Series EE savings bonds stop earning interest exactly 30 years after their issue date. That’s when the Treasury calls “final maturity,” and the rule has no exceptions. Whatever rate your bond was earning, growth ends on the anniversary of the issue month, and the value freezes there until you cash it.
To find your own date, look at the issue month printed on the right side of a paper bond, or check the holdings summary in your TreasuryDirect account for an electronic one.1TreasuryDirect. Savings Bond Calculator – Detailed Instructions Add 30 years. A bond issued in June 1995 stopped earning in June 2025. A bond issued in March 2010 will stop in March 2040. The math never changes.
The regulation itself is one sentence: “The interest on an outstanding bond ceases to accrue 30 years after its issue date.”2eCFR. 31 CFR Part 351 Subpart B – Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds
What Happens the Day Interest Stops
If your bond is electronic, TreasuryDirect handles it for you. The system automatically redeems the bond at final maturity and moves the proceeds into a zero-percent Certificate of Indebtedness inside your account.3TreasuryDirect. TreasuryDirect FAQ That holding earns nothing. It just parks your cash until you transfer it to a linked bank account or use it to buy new securities.
Paper bonds work differently. Nothing happens automatically. A paper EE bond that hit its 30-year mark last year is still sitting in your drawer at exactly the value it had on that anniversary, and every year you wait, inflation quietly reduces what that money can buy. There is no deadline to cash a matured bond, but there’s also no upside to holding one.
And there is no tax-free rollover into a new bond. Once the bond matures, the accumulated interest becomes taxable, whether you cash it or not. If you want to buy new EE bonds with the proceeds, you can, but you’re subject to the standard $10,000 per person per calendar year electronic purchase limit.4TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds
The 20-Year Doubling Checkpoint
Before final maturity, there’s an earlier milestone worth knowing about. EE bonds issued since May 2005 come with a Treasury guarantee that they’ll be worth at least twice their purchase price at the 20-year mark, which the Treasury calls “original maturity.”5eCFR. 31 CFR Part 351 Subpart B – Series EE Savings Bonds With Issue Dates of May 1, 2005, or Thereafter If the fixed rate hasn’t grown the bond enough to double by then, the Treasury makes a one-time adjustment to close the gap.
At the current fixed rate of 2.50%, a bond bought today won’t double on interest alone in 20 years, so that adjustment will apply.6TreasuryDirect. Fiscal Service Announces New Savings Bonds Rates The doubling is a floor, not a ceiling. After the 20-year adjustment, the bond keeps earning at its fixed rate for another decade until interest stops for good at year 30.
For older bonds issued before May 2005, the doubling guarantee doesn’t apply in the same form. Many of those bonds used variable market-based rates and already exceeded double their face value long before 20 years elapsed. Either way, the 30-year endpoint is the same.
How to Cash a Matured Bond
Paper Bonds
Take the bond to a bank or credit union where you have an account, along with government-issued identification. Banks set their own limits on how much they’ll redeem at once, and some won’t cash savings bonds at all.7TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds You can’t cash part of a paper bond; it’s redeemed for the full value or not at all.
Banks aren’t required to cash bonds for non-customers, and Federal Reserve guidance recommends they require a customer relationship of at least 12 months before redeeming.8Federal Reserve Financial Services. Savings Bond Redemptions Frequently Asked Questions If your bank won’t help, or you don’t have one, mail the bond directly to the Treasury with FS Form 1522.
Electronic Bonds
Log in to TreasuryDirect, go to ManageDirect, and choose “Redeem securities” under Manage My Securities. The funds transfer to your linked bank account.7TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds If the bond has already passed final maturity, the proceeds are probably sitting in the zero-percent Certificate of Indebtedness, and you just need to move that balance out.
Taxes Owed When Your Bond Matures
EE bond interest is subject to federal income tax and exempt from state and local income tax.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3124 – Exemption From Taxation Most holders defer reporting the interest until the bond is redeemed or reaches final maturity, whichever comes first.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 454 – Obligations Issued at Discount That means 30 years of accumulated interest can land on a single year’s tax return.
For a $5,000 bond that doubled, that’s at least $5,000 of interest income in one year, potentially more if the bond kept growing between years 20 and 30. The Treasury issues a 1099-INT in January of the year after you cash the bond or it matures.7TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds Because the tax hits whether you cash the bond or not, letting a matured bond sit doesn’t defer anything; it just costs you the use of the money.
The Education Exclusion
One narrow path lets you avoid federal tax on the interest: using the proceeds to pay qualified higher education expenses in the same year you redeem, under the Education Savings Bond Program.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 135 – Income From United States Savings Bonds Used to Pay Higher Education Tuition and Fees The bond must have been issued after December 31, 1989, and the owner must have been at least 24 when the bond was issued.12TreasuryDirect. Using Bonds for Higher Education Qualified expenses cover tuition and required fees at eligible institutions, or contributions to a 529 plan or Coverdell ESA; room and board don’t count.13Internal Revenue Service. Form 8815 – Exclusion of Interest From Series EE and I US Savings Bonds Issued After 1989
Income limits phase the exclusion out. For 2025, the phase-out starts at $99,500 for single filers and $149,250 for joint filers, and is fully eliminated at $114,500 and $179,250. The thresholds adjust each year, and you claim the exclusion on Form 8815 with your tax return.
Inherited or Forgotten Bonds
The 30-year clock runs from the original issue date and doesn’t reset when a bond changes hands. A bond issued in 1996 that you inherited in 2020 stopped earning in 2026, and the years you owned it don’t extend anything.
How you claim inherited bonds depends on how they were registered. A named co-owner or beneficiary can redeem by presenting proof of the owner’s death.14eCFR. 31 CFR Part 315 Subpart L – Deceased Owner, Coowner or Beneficiary Bonds passing through an estate go through the estate’s legal representative. If the total bond value is $100,000 or less and no formal probate is planned, a simplified voluntary representative process is available.
Lost, stolen, or destroyed paper bonds can be replaced or cashed by filing FS Form 1048 with the Treasury. Even without the serial numbers, the Treasury can usually track bonds issued in 1974 or later.15TreasuryDirect. Get Help for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed EE or I Savings Bond The form needs a signature witnessed by a notary or certifying officer.
If you suspect you have unredeemed bonds you’ve forgotten about, the search process changed recently. As of September 30, 2025, the Treasury Hunt tool is no longer available. Under the SECURE Act 2.0, inquiries about unclaimed bonds are handled through each state’s unclaimed property program, and every state now has access to the Treasury’s database. Start at your state’s unclaimed property office through unclaimed.org.16TreasuryDirect. Treasury Hunt – Searching for Treasury Securities
A bond that matured years ago is still redeemable for its full final-maturity value. The Treasury sets no deadline. You just won’t earn a cent more for the wait.