How to cash savings bonds: electronic, paper and matured bonds, step by step

Cashing a savings bond is simple once you know which kind you hold. Electronic EE and I bonds are cashed online in TreasuryDirect; paper bonds are cashed at a bank that offers the service or mailed to Treasury with a one-page request form. The harder questions are when to cash, what an old bond is worth and how much of the payout is taxable. This guide walks through the procedure step by step, then covers bonds that have stopped earning, lost bonds and the tax forms that follow. For the other securities the government sells, see the Treasuries hub.

How do you cash savings bonds?

Identify each bond and its value, confirm it is at least a year old, then redeem it in TreasuryDirect, at a bank or by mail.

1. Sort your bonds by series and form

   Electronic bonds are held in a TreasuryDirect account. Paper bonds are certificates that show the series, such as EE, E, HH or Series I, along with the denomination, the issue date and a serial number. List each one before you go further.

2. Check what each bond is worth

   Enter each paper bond's series, denomination and issue date in Treasury's Savings Bond Calculator. Electronic bond values appear under Current Holdings in TreasuryDirect.

3. Check the timing

   EE and I bonds must be at least 12 months old. Before five years you give up three months of interest, and values rise only on the first day of each month.

4. Cash electronic bonds online

   In TreasuryDirect, open ManageDirect, choose Redeem securities, pick the bonds and the amount, then review and submit. The money goes to your primary bank account.

5. Cash paper bonds at a bank or by mail

   Ask your bank whether it cashes savings bonds, how much it will cash at one time and what identification it needs. Or fill out FS Form 1522 and mail it to Treasury with the bonds.

6. Keep records for your tax return

   Save the confirmation and your list of serial numbers. The interest is reported on Form 1099-INT and is subject to federal income tax but not state or local income tax.

The sections below cover each step in more detail.

How do you cash electronic EE and I bonds in TreasuryDirect?

Electronic bonds are cashed from the ManageDirect tab of your TreasuryDirect account, and the proceeds go to the primary bank account on file.

Signing in now requires an ID.me account, the only way to sign in since October 28, 2026. Once you are in, TreasuryDirect's instructions run like this:

1. Click ManageDirect at the top of the page.
2. Under Manage My Securities, click Redeem securities.
3. Choose the security type, such as Series EE or Series I, and click Submit.
4. Tick each bond you want to cash, up to 50 per transaction, and click Select.
5. For a single bond, keep Redeem full amount or choose a partial amount. If you select several bonds, all the proceeds go to the same bank account.
6. Click Review, check the details, click Submit and save the confirmation page.

A partial redemption must be at least $25 and leave at least $25 in the bond, and you receive interest only on the part you cash. There is no limit on how much you can cash at one time. Since August 24, 2026, the zero-percent Certificate of Indebtedness is no longer a payment destination, so every redemption goes to your primary bank account; confirm the bank details under Account Info before you start. Some older help pages still describe the certificate as an option.

The value shown under Current Holdings for a bond less than five years old already leaves out the last three months of interest, so it is what you would receive that day. The 1099-INT appears in the account in January of the following year. If signing in or linking a bank account is the obstacle, the TreasuryDirect account guide covers setup and common problems.

How do you cash paper savings bonds?

Take paper bonds to a bank that cashes them or mail them to Treasury with FS Form 1522; paper bonds can only be cashed in full.

At a bank. Each bank decides whether to cash savings bonds and how much it will cash at one time, so call first. TreasuryDirect suggests starting with a bank where you have an account and asking which identification and documents it needs. The bank pays you and is responsible for your 1099-INT, which it may hand over at once or mail the following January. Banks cannot cash Series HH bonds, but Treasury cashes every series by mail.

By mail. Treasury sets no limit on the value or number of bonds it will cash. FS Form 1522, revised in April 2026, asks for:

• the names printed on the bonds, plus each bond's issue date and serial number, on an attached list or FS Form 3500 if you need more space
• your Social Security number, and the routing number, account number and account type of the bank account that will receive the money
• your signature in ink, with your address and daytime phone number

Certification depends on value. If the bonds' current redemption value totals $1,000 or less, you can sign and enclose a copy of a current driver's license, passport, state ID or military ID. Above $1,000, you must sign in front of a notary or a certifying officer at a bank or credit union, who adds a seal or signature guarantee stamp. Mail the form and the bonds to Treasury Retail Securities Services, P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150; the toll-free number printed on the form is 844-284-2676. Payment arrives by direct deposit, and Treasury mails the 1099-INT the following January.

You do not need to convert paper EE or I bonds to electronic form before cashing them. Converting them into a Conversion Linked Account in TreasuryDirect is optional, costs only the postage, and suits bonds you plan to keep, because electronic bonds are paid automatically at 30 years. A conversion cannot be reversed. TreasuryDirect has separate instructions for a young child's bonds, for cashing from outside the United States and for an attorney-in-fact acting for the owner.

How much is an old savings bond worth?

Treasury's Savings Bond Calculator prices paper EE, E and I bonds and savings notes from three details: series, denomination and issue date.

It shows the value today, values back to January 1996 and through the rest of the current six-month rate period, the current rate, the next date interest is added, the final maturity date, and total and year-to-date interest. The serial number is optional, though it helps tell bonds apart if you build an inventory, which the calculator cannot save in the Chrome or Edge browsers. The calculator does not verify ownership or serial numbers, and it does not confirm that a bond can still be cashed. It does not price electronic bonds either; their values are in TreasuryDirect.

Face value is neither the price nor the worth of a paper bond. Paper EE bonds were sold at half their face value, and many old bonds are now worth more than the amount printed on them.

What does it cost to cash a savings bond early?

For EE and I bonds the rule is the same: Not cashable for 12 months; cashing before 5 years forfeits the last 3 months of interest.

The penalty interacts with the calendar. Bonds earn interest from the first day of the month they were bought in, and for EE bonds issued since May 1997 and all I bonds, value is added on the first day of each month. Cashing on the last day of a month therefore pays the same as cashing on the first day of that month.

EE bonds issued from May 1995 to April 1997 work differently: interest is added only twice a year, so cashing just before an addition gives up as much as six months of it. The last of them, issued from November 1996 to April 1997, stop earning between November 2026 and April 2027. For EE bonds bought since June 2003, the biggest timing cost of all is cashing shortly before the 20-year date, which forfeits the adjustment that doubles the bond's value; the EE bonds guide works through it.

Which savings bonds have stopped earning interest?

Any bond past final maturity has stopped earning: 30 years for EE and I bonds, 20 years for HH bonds, and every older series.

Matured bonds add up. On September 30, 2026, the Monthly Statement of the Public Debt counted $34.73 billion of matured savings securities that had not been cashed, against $111.46 billion of savings bonds still earning interest. Electronic bonds are paid automatically when they reach final maturity, but paper bonds earn nothing more until someone presents them.

The tax clock does not wait either. Under IRS rules, deferred interest is reportable for the year a bond reaches final maturity or the year you cash it, whichever comes first, and TreasuryDirect applies the same rule to HH bonds. Someone cashing a bond that matured years ago may have interest that belonged on an earlier return, so it is worth asking a tax professional whether to amend it.

How do you find lost or unclaimed savings bonds?

Treasury Hunt, the online search for forgotten bonds, closed on September 30, 2025, so claims now start with the forms on TreasuryDirect.

For a paper EE or I bond that was lost, stolen, destroyed, mutilated or never received, file FS Form 1048. You can take a replacement electronic bond in TreasuryDirect, which requires an account, or ask Treasury to cash the bond instead. In areas with an official disaster declaration, Treasury waives the 12-month minimum and asks owners to write DISASTER on the form and the envelope. Once a bond is replaced or paid, the original belongs to the government, and if it turns up later it should go back to Treasury Retail Securities Services.

If you are not sure whether a paper bond was already cashed, ask your bank first. If it cannot tell you and you own or co-own the bond, write to Treasury Retail Securities Services at the Minneapolis address above with the serial numbers and your signature, without sending the bonds. Bonds inherited from someone who died follow separate rules on TreasuryDirect's death-of-owner pages. Never buy savings bonds from another person or an auction site: Treasury will not cash them for the buyer.

What tax forms do you get when you cash savings bonds?

You get Form 1099-INT from whoever pays you: TreasuryDirect for electronic bonds, the bank that cashed a paper bond, or Treasury for mailed bonds.

The taxable amount is what you receive minus what you paid, less any interest you already reported year by year. It is subject to federal income tax and exempt from state and local income tax; the guide to T-bill taxes explains that federal-only treatment in more detail.

Two rules can shift the bill. Interest on a co-owned bond is generally taxable to the co-owner who paid for it, even if the other one cashes it; the person who cashed it receives the 1099-INT and must give the buyer a second 1099-INT for the interest taxable to them. Interest on EE bonds issued after 1989 and on I bonds can also be excluded when the money pays qualified higher education costs in the same year, using Form 8815. For 2026 that exclusion phases out between $101,800 and $116,800 of modified adjusted gross income ($152,650 and $182,650 for married couples filing jointly). Tax rules change, so check the details with a tax professional.

What are the risks and mistakes to avoid when cashing savings bonds?

The costliest mistakes are cashing at the wrong moment, being surprised by the tax bill, and losing paper bonds in the mail or in a drawer.

• Missing the EE doubling. An EE bond bought since June 2003 and cashed shortly before its 20th anniversary gives up the adjustment that doubles its value.
• Cashing inside five years. Three months of interest is the price; on an I bond earning 5.51%, that is about 1.4% of the bond's value.
• Month-end timing. A redemption late in a month pays no more than one on the 1st of that month, so waiting for the next 1st adds a month of interest.
• Tax bunching. Decades of deferred interest can land in a single tax year and push income into a higher bracket. Cashing bonds over several tax years spreads the interest out.
• Matured bonds sitting idle. A bond past final maturity earns nothing, and its interest may already be taxable for the year it matured.
• Mailing paper bonds. Keep a list of serial numbers and issue dates, and copies of the bonds, before sending them; that record also supports an FS Form 1048 claim if they go missing.
• Bonds bought from strangers. Treasury will not cash a bond for someone who bought it from another person.

The bonds carry the backing of the US government, so default is not the concern here; the risks are timing, taxes and paperwork. If you are deciding where the money goes next, the I bonds vs T-bills comparison, today's T-bill rates and the Treasury bill calculator help compare options, and the I bonds guide explains how an I bond's rate resets if you decide to keep one.