To cash a savings bond, you either take a paper bond and a photo ID to a bank that redeems them, mail the bond to the Treasury with a certified FS Form 1522 if no bank will, or log into TreasuryDirect and redeem an electronic bond online. Before you do any of that, check two things: the bond must be at least 12 months old, and cashing before five years costs you the last three months of interest.1TreasuryDirect. I Bonds
Check the Timing Before You Cash
Series EE and Series I bonds issued on or after February 1, 2003 cannot be redeemed until 12 months after the issue date.2eCFR. 31 CFR 353.35 – Payment (Redemption)3eCFR. 31 CFR Part 359 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series I Cash a bond any time within the first five years and the Treasury pays you back everything except the most recent three months of interest. Cash an I bond after 18 months, for example, and you get 15 months of interest.1TreasuryDirect. I Bonds After the five-year mark, no penalty applies.
Both series stop earning interest 30 years after the issue date.4TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds A bond past 30 is not growing, and the accumulated interest becomes taxable in the year of final maturity whether you cash it or not, so there’s no reason to leave one sitting.5TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds
Look Up What the Bond Is Worth
Before you go to the bank or fill out any forms, find out what the bond is actually worth today. TreasuryDirect’s free Savings Bond Calculator returns the current redemption value, interest earned so far, current rate, and final maturity date from the series, denomination, and issue date on the face of the bond.6TreasuryDirect. Calculate the Value of Your Paper Savings Bonds For electronic bonds, the current value appears in your TreasuryDirect dashboard.
Cashing a Paper Bond at a Bank
Most people cash paper bonds at a bank or credit union, but no institution is required to offer the service, and many will only redeem bonds for existing account holders. Call before you go and ask two questions: do you cash savings bonds, and is there a dollar limit per transaction?7TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds Some banks want customers to have held an account for at least 12 months before they will cash bonds for them.8Federal Reserve Financial Services. Savings Bond Redemptions Frequently Asked Questions
Bring the bond itself and a valid government photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport. The bank may ask for additional identification, which is why it helps to call ahead.7TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds The teller verifies the bond, confirms your identity, calculates the redemption value, and pays you in cash or by deposit into your account. Note that a paper bond has to be cashed for its full face amount; you cannot redeem part of it.
Cashing a Paper Bond by Mail
If no local bank will handle your bonds, the Treasury will. You complete FS Form 1522, get your signature certified, and mail the form along with the physical bonds to Treasury Retail Securities Services, P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150.9TreasuryDirect. FS Form 1522 – Special Form of Request for Payment The form asks for your Social Security number, your bank’s routing and account numbers for direct deposit, and a description of each bond.
Signature certification is the step that trips people up. A bank officer or employee can certify using the institution’s seal or signature guarantee stamp, and members of the Treasury-recognized STAMP, SEMP, or MSP programs can certify as well. A notary public can certify when the form allows it.10TreasuryDirect. Signature Certification
Send the package by registered or certified mail. Original paper bonds cannot be replaced if lost in transit, so tracking matters. Processing takes at least six weeks when the bonds are in your name, and at least two months when someone else is involved, such as a deceased owner.11TreasuryDirect. Contact Us The Treasury pays by direct deposit to the account listed on the form, and there’s no cap on how many bonds you can submit at once.7TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds
Cashing an Electronic Bond on TreasuryDirect
If your bonds live in a TreasuryDirect account, you never touch paper. Log in, open ManageDirect, and choose “Redeem securities” under Manage My Securities.7TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds The screen shows the current value and lets you pick a full or partial redemption.
Partial redemption is the one thing electronic bonds do that paper bonds cannot. Any partial cash-out must be at least $25, and at least $25 in value has to remain in the bond after you’re done.12eCFR. 31 CFR Part 363 – Regulations Governing Securities Held in TreasuryDirect Proceeds land in the linked bank account, usually within a few business days.
Cashing a Bond in a Child’s Name
A parent can cash a paper bond registered to a young child if three conditions are met: the child is too young to understand the transaction, the parent has custody or the child lives with the parent, and the parent writes a certification statement on the back of the bond giving the child’s name, age, Social Security number, and a declaration that the child is not old enough to make the request themselves.13TreasuryDirect. Cashing Paper Bonds for a Young Child If the bond goes to the Treasury by mail instead of to a bank, add FS Form 1522.
Cashing a Bond After the Owner Has Died
When a named co-owner or beneficiary is listed on the bond, that person cashes it directly and the bond stays out of the estate.14TreasuryDirect. Non-Administered Estates Without a co-owner or beneficiary, a court-appointed estate representative handles redemption.
Small estates have a shortcut. If probate hasn’t been opened and the deceased owner’s total Treasury securities are worth $100,000 or less, a “voluntary representative” can act without court appointment. That person must be at least 18, competent, and generally a surviving spouse or close relative.15eCFR. 31 CFR Part 315, Subpart L – Deceased Owner, Coowner or Beneficiary
Taxes on the Interest You Cash Out
Interest on EE and I bonds is subject to federal income tax and exempt from state and local income tax.5TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds Most people defer the tax until the year they cash the bond or the year it reaches final maturity, whichever comes first. Annual accrual reporting is an option, but few use it.
You’ll get a Form 1099-INT reporting the full interest earned over the life of the bond. A bank issues it at redemption or by January 31 of the following year; TreasuryDirect posts it inside your account by January 31 of the following year.7TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds Report the amount as interest income on your federal return.
One exclusion is worth knowing about before you cash. If you use the proceeds to pay qualified higher education expenses for yourself, your spouse, or a dependent, you may be able to leave the interest off your federal return entirely. The bonds have to be Series EE issued after 1989 or any Series I, the bond owner must have been at least 24 when the bond was issued, and you cannot file married filing separately.16Internal Revenue Service. Publication 970 – Tax Benefits for Education The exclusion phases out at higher incomes: for 2026, it begins to shrink at modified adjusted gross income above $101,800 ($152,650 joint) and disappears at $116,800 ($182,650 joint).
If You Don’t Have the Bond in Hand
Bonds that are lost, stolen, or destroyed can be replaced by filing FS Form 1048. If you don’t know the serial numbers, Treasury Hunt at TreasuryHunt.gov can generate a version of the form that works without them for bonds issued in 1974 or later.17TreasuryDirect. Get Help for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed EE or I Savings Bonds Replacement EE and I bonds are issued electronically into a TreasuryDirect account; the Treasury no longer prints paper replacements. If the missing bond has already reached final maturity, you receive cash instead.18TreasuryDirect. FS Form 1048 – Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds Treasury Hunt is also worth checking on its own to see whether any matured bonds tied to your Social Security number are sitting unclaimed.