War bonds are not still a thing in the sense most people mean. The United States government stopped selling bonds under a war label when the Victory Bond drive ended in December 1945, and nothing carrying a war designation has been issued since. The Treasury now raises money the same way from everyone, through standardized savings bonds and other debt instruments sold without patriotic branding. If you are asking because you found old paper bonds in a drawer, most of them have long since stopped earning interest and can be cashed today.
What Replaced War Bonds
The modern equivalent, if you want a safe, government-backed place to put money, is a Series EE or Series I savings bond. Both are sold directly by the Treasury.
Series EE bonds pay a fixed rate set at purchase. The Treasury guarantees an EE bond will double in value if you hold it for 20 years, even if the stated rate alone would not get you there.1TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds For bonds issued between November 2025 and April 2026, the fixed rate is 2.50%.2TreasuryDirect. Comparing EE and I Bonds EE bonds reach final maturity at 30 years.
Series I bonds combine a fixed rate with an inflation adjustment that resets every six months against the Consumer Price Index. For November 2025 through April 2026, the composite I bond rate is 4.03%, made up of a 0.90% fixed rate and a 1.56% semiannual inflation rate.3U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data. I Bonds Interest Rates The inflation piece can move up or down. I bonds also reach final maturity at 30 years.4TreasuryDirect. I Bonds Interest Rates
One footnote on branding. In December 2001, after the September 11 attacks, the Treasury introduced “Patriot Bonds,” which were ordinary Series EE bonds stamped with a Patriot Bond legend and identical in every financial respect to regular EE bonds.1TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds The designation was available through December 2011 and was never a return to the dedicated wartime financing of the 1940s.5TreasuryDirect. Historical and Retired Bonds
How to Buy Savings Bonds Today
All new savings bonds are electronic. You cannot walk into a bank and buy a paper bond. Purchases go through the TreasuryDirect online portal, which requires a Social Security number and a linked bank account.6TreasuryDirect. About U.S. Savings Bonds
The annual limits are $10,000 in EE bonds and $10,000 in I bonds per person per calendar year.6TreasuryDirect. About U.S. Savings Bonds The old option to buy up to $5,000 in paper I bonds using a federal tax refund ended on January 1, 2025.7TreasuryDirect. Using Your Income Tax Refund to Buy Paper Savings Bonds You can gift EE or I bonds through TreasuryDirect, but both you and the recipient need accounts, and gift bonds must sit in your account for at least five business days before delivery.8TreasuryDirect. Giving Savings Bonds as Gifts
If You Have Old War-Era Bonds
Here is the part that catches most people off guard. Once a bond hits final maturity, it stops earning interest. It just sits there, losing purchasing power to inflation.
- Series E bonds issued from May 1941 through November 1965 reached final maturity after 40 years.
- Series E bonds issued from December 1965 through June 1980 reached final maturity after 30 years.
- Series EE and I bonds stop earning interest 30 years from the issue date.
Every Series E bond ever issued has now passed its final maturity date, and many older EE bonds are in the same place.5TreasuryDirect. Historical and Retired Bonds The issue date is printed in the upper right corner of a paper bond, so you can work out whether yours has matured.
The scale of this is not small. Roughly one percent of the more than 6.8 billion paper savings bonds ever issued, worth over $731 billion in total, remain unredeemed and are at least three years past final maturity.9TreasuryDirect. 2024 Report to Congress Under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 If a bond is sitting in a safe deposit box from your grandparents’ generation, the odds are good it is not growing anymore.
Check the Bond’s Value Before You Cash It
Before you go anywhere, look up what the bond is actually worth. The Savings Bond Calculator on TreasuryDirect is free and needs three pieces of information from the face of the bond: the series (E, EE, or I), the denomination, and the issue date. The serial number is optional.10TreasuryDirect. Calculate the Value of Your Paper Savings Bonds The calculator shows the current value with accrued interest and tells you whether the bond has reached final maturity.
How to Cash a Paper Bond
At Your Bank
Many banks and credit unions will redeem paper savings bonds for their own account holders. Call first and ask whether they offer the service, how much they will cash in a single visit, and what ID to bring. Most want a government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport. You cannot cash part of a paper bond; each certificate is redeemed for its full value.11TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds
By Mail to the Treasury
If your bank will not do it, you can mail the bonds directly to the Treasury:
- Fill out FS Form 1522, the Treasury’s request for payment of savings bonds.
- Get your signature certified if the total value you are cashing exceeds $1,000. Bonds totaling $1,000 or less may not require certification.
- Mail the completed form together with your paper bonds to the address printed on FS Form 1522.
The Treasury will either deposit the funds or mail a check.11TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds Signature certification is not the same as a standard notarization. Banks that act as paying agents for savings bonds can use their paying agent stamp, and institutions that participate in a Treasury-recognized medallion signature guarantee program can use that stamp.12TreasuryDirect. Signature Certification
Lost, Stolen, or Forgotten Bonds
If a paper bond is missing, damaged, or stolen, you can ask the Treasury to either replace it with an electronic bond in a TreasuryDirect account or simply cash it.13TreasuryDirect. Get Help for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed EE or I Savings Bond
Start with FS Form 1048. If you have the serial number, use the standard version. If you do not have the serial number and the bond was issued in 1974 or later, you may be directed to a special version of the form. Sign it in front of a notary or other certifying official and mail it in. If you later find the original bond after it has been replaced, you must return it to Treasury Retail Securities Services.13TreasuryDirect. Get Help for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed EE or I Savings Bond
The Treasury Hunt search tool, which used to let you look up matured unredeemed bonds online, was shut down on September 30, 2025, under the SECURE Act 2.0. Inquiries about unclaimed savings bonds now go through state unclaimed property programs. You can search at unclaimed.org, run by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. You will generally need the original purchaser’s full legal name and their state of residence at the time of purchase.14TreasuryDirect. Treasury Hunt – Searching for Treasury Securities
Bonds From a Deceased Relative
Finding savings bonds in an estate is common, and how you handle them depends on what the bond says and whether the estate is going through probate.
If you are named as a co-owner or beneficiary on the bond, you can generally have it reissued in your name alone or cash it. For electronic bonds held in a TreasuryDirect account, contact TreasuryDirect directly; they will place a hold on the account and walk you through the steps.15TreasuryDirect. Inheriting Savings Bonds as a Named Co-Owner or Beneficiary
If no co-owner or beneficiary is named and the estate is not going through formal probate, a close family member can act as a voluntary representative. That person must be at least 18 and must be a surviving spouse, blood relative, legally adopted child, or next of kin. Submit in one mailing:
- FS Form 5336, signed in front of a certifying official.
- A certified copy of the death certificate for everyone named on the bonds who has died.
- The unsigned paper bonds.
Individual recipients who want to cash their share also submit FS Form 1522. Those who want to keep an EE or I bond submit FS Form 4000 instead.16TreasuryDirect. Non-Administered Estates
Taxes When You Cash
Interest on savings bonds is subject to federal income tax but exempt from state and local income tax. It is also exempt from federal estate and gift taxes and from state inheritance taxes.17TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds
You choose when to report the interest. Most people defer until the year the bond is cashed or reaches final maturity, whichever comes first, and then receive a Form 1099-INT covering all the interest at once. You can also report the interest each year as it accrues, even though you have not received the cash.17TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds
There is a separate education break worth knowing about. You may be able to exclude savings bond interest from federal taxable income if you use the proceeds for qualified higher education expenses (such as tuition and fees) for yourself, your spouse, or a dependent. The bonds must be Series EE or I issued after 1989, you must have been at least 24 when the bonds were issued, and you cannot file as married filing separately. For the 2026 tax year, the exclusion phases out starting at modified adjusted gross income of $101,800 for single filers ($152,650 for married filing jointly) and disappears entirely at $116,800 ($182,650 for joint filers). Claim it on IRS Form 8815.18IRS.gov. Exclusion of Interest From Series EE and I U.S. Savings Bonds Issued After 1989 (Form 8815)