EE bonds: the rate, the limits and the rules for bonds bought now
Series EE bonds are sold only in TreasuryDirect, at a rate fixed on the day of purchase, and the Treasury makes each one worth twice its price after 20 years.
Rate your bond earns
1.40 %
Series EE bond issued May 2010, rate in October 2026.
| Fixed rate set at issue | 1.40 % |
| Period | May 2026 to Oct 2026 |
| Rate changes next | November 2026 |
| Doubling date (original maturity) | May 2030 |
| Period from | Annual rate |
|---|---|
| May 2026 | 1.40 % |
| Nov 2025 | 1.40 % |
| May 2025 | 1.40 % |
| Nov 2024 | 1.40 % |
| May 2024 | 1.40 % |
| Nov 2023 | 1.40 % |
| May 2023 | 1.40 % |
| Nov 2022 | 1.40 % |
| May 2022 | 1.40 % |
| Nov 2021 | 1.40 % |
| May 2021 | 1.40 % |
| Nov 2020 | 1.40 % |
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · rates read on treasurydirect.gov and fiscaldata.treasury.gov · not personal financial advice
EE bonds bought from May 2026 to October 2026 earn a fixed 2.40 % a year, set at purchase and kept for at least 20 years, after 2.50 % in the previous six months. They are electronic only, held in a TreasuryDirect account, and cost any amount from $25 to the penny, up to $10,000 per Social Security number per calendar year, a limit separate from the $10,000 for I bonds. Interest is added monthly and compounds every six months. A bond cannot be cashed in its first 12 months, and before five years the last three months of interest are lost. The feature that sets EE bonds apart is the 20-year doubling: whatever the rate, the Treasury raises the value to twice the price on the 20th anniversary, which equals 3.53 % a year for the patient owner. Interest stops at 30 years. It is subject to federal income tax but not to state or local tax, and it may be tax-free when used for college costs.
The rate for new EE bonds, and its recent history
The Treasury announces the EE rate on May 1 and November 1, and every bond bought in the six months that follow keeps that rate (TreasuryDirect). Since the switch to fixed rates in May 2005, the rate has ranged from 3.70 %, for bonds of May 2006 to October 2006, down to 0.10 %, a level it held for 16 windows. The last eight windows are below, with what $1,000 would be worth one month before its 20th anniversary at that rate alone.
| Bought in | Fixed rate | $1,000 after 19 years 11 months |
|---|---|---|
| May 2026 to October 2026 | 2.40 % | $1,609.60 |
| November 2025 to April 2026 | 2.50 % | $1,640.80 |
| May 2025 to October 2025 | 2.70 % | $1,707.20 |
| November 2024 to April 2025 | 2.60 % | $1,672.00 |
| May 2024 to October 2024 | 2.70 % | $1,707.20 |
| November 2023 to April 2024 | 2.70 % | $1,707.20 |
| May 2023 to October 2023 | 2.50 % | $1,640.80 |
| November 2022 to April 2023 | 2.10 % | $1,516.80 |
Comparing the third column with $2,000 shows how much each window depends on the doubling. At 2.40 %, a bond reaches about 80 % of the doubled value by its own interest; the rest arrives in a single month. The doubling page has the step for every window since 2005.
The rate of an EE bond you already own
Rate your bond earns
2.70 %
| Fixed rate set at issue | 2.70 % |
| Period | Aug 2026 to Jan 2027 |
| Rate changes next | February 2027 |
| Doubling date (original maturity) | February 2044 |
Buying: account, amounts and the yearly limit
EE bonds are sold only in electronic form, through a TreasuryDirect account; banks no longer sell them, and paper EE bonds ended in 2012 (TreasuryDirect). The price is the amount you choose, from $25 up, to the cent. There is no face value: an electronic bond is simply its price plus interest.
The issue date is the first day of the month in which TreasuryDirect receives the payment, so the timing within a month has two effects. A purchase whose payment reaches the Treasury before the end of October still gets the 2.40 % rate and earns interest from October 1, 2026; a payment received a few days later falls in the next window and takes whatever rate is announced on November 1, 2026. Once bought, the value of each bond appears in the account, and the calculator above gives the rate and the doubling date for any issue month since 1980.
Each Social Security number can buy up to $10,000 of EE bonds per calendar year, the limit applying to the first person named on the bond (TreasuryDirect). Children with a minor account, trusts and businesses with an employer identification number each have their own. Gifts follow the person who receives them: a bond bought for someone else counts toward the recipient's limit in the year it is delivered, not the year it is bought (TreasuryDirect). I bonds have a separate $10,000 limit, and the I bond limit page explains how families stack both.
The first five years of a bond bought now
A new EE bond is locked for 12 months. After that it can be cashed, but until its fifth anniversary the Treasury pays it without the last three months of interest. The table follows a $1,000 bond bought in May 2026.
| Date | Age | Value if cashed | Interest given up |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2027 | 12 months | $1,018.40 | $5.60 |
| May 1, 2028 | 24 months | $1,042.40 | $6.40 |
| April 1, 2031 | 59 months | $1,118.40 | $6.40 |
| May 1, 2031 | 60 months | $1,127.20 | none |
The penalty is small in dollars because three months of interest at 2.40 % is small: $6.40 at four years and eleven months. On May 1, 2031 it disappears and the bond is worth $1,127.20. Cashing savings bonds explains how to redeem in TreasuryDirect, in full or in part, keeping at least $25 in the bond.
What an EE bond bought in 2023 is worth
What your bond is worth
$2,686.00
| Price paid | $2,500.00 |
| Interest earned | $186.00 |
| Rate in this period | 2.70 % |
| Three-month penalty already taken off | $18.00 |
Twenty years, then thirty
An EE bond earns interest for 30 years. Its 20th anniversary is the date that matters: on that day its value becomes at least twice its price, the Treasury paying any shortfall, which works out to 3.53 % a year. The bond in the calculator above, bought in May 2010 at 1.40 %, reaches that point on May 1, 2030. After the anniversary the bond keeps earning until year 30, when it is paid out automatically to the TreasuryDirect account.
That shape suits money that can sit for two decades, and suits it less for anything shorter. For a shorter horizon, an I bond or a Treasury bill follows market rates or inflation more closely; I bonds against EE bonds compares both series over the same period, and T-bill rates lists the latest auctions.
Tax on EE bond interest
EE bond interest is subject to federal income tax and exempt from state and local income tax. Most owners report it once, in the year the bond is cashed or reaches final maturity; others report the increase every year (TreasuryDirect). Interest on EE bonds used for tuition and fees can be excluded with Form 8815 within an income limit, provided the bond is in the parent's name and the owner was at least 24 before its issue date. Savings bonds for education runs the numbers, and savings bond taxes covers the rest of the return. For bonds already in a drawer, EE bond value explains the older rules.