A Series I savings bond matures 30 years after its issue date, and on that anniversary it stops earning interest for good. That 30-year mark is the bond’s final maturity: the fixed rate and the six-month inflation adjustment both switch off, and any month you keep holding the bond after that, inflation quietly erodes what it’s worth. There is no reward for waiting past maturity. Cash it in.
The 30 years break into two stretches. The first 20 years are the original maturity period, and a 10-year extension follows automatically. You don’t file anything or opt in; the extension just happens.1eCFR. 31 CFR 359.5 – What Is the Maturity Period of a Series I Savings Bonds? Throughout both stretches, the bond earns a combined rate: a fixed component set at purchase and a variable inflation component that resets every six months.2TreasuryDirect. I Bonds
Finding Your Bond’s Maturity Date
The issue date on every I bond is the first day of the month you bought it, not the day the purchase actually cleared.3eCFR. 31 CFR Part 359 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series I Add 30 years and you have the maturity date. A bond purchased anywhere in March 2000 matured on March 1, 2030.
For a paper bond, look in the upper right corner of the certificate for the issue date.4TreasuryDirect. Savings Bond Calculator – Detailed Instructions For an electronic bond, log into TreasuryDirect and open Current Holdings, which shows each bond’s issue date, current value, and interest rate.5TreasuryDirect. TreasuryDirect Help – How Do I…?
Cashing Before Thirty Years
You don’t have to hold to maturity. But there are two rules that shape when it’s worth cashing early.
First, the one-year lockup. You cannot redeem an I bond in the first 12 months after its issue date. The only exception is a federal disaster declaration covering your area, in which case you can ask TreasuryDirect for early access.6TreasuryDirect. Affected by a Disaster
Second, the three-month penalty. Redeem between one and five years after the issue date and you lose the last three months of interest. Cash out at 18 months and you receive 15 months of interest.7eCFR. 31 CFR 359.7 – If I Redeem a Series I Savings Bonds Before Five Years After the Issue Date, Is There an Interest Penalty? The penalty can never drop your redemption below what you paid. After five full years, the penalty disappears and you get the full accrued value.2TreasuryDirect. I Bonds
How to Redeem When the Time Comes
For electronic bonds, sign into TreasuryDirect, open the ManageDirect tab, choose “Redeem securities,” pick the bond, and send the proceeds to your linked bank account. Money usually lands within two business days.5TreasuryDirect. TreasuryDirect Help – How Do I…?
For paper bonds, start with your own bank. Ask whether they cash savings bonds, how much they’ll cash at once, and what ID you’ll need. Policies vary and some banks won’t do it at all.8TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds If your bank can’t help, mail the bonds to Treasury with FS Form 1522. When the total value exceeds $1,000, your signature must be certified by a notary or authorized certifying officer; at $1,000 or less, a copy of your photo ID is enough.9TreasuryDirect. FS Form 1522 – Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities
The Tax Bill Maturity Triggers
I bond interest is federally taxable but exempt from state and local income tax.10TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds You have two ways to report it:
- Defer until the bond is cashed or reaches its 30-year maturity. Most holders do this. When the day comes, you get a single Form 1099-INT covering every dollar of interest the bond earned across its lifetime.
- Report the interest each year as it accrues. If you take this route, you receive one final 1099-INT at redemption or maturity showing the total, and you subtract what you already reported.
Switching from deferral to annual reporting doesn’t require IRS permission, but in the year you switch you must report all previously unreported interest on every savings bond tied to your Social Security number.10TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds
Deferral is easy, and it stings. A bond held the full 30 years dumps decades of interest into one tax year, which can push you into a higher bracket. If you own several bonds hitting maturity in the same window, spreading redemptions across tax years softens the impact.
The Education Exclusion
You may be able to keep the interest out of federal income entirely if you use the proceeds for qualified higher education expenses like tuition and fees for yourself, a spouse, or a dependent.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 135 – Income From United States Savings Bonds Used to Pay Higher Education Tuition and Fees Two conditions to know up front: the bond’s owner must have been at least 24 years old when it was issued, and you can’t be married filing separately.12IRS. Publication 970 – Tax Benefits for Education The exclusion phases out at higher incomes. For 2026, it starts shrinking at modified AGI of $101,800 single or $152,650 joint, and disappears at $116,800 and $182,650. The thresholds move with inflation.
If You Want to Reinvest
You can roll matured funds into new electronic I bonds through TreasuryDirect, but the annual purchase cap is $10,000 per Social Security number.2TreasuryDirect. I Bonds Paper I bonds through tax refunds are no longer sold as of January 1, 2025.13TreasuryDirect. Using Your Income Tax Refund to Buy Paper Savings Bonds A large matured balance means either spreading purchases across calendar years or looking elsewhere, such as Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities.
When the Owner Has Died Before Maturity
Registration controls what happens next. If the bond names a co-owner or beneficiary, it passes directly to that person and skips the estate; the survivor can cash it at a bank with ID or have it reissued electronically through TreasuryDirect.14TreasuryDirect. Inheriting Savings Bonds as a Named Co-Owner or Beneficiary If the deceased was a sole owner with no beneficiary, the bond enters the estate. Estates with total Treasury securities of $100,000 or less at date of death generally don’t need a court-appointed representative; larger estates usually do.15TreasuryDirect. Death of a Savings Bond Owner For electronic holdings, call TreasuryDirect quickly to place a hold on the account.
Bonds That Already Matured and Were Never Cashed
If you think an old I bond in the family may already be past its 30-year mark, the search process changed recently. Treasury Hunt, the tool that once let individuals look up unredeemed securities directly, closed on September 30, 2025, under changes from the SECURE Act 2.0. Unclaimed savings bond inquiries now run through each state’s unclaimed property program, which has secure access to Treasury’s database. Start at unclaimed.org, the site run by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, and pick your state.16TreasuryDirect. Treasury Hunt There’s no deadline to claim a matured bond, but the claim is easier the sooner you file it.