Series EE savings bonds are the US Treasury's fixed-rate savings bond: you lend the government as little as $25, earn a rate set on the day you buy, and get a promise that the bond will at least double in value if you keep it for 20 years. That promise is the whole story. Held to the 20-year mark, a bond bought now earns far more than its stated rate; cashed a month earlier, it earns only that rate. Below are the doubling math, the current rate, a value table for $10,000, the penalties, the taxes and a comparison with Treasury bills. For the other securities the government sells, start at the Treasuries hub.
What are Series EE savings bonds?
Series EE savings bonds are non-marketable Treasury savings bonds that earn a fixed rate for 20 years and keep earning for up to 30.
New EE bonds are electronic only and sold through TreasuryDirect, in any amount from $25 to the penny, so $36.73 is a valid purchase. Each Social Security number can buy up to $10,000 of EE bonds per calendar year, counted against the first person named on the bond. You pay face value, so a $100 electronic bond costs $100.
Interest is added every month and compounds every six months, when the rate is applied to a new principal that includes the interest earned so far. Nothing is paid out until you cash the bond, and you cannot sell it to anyone else, so its value never depends on market interest rates. Like every Treasury security, it is backed by the full faith and credit of the US government.
Treasury also issued paper EE bonds from 1980 to 2012. Those were sold at half their face value, so a $100 paper bond cost $50, and some sold from 2001 to 2011 carry the words Patriot Bond. The rules for old bonds depend on their issue date, as the section on older bonds explains.
How does the 20-year doubling guarantee work?
If an EE bond has not doubled after 20 years, Treasury makes a one-time adjustment that brings it to twice the purchase price.
The promise applies to every EE bond bought since June 2003. It turns a modest fixed rate into a much better one for anyone who holds the full 20 years, because doubling in 20 years implies a fixed annual growth rate:
Yield implied by doubling in 20 years = 2 to the power (1 ÷ 20) − 1 = 3.53% a year
On the semiannual basis Treasury uses for savings bond rates, that is about 3.50% a year. At the stated 2.90%, by contrast, money takes about 24 years to double; the rule of 72 gives a quick estimate of 72 ÷ 2.90 = 24.8 years.
Worked example: Doubling $10,000 of EE bonds bought in November 2026
- Growth at the 2.90% fixed rate, compounding every six months for 40 half-years: $10,000 × 1.0145 to the 40th power = about $17,786
- Treasury's one-time adjustment at 20 years: $20,000 − $17,786 = about $2,214
- Value in November 2046: $20,000
- Return over 20 years: 3.53% a year, against 2.90% from the stated rate alone
- TreasuryDirect calculates values on each $25 of bonds and rounds to the cent, so its figure before the adjustment may differ by a few dollars
The adjustment is all or nothing. Cash the bond at 19 years and 11 months and you receive about $17,744; wait one more month and you receive $20,000. For bonds sold at very low rates the effect is extreme: EE bonds issued from November 2015 to October 2022 earn 0.10%, so close to the whole 100% gain lands in their 20th year.
What is the EE bond rate for November 2026?
EE bonds issued from November 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027 earn 2.90%, fixed for their first 20 years.
Treasury announces the EE rate every May 1 and November 1 for bonds issued in the following six months. The 2.90% rate is the highest since the 3.00% set in November 2007. Recent rates for new bonds:
| Bonds issued | Fixed rate |
|---|---|
| November 2026 to April 2027 | 2.90% |
| May to October 2026 | 2.40% |
| November 2025 to April 2026 | 2.50% |
| May to October 2025 | 2.70% |
| November 2024 to April 2025 | 2.60% |
| November 2022 to April 2023 | 2.10% |
| November 2015 to October 2022 | 0.10% |
What happens after 20 years is not fixed in advance. For bonds bought since May 2005, Treasury may change the rate or the way interest is earned for the last 10 years of the bond's life, but it must announce any change before the bond turns 20. Owners who dislike the new terms can cash the bond at 20 years, after the doubling.
Older bonds follow different rules. EE bonds issued from May 1997 to April 2005 earn a variable rate equal to 90% of the six-month average yield on 5-year Treasury securities: 3.39% for rate periods starting from May 2026. Their doubling date, called original maturity, came at 17 years for bonds issued through May 2003 and at 20 years for those issued from June 2003 to April 2005. EE bonds issued from January 1980 through October 1996 have passed 30 years and no longer earn anything.
How much is a $10,000 EE bond worth over time?
At 2.90%, a $10,000 EE bond bought in November 2026 is worth about $11,548 after five years and $20,000 after 20.
| Cashed after | Value | Annual return |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year, with 3 months of interest forfeited | $10,218 | 2.18% |
| 5 years | $11,548 | 2.92% |
| 10 years | $13,336 | 2.92% |
| 15 years | $15,401 | 2.92% |
| 19 years and 11 months | $17,744 | 2.92% |
| 20 years | $20,000 | 3.53% |
| 25 years, if 2.90% continues | $23,097 | 3.41% |
| 30 years, if 2.90% continues | $26,673 | 3.32% |
The annual return column shows effective yields: 2.90% compounded twice a year works out to 2.92%. Two features stand out. Between year 1 and year 19 the return never rises above the stated rate, and after the 20-year jump each extra year dilutes the gain if the bond keeps earning 2.90%. TreasuryDirect also shows values for bonds under five years old without the last three months of interest, since that is what you would receive if you cashed out. To model other rates or holding periods, use the compound interest calculator with semiannual compounding.
When can you cash an EE bond, and what does it cost?
You can cash an EE bond after 12 months, but cashing before five years forfeits the last three months of interest.
Treasury's own example: cash a bond after 18 months and you are paid 15 months of interest. On $10,000 bought in November 2026 and cashed at exactly one year, that means $10,218 instead of $10,292, a cost of about $74. After five years there is no penalty, but the bigger cost of leaving early is the doubling adjustment, which is worth about $2,214 per $10,000 at the current rate and is paid only at 20 years.
Electronic EE bonds can be cashed in part, $25 or more at a time, as long as at least $25 stays in the bond. At 30 years electronic bonds are paid out automatically; paper bonds must be presented to a bank or to Treasury. The guide to cashing savings bonds covers both routes and how to check what an old bond is worth.
How are EE bonds taxed?
EE bond interest is federally taxable, exempt from state and local income tax, and usually reported only when you cash the bond.
By default you report all the interest in the year you cash the bond or it reaches 30 years, whichever is first, and you can instead elect to report the growth every year. The 20-year adjustment counts as interest like the rest of the gain. Federal estate and gift taxes, and state estate or inheritance taxes, can still apply to the bonds themselves.
For a $10,000 bond cashed at the 20-year mark, the taxable interest is $10,000. At a 22% federal rate the bill is $2,200 and no state tax is due, leaving $17,800, an after-tax return of about 2.93% a year.
EE bonds issued after 1989 qualify for the same higher-education exclusion as I bonds. For 2026 it phases out between $101,800 and $116,800 of modified adjusted gross income ($152,650 and $182,650 for married couples filing jointly). The bond must be in the name of an owner who was at least 24 when it was issued, and the money must pay qualified tuition and fees in the year you cash it. The I bonds guide lists the full conditions, and the T-bill tax guide explains the federal-only treatment of Treasury interest. Tax rules change, so confirm with a tax professional.
How do EE bonds compare with Treasury bills?
Over 20 years, an EE bond held to its doubling date beats rolling Treasury bills only if bill yields average less than about 3.50% a year.
That 3.50% is the doubling yield expressed the way bill investment yields compound. Taxes move the hurdle up, because bill interest is taxed every year while EE tax waits until the end:
| Federal tax rate | EE bond after tax at 20 years | Average bill yield needed to match |
|---|---|---|
| None, before tax | $20,000 | 3.50% |
| 12% | $18,800 | 3.62% |
| 22% | $17,800 | 3.72% |
| 24% | $17,600 | 3.75% |
On October 30, 2026 the 52-week bill yielded 4.36%, comfortably above every hurdle in the table, and the 20-year Treasury bond yielded 5.34%. If bills paid 4.36% for two decades, $10,000 would grow to about $23,694 before tax. Bill yields do not stay put, though. The chart below shows the monthly 3-month Treasury yield since 2000; compare its average and its long stretches near zero with the 3.50% hurdle to see how much the answer depends on the period.
| Measure | Yield | Month |
|---|---|---|
| Latest monthly average | 4.23% | Oct 2026 |
| A year earlier | 3.98% | Oct 2025 |
| Average over the last 10 years | 2.55% | |
| Average since 2000 | 2.00% | |
| Highest month | 6.36% | Nov 2000 |
| Lowest month | 0.01% | Dec 2011 |
The trade-off is certainty against flexibility. The EE bond fixes its 20-year outcome on day one but locks you in to collect it. Bills can be sold or left to mature at any time, as the Treasury bill guide explains, but each rollover happens at the rate of the day. The Treasury bill calculator prices a bill at any rate, the live T-bill rates page shows current yields, and the I bonds vs T-bills comparison runs the same test for the inflation-linked savings bond.
What are the risks and downsides of EE bonds?
The biggest risk is needing the money before 20 years, when the bond earns only its 2.90% fixed rate and the doubling never arrives.
- Inflation. The rate is fixed and nothing adjusts for prices. With the CPI-U up 3.74% in the 12 months to September 2026, even the 3.53% doubling yield would lose purchasing power if inflation stayed there; the real returns guide shows the math.
- Opportunity cost. On October 30, 2026 bills and longer Treasuries paid more than 2.90%, and any of them can be sold before maturity.
- Lockup and penalty. Nothing can be cashed in the first year, and early redemptions cost three months of interest until year five.
- Terms after year 20. Treasury can change how the bond earns interest in its last 10 years.
- Purchase cap and platform. The $10,000 yearly limit applies per person, and new bonds can be held only in TreasuryDirect.
- Tax bunching. Twenty years of deferred interest is taxed in a single year unless you elect yearly reporting.
The government's backing makes default a remote risk, but it does not protect against inflation or a change of plans. The guide to whether Treasuries are risk-free covers the risks that remain, and the I bonds guide describes the savings bond whose rate does follow inflation. Values on this page are worked examples, not forecasts.