Govt. Savings Bonds

[Melos]

People keep buying my sons government savings bonds. I recently plugged the serial numbers into the governments online "When will this mature?" calculator, and discovered that the $50 bonds will mature in 2041! When my children are almost 40 themselves!

Would it be more reasonable to cash them in now and stick the money in some high yield savings account?

 

[mamab]

Even though they won't mature for quite some time, you have to realize that if you cash them out right now, you won't get any interest off them at all (or very little). My parents give my kids savings bonds for their birthday and major holidays. I'm planning on letting them stay where they are until they turn 18, then they can decide if they want to cash them in or not. Even if they don't get the full value at that point, they'll at least get SOMETHING extra for them.

One benefit to the savings bonds is that they're not that easy to cash in, so you won't have to worry about a child doing so for that "toy" or whatever they just HAVE to have.

 

[Melos]

Well, the way I figure it, I could get more overall interest if I stuck the money in their savings accounts I have for them. I also don't intend for them to be able to access these savings accounts for toys or whatever.

It is true that you can't cash them out too easily.

 

[Penguin]

2041!!

I wasn't aware there was such a calculator. I should check my son's. He has two, both from the same grandmother. When I had my second child, she quit sending anything LOL!

 

[mamab]

I was purchasing savings bonds at one of the jobs I had in the past. They took $25 a week out of my check and every other week, I'd have purchased another $100 savings bond. Unfortunately, when I left that job, we cashed out all of the bonds I'd accumulated. I think we got a grand total of $10 or less for the interest.

 

[taiarain]

Those would be the E/EE series bonds, right?

I've been doing bonds for some nephews, but purchasing the face value bonds. You purchase them for face value and interest accrues from that.

The reason I'm giving them savings bonds is to discourage their mother from stealing them the way she does other monetary gifts.

 

[mamab]

It's sad that you have to resort to something like that to give your nephews a gift. I didn't know that they had face value bonds. Something else I learned new on this forum.

 

[taiarain]

They're called I bonds. Individual - I Savings Bonds In Depth

Unfortunately, she's got a long history of intercepting gifts intended for the boys. Not just money, either. She's taken wrapped gifts and presented them as being from herself.