Understanding the value of bonds is crucial for investors. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of how to determine the worth of savings bonds, focusing on key factors and resources available.
Determining the Current Value of Your Bonds
To calculate How Much Are Bonds Worth, especially paper savings bonds of Series EE, Series I, and Series E, and savings notes, you can use the Savings Bond Calculator. This tool provides information on:
- Value today: The current redemption value of your bond.
- Value on past dates: Historical values of your bond.
- Value on future dates: Projected values up to the current six-month interest period.
- Current and past interest rates: The interest rates applied to your bond over time.
- Next accrual date: The date when your bond will next accrue interest.
- Maturity date: The date when the bond reaches its full value and stops earning interest.
- Total interest earned: The cumulative interest earned on the bond.
- Year-to-date interest earned: The interest earned on the bond in the current year.
To find the current value, enter the bond’s series, denomination, and issue date into the Savings Bond Calculator, then click “Calculate”. The serial number is optional but can be useful for tracking your bonds. You can locate the issue date and serial number on the bond itself, as illustrated in the image above. The alt text for the image is: “Image illustrating the location of issue date and serial number on a paper savings bond.”
Calculating Past or Future Bond Values
To determine the value of a bond on a specific past or future date, input the desired date in the “Value as of” field, along with the bond’s series, denomination, and issue date. Click “Update” to view the value. Past values are available from January 1996 onwards, while future values are projected for the remaining months within the bond’s current six-month rate period.
Creating and Managing a Bond Inventory
The Savings Bond Calculator allows you to create an inventory of your paper bonds for easy tracking.
To create an inventory:
- Enter the information for each bond, one at a time, into the Calculator.
- Click the “Save” button in the results section to generate a new inventory page.
- Save this new page as a web page or HTML page using your browser’s “Save As” function.
Important Note: The Savings Bond Calculator may not reliably save inventories when using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers.
To use a previously created inventory, open the saved file and click either “Return to Savings Bond Calculator” or “Update.” This will refresh the bond values in your inventory and allow you to add new bonds.
For detailed instructions, refer to the page on saving your inventory and the Calculator instructions.
Limitations of the Savings Bond Calculator
It’s important to understand what the Savings Bond Calculator can and cannot do:
- It will not provide accurate values for electronic bonds. To find the value of electronic bonds, log in to TreasuryDirect.
- It will not verify bond ownership.
- It will not guarantee the validity of entered serial numbers.
- It will not guarantee a bond is eligible for cashing.
- It will not create a savings bond based on entered information.
- It will not reliably save inventories in Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
Here is an example of how a savings bond displays the series and denomination. This information is needed when using the Savings Bond Calculator. The alt text for the image is: “Sample savings bond highlighting the series and denomination for calculator input.”
Beware of Scams
Be cautious of online scams that use images of the Savings Bond Calculator page and falsely claim that you can access bonds owed to you by entering your birth certificate number. These claims are fraudulent, and attempting to defraud the government is a prosecutable offense. For more information, see Birth Certificate Bonds.
Conclusion
Determining how much are bonds worth requires understanding the type of bond you hold and utilizing the appropriate resources. For paper savings bonds, the Savings Bond Calculator is a valuable tool. Always be vigilant against scams and rely on official sources for accurate information.
