Series EE and Series I savings bonds stop earning interest 30 years after their issue date. Series HH bonds stop at 20 years, and every Series E bond ever issued has already passed its final maturity. So the answer to when savings bonds stop earning interest depends on the series printed on the bond and the month it was issued, but once that date arrives the value is frozen and every additional month you hold the bond is a month the money isn’t growing.
Maturity by Series
The rules for each series are set by federal regulation, not by the interest rate environment or anything the Treasury announces from year to year.
- Series EE bonds earn interest for 30 years from the issue date. That total includes an original maturity period and one or two extensions, depending on when the bond was issued.1eCFR. 31 CFR Part 351 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series EE
- Series I bonds also earn for 30 years: a 20-year original maturity followed by a 10-year extension.2eCFR. 31 CFR 359.5 – What Is the Maturity Period of a Series I Savings Bonds
- Series HH bonds earn for 20 years, split as a 10-year original maturity plus a 10-year extension. Every HH bond has now passed that mark.3eCFR. 31 CFR Part 352 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series HH
- Series E bonds matured in either 40 years (issued before December 1965) or 30 years (issued December 1965 through June 1980). All Series E bonds have reached final maturity and none are earning.4TreasuryDirect. Historical and Retired Bonds
If a bond in your possession is a Series E or an older Series HH, it stopped paying long ago. The two series where the maturity question is still live are EE and I, and for those the arithmetic is simple: add 30 years to the issue month printed on the bond.
Finding Your Bond’s Issue Date and Current Value
On a paper bond, the series letters (“EE” or “I”) are printed in large type near the upper right corner. The issue month and year sit close by. Add 30 years to that month and you have the month interest stops.
To see what a paper bond is worth today without cashing it, use the Savings Bond Calculator on TreasuryDirect. Enter the series, denomination, and issue date, and the tool returns the current value along with the next date the bond will increase in value.5TreasuryDirect. Calculate the Value of Your Paper Savings Bonds A bond whose value has stopped changing has matured.
Electronic bonds are easier. Log in to your TreasuryDirect account and the system displays the series, purchase date, current value, and interest rate for each bond you hold. There’s no math to do.
The Tax Bill That Maturity Triggers
Reaching final maturity isn’t just a stop on the interest. It’s also a tax event. Under federal law, the accumulated interest on a savings bond becomes taxable income in the year the bond matures or the year you cash it, whichever comes first.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 454 – Obligations Issued at Discount Most owners defer reporting the interest year by year and let it build. Maturity ends the deferral whether the bond has been cashed or not.
The taxable amount is the bond’s final value minus what you paid for it. A bond bought for $5,000 that grew to $12,000 puts $7,000 of interest on your return in a single year. Holders of several bonds maturing in the same year can find themselves pushed into a higher bracket. When a bond is redeemed, the paying institution issues a Form 1099-INT to both the bondholder and the IRS.7TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds Total taxable interest above $1,500 for the year requires filing Schedule B with the return.8Internal Revenue Service. Savings Bonds 1
The trap: if a bond matures and sits in a drawer for a few more years, no 1099-INT arrives, but the IRS still expects the interest reported for the year the bond matured. Owners who forget an old bond can end up with unreported income they didn’t know they had. This is the practical reason to identify matured bonds and cash them promptly, or at least report the interest in the correct year.
Savings bond interest is exempt from state and local income tax.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3124 – Exemption From Taxation The federal bill is the only one to plan around.
Cashing a Matured Bond
For an electronic bond in a TreasuryDirect account, redemption takes a few clicks. Select the bond, choose to redeem, and the proceeds move to your linked bank account.
Paper bonds are cashed at a bank or credit union, but not every institution will handle them, and many will only redeem bonds for established customers. The Federal Reserve recommends institutions confirm at least 12 months of customer history before processing a redemption.10Federal Reserve Financial Services. Savings Bond Redemptions Frequently Asked Questions Banks that do cash bonds often cap the amount they’ll pay in a single visit. Call before you go.11TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds
If no local bank will help, the fallback is the mail. Fill out FS Form 1522 and send it in with the physical bonds. For a total redemption above $1,000, your signature has to be certified by a notary public or an authorized officer at a financial institution. For $1,000 or less, a copy of your government-issued ID is enough.12TreasuryDirect. FS Form 1522 – Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities The mailing address for Treasury Retail Securities Services in Minneapolis is on the form.
Bonds You Can’t Find
A matured paper bond that’s been misplaced isn’t lost money. File FS Form 1048 with the Treasury and describe the bond by serial number if known, or by the approximate issue date range, the Social Security number on the bond, and the registered owner’s name and address.13TreasuryDirect. FS Form 1048 – Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds For a Series EE or I bond that has already reached final maturity, or is within a month of it, the Treasury pays out in cash rather than issuing a replacement bond. Series HH replacements are paid by direct deposit since all HH bonds are past maturity.
The Treasury Hunt search tool is no longer available. As of late 2025, inquiries about unclaimed Treasury securities go through state unclaimed property programs. Search at unclaimed.org, run by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, using the owner’s name and last known state.14TreasuryDirect. Treasury Hunt
Bonds Left by Someone Who Died
Matured bonds often surface when someone is settling a relative’s estate, and the maturity clock keeps running regardless. If the bond had a surviving co-owner or named beneficiary, that person can redeem it directly at a bank or through TreasuryDirect.
Without a co-owner or beneficiary, the bonds belong to the estate. When the total value of Treasury securities in the estate is $100,000 or less as of the date of death, a close family member can act as a voluntary representative and handle the bonds without probate. Priority runs from surviving spouse to children to grandchildren and onward.15eCFR. 31 CFR Part 353, Subpart L – Deceased Owner, Coowner or Beneficiary The voluntary representative files FS Form 5336 to request payment or distribution.16TreasuryDirect. FS Form 5336 – Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedents Estate Being Settled Without Administration Above $100,000 in Treasury holdings, formal estate administration through a court is required.
One structural detail worth knowing: an individual bond can’t be split. Each bond has to be paid or distributed whole to a single person, so dividing a bond’s value among multiple heirs isn’t an option.