A $100 savings bond’s value after 30 years depends on when it was issued and which series it is. A paper Series EE bond bought between 1980 and April 2005 cost $50 for a $100 face value and is guaranteed to have at least reached that $100 face amount, with decades of accumulated interest typically pushing it well past. A Series EE bond purchased at face value from May 2005 onward is guaranteed to be worth at least $200 by year 20 and keeps earning for ten more years. A Series I bond’s 30-year value swings widely with inflation; the earliest I bonds, issued in 1998, are projected to be worth close to $480 at maturity on a $100 purchase.
Half-Price EE Bonds Issued 1980 Through April 2005
From 1980 through April 2005, paper Series EE bonds were sold at half their printed face value. A $100 bond cost $50, a $50 bond cost $25.1TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds 1980 Through April 1995 The Treasury guaranteed each bond would reach its full face value by its original maturity date, which ranged from 17 to 20 years depending on when the bond was issued.2eCFR. 31 CFR Part 351 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series EE If interest alone didn’t close the gap by then, Treasury made a one-time adjustment to bring the bond up to face value.
After reaching face value, the bond continued earning interest through a 10-year extended maturity period and stopped only at the 30-year mark.3TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds Bonds from this era earned variable rates that were reset periodically, and interest compounded semiannually, so each rate increase applied to a growing balance rather than just the original purchase price.1TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds 1980 Through April 1995
A $50 purchase from the early-to-mid 1990s, when variable rates were relatively favorable, grew to its $100 face value and then compounded for the remaining years. A bond issued in 1994, for example, reached final maturity in 2024, and depending on the exact issue month, the total redemption value for that $50 purchase would have grown to roughly three to four times the original cost. Because the applicable rates differed month to month, the only way to pin down a precise figure is to look the bond up in the Treasury’s calculator.
Face-Value EE Bonds Issued May 2005 and Later
Starting in May 2005, the Treasury changed how EE bonds work. You now pay full face value, and the bond earns a single fixed interest rate for its entire life.2eCFR. 31 CFR Part 351 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series EE These bonds are issued only in electronic form through a TreasuryDirect account, since the Treasury stopped selling paper EE bonds in January 2012.
The defining feature is a guarantee to double in value within 20 years. If the fixed rate alone doesn’t get the bond to twice its purchase price by year 20, the Treasury adds money to make up the difference.3TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds A $100 bond will be worth at least $200 after 20 years and will continue earning the fixed rate through year 30. For bonds issued from November 2025 through April 2026, the fixed rate is 2.50%.4TreasuryDirect. About U.S. Savings Bonds At that rate, a $100 bond that doubles to $200 at year 20 would grow to roughly $256 by the end of its 30-year life.
One caution for anyone thinking of cashing early: for EE bonds purchased from May 2005 onward, redeeming before the 20-year mark means you lose the doubling guarantee and receive only whatever the fixed rate has earned to that point.
Series I Bonds at 30 Years
Series I bonds work differently. You buy them at full face value, and they earn a composite interest rate made up of two parts: a fixed rate that lasts the life of the bond and an inflation rate that resets every six months.5TreasuryDirect. I Bonds The inflation component is based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.6TreasuryDirect. Questions and Answers About Series I Savings Bonds
The first I bonds were issued in September 1998, so no I bond has actually reached the 30-year mark yet.7U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data. I Bonds Interest Rates The earliest will mature in September 2028. Because those first-issued bonds carried relatively high fixed rates and benefited from several periods of elevated inflation, especially between 2021 and 2023, a $100 I bond from 1998 is projected to be worth close to $480 when it reaches final maturity. Bonds purchased in lower-inflation periods will finish with much less, since the inflation adjustment is the main driver of I bond growth. Like EE bonds, I bonds earn interest for up to 30 years and then stop.6TreasuryDirect. Questions and Answers About Series I Savings Bonds
Interest Stops Exactly at Year 30
Both EE and I savings bonds stop earning interest exactly 30 years after the issue date.3TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds After that date the bond sits at its final redemption value. Holding it longer provides no additional return and reduces its purchasing power as inflation continues. The Treasury estimates that more than $26 billion in matured, unredeemed savings bonds are still sitting in drawers and safe deposit boxes.
The Treasury does not send notifications when a bond stops earning, so tracking maturity dates is your responsibility. No institution will pay back-dated interest for any period after year 30. Once a bond has matured, the useful move is to redeem it and put the proceeds somewhere that still earns.
Looking Up Your Bond’s Exact Value
The Treasury provides a free online calculator that returns the precise worth of any paper savings bond. The tool covers Series EE, Series E, and Series I bonds, and will display the current value, past values, interest earned, and maturity date.8TreasuryDirect. Paper Savings Bond Calculator
Three pieces of information from the paper certificate are all you need:
- Series type, printed in the upper left corner (EE or I).
- Denomination, the face value printed on the bond ($50, $100, and so on).
- Issue date, the month and year printed in the upper right corner, which marks when interest started accruing.
You do not need the serial number to get a value estimate. For electronic bonds purchased through TreasuryDirect, the current value is displayed automatically when you log in.
Taxes Owed When You Cash It
Interest earned on savings bonds is subject to federal income tax but exempt from state and local income taxes.9Internal Revenue Service. Tax Topic 403 – Interest Received Most bondholders defer reporting the interest until they cash the bond or it reaches final maturity, whichever comes first. You can instead report interest each year as it accrues, but once you start, you have to continue that method for all your savings bonds.
When you cash a bond at a bank, the bank issues a Form 1099-INT showing the total interest earned, reported in Box 3.10Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-INT and 1099-OID For an older EE bond purchased for $50 that has grown to $200 at redemption, you would owe tax on $150 of interest income. The rate depends on your overall income and filing status for that year.
One timing detail catches people off guard. If you hold a bond past its 30-year maturity without cashing it, you owe federal tax on the accumulated interest in the year the bond stopped earning, even though you haven’t received any money yet. A long-forgotten bond in a safe deposit box can create a surprise tax bill for a prior year.