FS Form 1048 to claim it.
Every HH bond, and any bond issued 30 or more years ago, belongs in your bank account, not a drawer.
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