EE bond value: four sets of rules, four kinds of bond
A Series EE bond is valued by the rules in force the month it was issued, and the Treasury changed those rules in May 1995, May 1997 and May 2005.
What your bond is worth
$125.36
Paper Series EE bond issued June 1999, value on October 1, 2026.
| Issue price (half of face value) | $50.00 |
| Interest earned | $75.36 |
| Rate in this period | 3.39 % |
| Penalty | none after 5 years |
| Final maturity (interest stops) | June 2029 |
Method of 31 CFR 351 and 359, checked against every Treasury redemption table published from 1999 to 2023.
| Month | Value | Interest | Cashable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | $125.36 | $75.36 | yes |
| Nov 2026 | $125.72 | $75.72 | yes |
| Dec 2026 | $126.08 | $76.08 | yes |
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · rates read on treasurydirect.gov and fiscaldata.treasury.gov · not personal financial advice
A $100 paper EE bond cost $50, and its value on October 1, 2026 depends first on its issue date. Bonds issued before May 1995 have all passed 30 years and hold a final value: $207.36 for one from March 1990. Bonds of May 1995 to April 1997 earned a short-term rate for five years and a long-term rate afterwards, with interest credited only every six months; one from February 1996 ended at $125.24. Bonds of May 1997 to April 2005 earn a rate the Treasury resets every May and November, 3.39 % for the window that began in May 2026, and a June 1999 bond is worth $125.36. Bonds from May 2005 on keep the rate of their purchase month: a September 2008 bond earns 1.40 % and is worth $64.36, under its face value until the Treasury doubles it in September 2028. Face value says what a bond reaches at a set date, not what it is worth now.
The four EE periods at a glance
EE bonds have been sold since January 1980, on paper until 2012 and electronically since 2003. Over those years the Treasury rewrote how they earn interest three times, and each rewrite applied to bonds bought from that month on. Two bonds that look identical in a drawer can therefore follow entirely different arithmetic. The table takes one $100 paper bond from each period and values it on October 1, 2026.
| Issued | Example | Price | Value | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before May 1995 | March 1990 | $50.00 | $207.36 | stopped earning; final value |
| May 1995 to April 1997 | February 1996 | $50.00 | $125.24 | stopped in February 2026 |
| May 1997 to April 2005 | June 1999 | $50.00 | $125.36 | earns 3.39 % until June 2029 |
| May 2005 and later | September 2008 | $50.00 | $64.36 | fixed 1.40 %; $100.00 in September 2028 |
Before May 1995: final values from the last table
Every EE bond issued from January 1980 through April 1995 has now passed its 30-year final maturity, so none of them earns anything more. The rules behind their growth changed more than once during those fifteen years, but for an owner today only the outcome counts, and the outcome is a fixed number. A March 1990 bond is worth $207.36 and will be worth exactly that next year. The Treasury published those figures in its redemption tables until May 2023 (Fiscal Data), and the calculator reads them directly.
The bonds of the last stretch, March 1993 to April 1995, are a special case. They carry a minimum return of 4 % a year compounded semiannually over 30 years, and the youngest ones reached 30 years after the last table came out. For those, the calculator shows the value the floor produces, $164.04 for a November 1994 bond, and labels it as a minimum (TreasuryDirect).
May 1995 to April 1997: two rates and a six-month clock
These bonds earned a short-term rate for their first five years and a long-term rate after that, each set by the Treasury. The feature that surprises owners is the timing: interest was credited every six months, not every month. A February 1996 bond showed $118.84 in January 2025 and $120.96 one month later, then held $120.96 through July before stepping to $123.04 in August. Cashing in July meant losing the half-year that was about to be credited.
Most of this group has now stopped earning. The ones still inside their 30 years were issued from November 1996 to April 1997, and a $100 bond from November 1996 is worth $126.60 at a long-term rate of 3.20 %. They reached face value at 17 years, a step the Treasury took on itself if the rates had not done it (TreasuryDirect).
Value of a 1995 to 1997 EE bond in any month
What your bond is worth
$250.48
| Issue price (half of face value) | $100.00 |
| Interest earned | $150.48 |
| Stopped earning interest | February 2026 |
May 1997 to April 2005: a rate that still moves
From May 1997 the Treasury switched EE bonds to a rate reset every six months and credited monthly, with interest compounding every half-year. The rate for the window that started in May 2026 is 3.39 %; over the life of the group it has been as high as 5.73 % and as low as 0.28 % (TreasuryDirect). A bond takes each new rate at its own next six-month anniversary, so a June bond changes in June and December.
The June 1999 bond in the table is worth $125.36, well past its face value, which it reached at 17 years. Bonds bought from June 2003 to April 2005 instead carry the 20-year doubling of the next group while keeping the variable rate. Interest on the whole group stops between May 2027 and April 2035, 30 years after each issue month.
Rate of an EE bond from 1997 to 2005
Rate your bond earns
3.39 %
| Period | May 2026 to Oct 2026 |
| Rate changes next | November 2026 |
May 2005 and later: one rate for 20 years
An EE bond bought since May 2005 keeps the rate announced for its purchase window. For many of those windows the rate was a fraction of a percent, which is why so many bonds from the 2010s sit just above their price. The September 2008 bond earns 1.40 % and is worth $64.36; on its 20th anniversary, September 1, 2028, the Treasury will raise it to $100.00, twice its price, because the rate alone would not get there. The doubling page shows the size of that step for each window and what the current rate gives without it.
Face value against real value
The number printed on a paper EE bond is a target, not a balance. A $100 bond was bought for $50, and its real value is that price plus the interest credited so far, minus three months of interest if it is under five years old. Early in its life it is worth less than face; later it can be worth much more. The bonds in the first and third rows are worth more than their face value; the 2008 bond is still short of it.
Electronic EE bonds have no face value at all. They are bought at their full price, from $25 to the penny, and the doubling applies to that price. For the rules on buying new ones, see EE bonds today; for a table of January values year by year, the savings bond value table; for older bonds of the Series E, the E bond page; and to compare with the other series, I bonds against EE bonds.