How to cash savings bonds, paper or electronic
Savings bonds can be cashed after one year. Electronic bonds are redeemed in TreasuryDirect, in part or in full; paper bonds at a bank that offers it, or by mail with FS Form 1522. Check the value first.
What your bond is worth
$618.00
Paper Series EE bond issued March 2000, value on October 1, 2026.
| Issue price (half of face value) | $250.00 |
| Interest earned | $368.00 |
| Rate in this period | 3.39 % |
| Penalty | none after 5 years |
| Final maturity (interest stops) | March 2030 |
Method of 31 CFR 351 and 359, checked against every Treasury redemption table published from 1999 to 2023.
| Month | Value | Interest | Cashable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | $618.00 | $368.00 | yes |
| Nov 2026 | $619.60 | $369.60 | yes |
| Dec 2026 | $621.40 | $371.40 | yes |
| Jan 2027 | $623.20 | $373.20 | yes |
| Feb 2027 | $624.80 | $374.80 | yes |
| Mar 2027 | $626.60 | $376.60 | yes |
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · rates read on treasurydirect.gov and fiscaldata.treasury.gov · not personal financial advice
To cash a savings bond you need to know its form. An electronic EE or I bond is redeemed in your TreasuryDirect account, under ManageDirect, Redeem securities: any amount from $25 to the cent, as long as at least $25 stays in the bond, and the money goes to your linked bank account. A paper bond is cashed whole, either at a bank that offers the service, which sets its own limits and identification rules, or by mail to the Treasury with FS Form 1522; above $1,000 your signature must be certified. A bond can be cashed once it is 12 months old; before five years, the last three months of interest are lost. A $500 paper EE bond issued in March 2000 is worth $618.00 on the first of October 2026, for $368.00 of interest on a price of $250.00. That interest is subject to federal income tax for the year you cash, and not to state or local income tax. The calculator gives the value of any bond for any month.
Electronic bonds in TreasuryDirect
Log in, open ManageDirect and choose Redeem securities under Manage My Securities (TreasuryDirect, cashing EE or I bonds). You can cash all or part of a bond: any amount of $25 or more, to the penny, provided at least $25 stays in it. The part you cash carries only its share of the interest, and the rest keeps earning on its original dates. The money is sent to the bank account linked to your TreasuryDirect account, and the Form 1099-INT appears in the account in January of the following year. The current value is shown under Current Holdings; it already takes off the three-month penalty for bonds less than five years old.
Paper bonds at a bank or by mail
A paper bond is always cashed for its full value. At a bank, ask first whether it cashes savings bonds, how much it will cash at once and what documents it needs; banks vary, and some do not offer the service. By mail, fill in FS Form 1522 (FS Form 1522), have your signature certified if the bonds are worth more than $1,000, and send the form with the bonds to the address printed on it. Signatures are certified by an authorized officer at a bank or credit union, not by a notary in most cases; the form lists who qualifies. The Treasury has no limit on the number or value of bonds cashed by mail, and mails the 1099-INT the following January. A bank that cashes a bond sends its own 1099-INT, either at once or the next January.
Value of your paper bond before you go
What your bond is worth
$123.56
| Issue price (half of face value) | $50.00 |
| Interest earned | $73.56 |
| Stopped earning interest | June 2025 |
What a bond pays this month and next
A bond gains value on the first of each month, so waiting a few days can add a month of interest. The table shows four paper bonds of $1,000 face value, cashed on the first of October 2026 and on the first of November 2026, with the start of the rate period they are in.
| Bond | Value October 2026 | Value November 2026 | Current rate period from |
|---|---|---|---|
| EE bond, May 1998 | $1,275.60 | $1,279.20 | May 2026 |
| EE bond, January 2006 | $1,024.00 | $1,026.80 | July 2026 |
| I bond, November 2001 | $3,126.00 | $3,139.60 | May 2026 |
| I bond, September 2021 | $1,251.60 | $1,254.80 | September 2026 |
The November values are already fixed, because the interest added on November 1 is earned at the rate of the period ending in October. From December on, an I bond whose rate period starts in November depends on the composite rate announced on November 1, 2026. EE bonds issued since May 2005 keep a fixed rate, but those from May 1997 to April 2005 also take a new rate every six months.
Bonds that no longer earn
A bond stops earning at final maturity: 30 years for EE and I bonds, 40 years for Series E bonds issued before December 1965. After that its value no longer grows, and holding it only delays the tax. An EE bond issued in July 1990 is worth $207.36 per $100 of face value and stopped earning in July 2020. The interest of a matured bond is taxable for the year of final maturity even if the bond is not cashed. The matured bonds page lists the cohorts that have stopped and what to do with them.
Special situations
The Treasury has separate procedures for bonds of someone who has died, bonds held in a trust, bonds of a person represented by an attorney-in-fact or a guardian, bonds of a young child, owners outside the United States and owners affected by a disaster (TreasuryDirect). Bonds bought from someone else or on an auction site cannot be cashed: only an owner, a co-owner or a person with documents the Treasury accepts can redeem a bond. If you are unsure whether a paper bond was already cashed or replaced, a letter to Treasury Retail Securities Services with the serial numbers, without the bonds, gets an answer. The inherited bonds page covers bonds of a deceased owner.
Tax when you cash
The interest is reported on your federal return for the year you cash, on the line for interest income, unless you chose to report it each year. It is exempt from state and local income tax (31 U.S.C. 3124). Bonds cashed to pay tuition may be partly or fully tax-free under the education exclusion. Cashing a large amount in one year can push part of the interest into a higher bracket; spreading redemptions over several years, or cashing in a year of lower income, can lower the bill. The tax page has a calculator for the federal tax on a given amount of interest.