🇺🇸 US Savings Bond Calculator
Estimate your Series EE & Series I bond returns with current 2026 Treasury rules.
📅 Updated: May 2026 – October 2026 RatesUS Savings Bond Calculator: Check Your Value, Maturity Dates and Taxes (2026)
A savings bond calculator is only useful if it tells you something the bond itself doesn’t already show: whether you can cash it without a penalty, when it stops earning interest entirely, and roughly what it’s worth right now. Most tools online just try to guess a dollar figure — this one starts with the dates you can actually be certain about, then estimates value on top of that.
Use the calculator above for your own bond’s timeline. Below, you’ll find how EE and I bonds actually earn interest, how they’re taxed, and the mistakes that cost bond owners real money — usually by cashing in at the wrong moment.
How Does This Savings Bond Calculator Work?
Enter your bond’s issue date, type, and what you paid, and it calculates four dates with complete certainty — no rate table needed for these: the 1-year minimum hold, the 5-year no-penalty mark, the 20-year (or 17-year, for older bonds) doubling guarantee if it’s a Series EE, and the 30-year final maturity date when interest stops for good.
For a dollar value, honesty matters more than false precision. If your EE bond has already passed its doubling date, the guaranteed floor is exact — it’s a legal guarantee, not an estimate. For anything younger, or any I bond, the calculator gives you an adjustable estimate rather than pretending to replicate Treasury’s full historical rate tables, which is the only way to get an exact figure for a bond that hasn’t hit a guarantee yet.
Series EE vs Series I Bonds: What’s Actually Different
EE bonds earn one fixed rate for life and are guaranteed to double at 20 years. I bonds earn a composite rate that adjusts with inflation every six months and can never go down. Confusing the two leads to the most common calculator mistakes.
| Feature | Series EE | Series I |
|---|---|---|
| Rate structure | One fixed rate, set at purchase, for life | Fixed rate (life) + inflation rate (resets every 6 months) |
| Current rate (bonds issued May–Oct 2026) | 2.40% fixed | 4.26% composite (0.90% fixed + 3.34% inflation) |
| Special guarantee | Doubles in value at 20 years | None — but value never decreases |
| Best for | Predictable, known long-term return | Protecting savings against inflation |
| Interest-bearing life | 30 years | 30 years |
Both are non-marketable Treasury securities — you can’t sell them to another investor or trade them on a market, only redeem them to the government itself. Both are electronic-only now, purchased directly through TreasuryDirect for $25 to $10,000 per person, per calendar year, per series.
How Much Is My Savings Bond Actually Worth?
If it’s an EE bond past its 20-year mark, it’s worth at least double what you paid — guaranteed. For anything else, the honest answer is “it depends on rates that changed over the life of your bond,” which is exactly what an estimate, not a guess, should account for.
The EE Bond 20-Year Doubling Guarantee, With a Real Example
Take a $100 electronic EE bond bought in June 2015 with a fixed rate of around 2.10% at the time. Compounded semiannually for 20 years, that rate alone would only grow $100 to roughly $150 — nowhere near double. Treasury doesn’t let that happen: at the exact 20-year mark (June 2035), it makes a one-time adjustment so the bond is worth precisely $200, whatever the math says.
This only applies at the exact milestone. Cash out at 19 years and 11 months and you get the accumulated interest only — there’s no partial or pro-rated doubling. It’s the single most expensive mistake bond owners make with EE bonds.
How I Bond Interest Actually Compounds
I bonds combine two numbers using a specific formula, not a simple sum: fixed rate + (2 × inflation rate) + (fixed rate × inflation rate). For bonds issued May–October 2026, that’s 0.90% + (2 × 1.67%) + (0.90% × 1.67%) = 0.90% + 3.34% + 0.015% = 4.255%, which rounds to the published 4.26%.
The inflation half resets for every I bond ever issued, not just new purchases — a bond from 2015 gets the same 3.34% inflation component eventually, applied on the anniversary of its own issue month. Only the fixed-rate half is locked in permanently at purchase, so two I bonds bought years apart can earn noticeably different total returns for life.
When Can You Cash In a Savings Bond?
Never before 12 months. Any time after that, but you’ll forfeit the last 3 months of interest if you cash in before 5 years. After 30 years, the bond has stopped earning interest completely — there’s no reason to keep holding it.
That last point trips up more people than the penalty does. A bond that hit final maturity years ago is just sitting there, earning nothing, while the owner assumes it’s still growing. The calculator above flags this directly if your bond has already passed its 30-year mark.
Where to Find Your Bond’s Serial Number and Details
On a paper bond, the serial number is printed in the bottom-right corner, alongside the issue date, denomination, and the names of the registered owners. For electronic bonds, log into your TreasuryDirect account and open “Manage Direct” — every bond you hold is listed with its serial number, issue date, and current redemption value already calculated for you.
If you’ve inherited paper bonds or found old ones and the serial number is illegible or missing, Treasury can often still trace the bond using the issue date, denomination, and the registered owner’s name — you don’t need the serial number to start the process.
How Are Savings Bonds Taxed?
Interest is subject to federal income tax but exempt from state and local tax, and you don’t owe anything until you redeem the bond or it reaches final maturity — whichever happens first. That deferral is one of the more underrated features of both series.
You’ll get a Form 1099-INT for the year you cash the bond, from whichever bank or TreasuryDirect account processed it. Because the interest is taxed as ordinary income in that single year, cashing a large, decades-old bond can push you into a higher bracket than you’d expect — worth checking with our Federal Income Tax Calculator before you redeem a big one, especially near year-end.
The Education Tax Exclusion — Tax-Free for College
Under IRC §135, interest from EE bonds (issued after 1989) and I bonds can be entirely tax-free if you redeem them the same year you pay qualified tuition and fees — not room, board, or books. You must have been at least 24 years old when the bond was issued, so a bond registered directly in a child’s name never qualifies for this exclusion.
For tax year 2026, the tax break phases out between $101,800 and $116,800 of modified adjusted gross income for single filers, and between $152,650 and $182,650 for married couples filing jointly — above those ceilings, the exclusion disappears completely. You claim it on IRS Form 8815, and married couples must file a joint return to use it at all.
How to Cash In a Savings Bond
- Electronic bonds: log into TreasuryDirect, select the bond, and redeem it — funds typically land in your linked bank account within a few business days.
- Paper bonds under $1,000: many banks where you already hold an account will still cash these, though the service isn’t guaranteed and some banks have stopped offering it.
- Paper bonds the bank won’t take, or larger amounts: mail them directly to Treasury Retail Securities Services with FS Form 1522.
- Lost or destroyed paper bonds: file FS Form 1048 with whatever details you remember — Treasury can trace bonds from its own records.
Are Savings Bonds a Good Investment in 2026?
For money you genuinely won’t need for years and want zero risk of loss, yes — especially I bonds if you’re worried about inflation. For anything you might need within 12 months, or for maximum growth, they’re the wrong tool.
The $10,000-per-person annual limit (per series) is the real ceiling here — savings bonds work best as one piece of a safe-money allocation, not the whole plan. Our CD Calculator is worth comparing against, since CDs offer known fixed terms without the 12-month lockout, though savings bonds win on tax deferral and the inflation protection I bonds specifically offer.
If you’re holding bonds as part of a longer-term goal — retirement, a house down payment, a kid’s education — plug the numbers into our Retirement Calculator to see how they fit into the bigger picture, or the Investment Return Calculator to compare a bond’s guaranteed return against what a diversified portfolio has historically returned. Savings bonds win on certainty; they don’t win on growth.
Common Mistakes Bond Owners Make
- Cashing an EE bond one month before its doubling date. There’s no partial credit — waiting even a few weeks can be worth hundreds of dollars.
- Not realizing a bond hit final maturity years ago. Once interest stops at 30 years, an uncashed bond is just sitting idle.
- Assuming a bond in a child’s name qualifies for the education exclusion. The owner must have been 24 or older at issuance — a bond titled to a minor never qualifies.
- Forgetting the interest is taxable the year it’s cashed, even if the bond sat untouched for 20+ years. A large redemption can bump you into a higher bracket than expected.
- Trying to buy paper bonds with a tax refund. That option ended January 1, 2025 — every new bond today is electronic-only, through TreasuryDirect.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is interest calculated on a US savings bond?
Both series accrue interest monthly and compound it semiannually — every six months, the interest earned so far is added to the bond’s value, and future interest is calculated on that larger balance. EE bonds use one fixed rate for life; I bonds use a composite rate that resets its inflation component every May 1 and November 1.
How much is my birth certificate bond worth?
There’s no such official product. If you’re asking because a relative bought you an EE or I bond around when you were born, that’s a real savings bond — enter its issue date and purchase price in the calculator above like any other. If you’ve come across claims about a secret government account tied to your birth certificate that can pay off debt, that’s a long-running, debunked myth; TreasuryDirect has a dedicated page stating plainly that birth certificates carry no monetary value and cannot be used to request bonds.
Can I still buy paper savings bonds?
No. As of January 1, 2025, buying paper Series I bonds with a tax refund via IRS Form 8888 was discontinued. Every new bond, EE or I, is now electronic-only through TreasuryDirect, for $25 to $10,000 per person per calendar year, per series. Older paper bonds you already hold remain valid and keep earning interest on their original terms.
Can I give a savings bond as a gift?
Yes — buy it in your own TreasuryDirect account, then transfer it to the recipient’s account as a gift. It sits in a “gift box” until you deliver it, and once delivered, it counts against the recipient’s own $10,000 annual limit for that series, not yours. The 2026 federal gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient, so a gifted bond up to the $10,000 purchase cap stays well under that threshold and won’t trigger any gift tax reporting.