Both Series EE and Series I U.S. savings bonds take 30 years to fully mature. That is when interest stops accruing and the Treasury’s obligation to pay you more ends. There is an earlier milestone at 20 years, called original maturity, and its meaning depends on which series you hold. So the short answer to how long savings bonds take to mature is 30 years for final maturity, with a 20-year checkpoint along the way.1eCFR. 31 CFR Part 351 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series EE – Section: 351.342eCFR. 31 CFR Part 359 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series I – Section: 359.5
Series EE Bonds: The 20-Year Doubling Guarantee
For Series EE bonds issued in May 2005 or later, the Treasury guarantees the bond will be worth at least its face value at 20 years, which effectively doubles your original purchase price. If the fixed interest rate alone would not get the bond there, the Treasury makes a one-time adjustment at the 20-year mark to close the gap. After that, the bond keeps earning at its fixed rate for another 10 years, then stops entirely at 30.1eCFR. 31 CFR Part 351 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series EE – Section: 351.34
For EE bonds issued from November 2025 through April 2026, the fixed annual rate is 2.50%.3TreasuryDirect. Fiscal Service Announces New Savings Bonds Rates That rate alone would not double the bond in 20 years, which is why the guaranteed adjustment matters. Held to 20 years, the effective yield works out to roughly 3.5% annually.
Older Series EE Bonds
Series EE bonds issued before May 2005 had varied original maturity periods. Bonds from the early 1980s reached face value in as little as 8 years. Those issued in the mid-1990s took up to 18 years. Bonds from May 1997 through May 2003 reached original maturity at 17 years, and those from June 2003 through April 2005 at 20 years.4eCFR. 31 CFR Part 351 Subpart B – Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds – Section: 351.29 Regardless of when they were issued, every EE bond hits final maturity at 30 years.
Series E Bonds Have All Matured
If you still hold Series E bonds, the predecessor to EE, they are done earning. Series E bonds issued from May 1941 through November 1965 had a 40-year term; those issued from December 1965 through June 1980 had a 30-year term.5TreasuryDirect. Historical and Retired Bonds Every Series E bond has now passed final maturity. Cash them.
Series I Bonds: 30 Years, No Doubling Promise
Series I bonds also mature over 30 years, structured as a 20-year original maturity followed by a 10-year extension.2eCFR. 31 CFR Part 359 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series I – Section: 359.5 Unlike EE bonds, I bonds are bought at full face value: a $100 I bond costs $100. There is no guarantee that the bond will hit a particular value at 20 years. What you earn depends entirely on rates.
An I bond’s rate has two pieces: a fixed rate locked in at purchase and a variable inflation rate that resets every six months based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.6eCFR. 31 CFR Part 359 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series I – Section: 359.11 For I bonds issued from November 2025 through April 2026, the composite rate is 4.03%, built from a 0.90% fixed rate and the current inflation component.7TreasuryDirect. I Bonds At 30 years, the bond stops earning.8TreasuryDirect. I Bonds Interest Rates
Cashing a Bond Before It Matures
You cannot redeem an EE or I bond during the first 12 months after purchase.9TreasuryDirect. TreasuryDirect FAQ Cash the bond between years one and five and you forfeit the last three months of interest.10eCFR. 31 CFR Part 359 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series I – Section: 359.7 Cashing an 18-month-old bond gets you 15 months of interest.11TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds After five years, you can redeem penalty-free.
What Happens When a Bond Reaches Final Maturity
At 30 years, the Treasury’s obligation to pay interest ends. Electronic bonds held in TreasuryDirect are automatically moved into a Certificate of Indebtedness, a holding account within TreasuryDirect that earns nothing.12TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds Paper bonds sit at their final value until you cash them.
Money in a matured bond is not growing while inflation chips away at its purchasing power. Redeem and reinvest.
Taxes at Maturity
Interest from EE and I bonds is subject to federal income tax and exempt from state and local income tax.12TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds You have two choices for when to report that interest:
- Defer reporting and pay tax on the accumulated interest in the year you cash the bond or the year it reaches final maturity, whichever comes first. Most bondholders do this.
- Report the interest annually on your tax return as it accrues, before you receive any cash.
If you defer and the bond hits final maturity uncashed, the interest becomes taxable that year. For electronic bonds, this triggers automatically when proceeds shift to the Certificate of Indebtedness. You will get a 1099-INT covering the entire 30 years of interest.12TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds On a bond that has been earning for three decades, that lump sum can be large. Plan for it.
Using Bond Interest for Education
You may be able to exclude bond interest from federal income tax if you use the proceeds for qualified higher education expenses. Qualifying uses include tuition and fees at an eligible institution and contributions to a 529 plan or Coverdell Education Savings Account. To qualify, the bonds must have been issued after 1989, you must have been at least 24 years old when they were issued, and your modified adjusted gross income must fall under the limits. For tax year 2025, the exclusion begins to phase out at $99,500 for single filers and $149,250 for married couples filing jointly, and disappears entirely at $114,500 and $179,250.13IRS. Form 8815 – Exclusion of Interest From Series EE and I U.S. Savings Bonds Room and board do not qualify, and you cannot file married filing separately.
How to Redeem a Matured Bond
Electronic Bonds
Log into TreasuryDirect, select the bonds to cash, and the money goes to your linked bank account. There is no Treasury cap on how much you redeem at once.
Paper Bonds
Most banks will cash paper savings bonds, but each sets its own limits and some do not cash them at all.14TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds Call before you go. Paper bonds must be cashed in full; no partial redemptions.
If a bank cannot help or you would rather deal with the Treasury, mail the bonds with FS Form 1522 to Treasury Retail Securities Services in Minneapolis. There is no limit on how many bonds you can redeem this way.14TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds You can also convert paper bonds to electronic form inside TreasuryDirect. If the bonds have already matured, the conversion cashes them and puts the proceeds into a Certificate of Indebtedness in your account.15TreasuryDirect. Convert Paper to Electronic
Finding a Bond’s Maturity Date
On a paper bond, the issue date is printed in the upper right corner. A bond issued in any given month reaches final maturity exactly 30 years later. A bond issued in March 1996 stopped earning in March 2026.
The TreasuryDirect Savings Bond Calculator returns the current value, interest rate, and final maturity date for any paper EE, E, or I bond once you enter the series, denomination, and issue date.16TreasuryDirect. Paper Savings Bond Calculator It does not work for electronic bonds. For those, log into your TreasuryDirect account.17TreasuryDirect. Calculate the Value of Your Paper Savings Bonds
Searching for Lost Bonds
The Treasury’s Treasury Hunt tool was discontinued on September 30, 2025 under the SECURE 2.0 Act. Inquiries about unclaimed savings bonds now run through state unclaimed property programs, and you can search at unclaimed.org, the site run by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.18TreasuryDirect. Treasury Hunt – Searching for Treasury Securities Have the original purchaser’s full legal name, state of residence at the time of purchase, and any supporting documentation ready.
When the Bond Owner Has Died
A named surviving beneficiary can redeem a bond by presenting proof of the owner’s death, usually a certified death certificate. If no beneficiary was named and the bond is part of the estate, the legal representative submits proof of appointment (such as letters testamentary) dated within one year of submission. If the estate was already settled in court, a certified copy of the court-approved final accounting or decree of distribution works instead.19eCFR. 31 CFR Part 315 Subpart L – Deceased Owner, Coowner or Beneficiary
A matured bond held by someone who has died is still redeemable. Final maturity is not a deadline to claim the money. But the bond stopped earning at 30 years, so once you have the paperwork in hand, there is no reason to wait.