My mother recently found some savings bonds for my brother and I from 1994. He took his to his credit union and they cashed the bonds for him but it cost him almost half the amount in fees. Does anyone know if that is standard or if there is any way to cash these without paying a huge amount of fees? Apparently, they've built up a ton of interest but he ended up receiving an amount significantly less than the amount they were worth and I'd like to avoid that if possible. TIA

By Ginny~moderator on Saturday, December 22, 2007 - 06:14 pm:

I'm really surprised. I don't believe there are any authorized redemption fees for U.S. Savings Bonds.

However, Series E and EE bonds were sold at less than face value, that is, you would pay $25 for a bond that would be worth $50 when it matures, and I believe they have a 30 year maturity period. Check out this U.S. Treasury web site for information about some U.S. Savings Bonds: Savings Bonds

It may well be that when your brother thought he was paying a redemption fee, the credit union was actually redeeming the bonds at their current value. Since they are more than 5 years old, there would be no loss of interest, but if they are less than (I think) 30 years old they wouldn't be redeemed at face value.

Here's a link to the U.S. Treasury web page for calculating the current value of the bonds, based on the purchase month/year and face value. value

By Tink on Saturday, December 22, 2007 - 08:28 pm:

Thanks, Ginny! I had a feeling you'd be the one to have some answers to this, although I know we have other financial gurus here. I'll look over those links and see what I should be expecting when I take them in.

By Ginny~moderator on Saturday, December 22, 2007 - 10:19 pm:

I didn't have the answer, Tink - I just googled U. S. Savings Bonds and went to the U. S. Treasury site. It helps that I'm one of those darned speed readers.

I remember cashing in some savings bonds (fully matured) when my ex and I bought our first house. I'm old enough to remember buying Postal Savings Stamps in school (10 cents apiece) in the mid 40s, and when the book got full, you turned it in for a Savings Bond - $10, I think. As my son would tell you (and told me once), I was born before WWII, and there was a constant patriotic push to buy war bonds and savings bonds.