Savings bonds have exactly one authorized seller: TreasuryDirect.gov, the online platform the U.S. Department of the Treasury runs itself. Banks stopped selling them over the counter on January 1, 2012, and the last paper option, a Series I certificate ordered with a federal income tax refund, closed on January 1, 2025. So before you buy, the question is not which store carries them. It is which series fits your timeline, how the cap per calendar year works, and how to tell the real site from the look-alikes.
What Savings Bonds Do and Who Should Buy Them
A savings bond is a non-marketable debt security issued by the United States Department of the Treasury, sold directly to a registered owner and redeemed back to the government rather than traded to another investor. The first series went on sale in 1935 to help pay for public debt, and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service administers the program today. Repayment is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, so the credit risk sits at the floor of the scale for any investment.
Who they fit: savers with a five-year-plus horizon, parents building a college fund, and anyone wanting an inflation-indexed place to hold money outside the stock market. Who they do not fit: anyone who might need that cash inside twelve months. The year-one lockup is absolute, and no secondary market exists.
Features Worth Weighing Before You Pick a Series
Two types of savings bonds are still issued, Series I and Series EE. Four features separate them: how the rate is set, whether a guaranteed floor exists, how interest is taxed, and what one purchase can cost.
Rate structure. Series I bonds earn interest as a composite: a fixed rate attached for the life of the bond, plus a variable inflation rate based on inflation in CPI-U. Series EE bonds pay a single fixed rate of interest locked on the purchase date. Both reset on May 1 and November 1.
The 20-year guarantee. Series EE issued in May 2005 or later carries a Treasury commitment to double in value at year 20, applied as a one-time adjustment if the stated interest rate falls short. Series I savings bonds carry no equivalent floor, only a composite that never drops below zero.
Tax treatment. Interest is exempt from state and local taxes, and federal tax is deferred until you redeem the security or it reaches final maturity at year 30. Interest spent on qualified tuition may be excludable under the Education Savings Bond Program, though the owner must have turned 24 before the issue date, which rules out anything registered to a child.
Denomination and minimums. Electronic bonds are sold at face value in any amount from $25 up to whatever remains of your allowance, priced to the penny. The half-price denomination rule that applied to an old paper bond is gone, so a $50 electronic purchase costs $50.
What Not to Do: Savings Bond Pitfalls That Cost Real Money
The most expensive mistake is not picking the wrong series. It is typing a Social Security Number into a website the Treasury does not operate.
Trusting any domain that is not treasurydirect.gov. Typosquatted imitations exist to harvest identity data, and a convincing logo costs nothing to copy. Read the address bar character by character.
Following advice written before 2025. Plenty of pages still tell readers to claim paper certificates on a tax refund. You can no longer buy paper savings bonds that way; the Internal Revenue Service dropped the election from IRS Form 8888.
Buying a marketplace listing. These securities are registered to a named owner and cannot be transferred by sale, so an eBay or Etsy listing gets you a collectible you have no right to cash.
Paying a processing fee. The Treasury charges nothing to buy, hold, or redeem. Any fee request is a fraud signal.
Finding Savings Bonds Near You: Why No Store Sells Them
No physical location in the United States sells new Treasury savings bonds. Not banks, not credit unions, not brokerages, not big-box retailers. Branches still matter for two other errands.
Banks and credit unions
Your bank may cash a paper certificate presented by the registered owner with photo identification. Policies differ between financial institutions, and many branches help customers cash them only for existing account holders, so call first. If none will, FS Form 1522 lets you mail the certificates in for direct deposit.
Brokerages and financial advisors
Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard all sell Treasury bills, notes, and TIPS, but none sell this product. The Treasury distributes it directly and electronically, so no advisor commission or markup attaches.
Ordering Savings Bonds Online: Where and Why
There is one authorized online seller: the official purchase page. The same login holds bills, notes, TIPS, and floating rate notes, so a TreasuryDirect account is the hub for every United States Treasury security you own. Purchases settle by ACH debit from a linked checking or savings account. No credit card option exists.
- Open the account. You need a Social Security Number, a U.S. address, a state-issued ID, and a bank routing and account number.
- Clear identity verification. Some applicants must mail a signature-guaranteed form before the account activates, so start ahead of any rate deadline.
- Link your bank. That single account handles every purchase and every payout afterward.
- Pick the bond series and the amount. Choose Series I or EE, then enter anything from $25 up to the balance of your allowance for the calendar year.
- Record the dates. Note the twelve-month lock, the five-year penalty line, and final maturity at year 30.
Check the rate page before May 1 and November 1. A purchase dated one day earlier locks the older fixed component for the entire life of the bond, which matters more over 30 years than the headline composite does. For a portable cash instrument that settles the same day, see our guide on where to buy money orders.
Redemption Rules and Buyer Protection for Savings Bonds
The exit rules decide more purchases than the rate does. Rules verified September 2026 against published Treasury guidance; confirm on the official site before you act.
| Situation | Rule | Practical note |
|---|---|---|
| Before 12 months | Cannot redeem at all | Exceptions only for federally declared disaster areas |
| Within the first five years | Forfeit the last three months of interest | Relatively smaller the longer you hold |
| After five years | No penalty | Keeps earning until final maturity at year 30 |
| Lost or destroyed certificate | Replaceable by the Treasury | File FS Form 1048; a signature guarantee may apply |
| Issuer risk | Direct obligation of the U.S. | No FDIC cap; there is no bank in between |
A partial redemption must leave at least $25 in the holding, so you cannot draw one down to loose change. And interest posts on the first day of each month, so cashing on the 2nd rather than the last day of the prior month captures an extra month of earnings for a 48-hour wait.
Which Savings Bond Series Is Worth Buying
These are grouped by goal and holding period rather than by yield, since rates reset twice a year and any figure here would be stale within months. None of it is investment advice; match the series to the date you need the money.
Best for inflation protection: Series I bonds. The variable component resets every six months against CPI-U, so purchasing power holds up when prices climb. Pro: the fixed portion stays locked for 30 years. Con: the composite can fall near zero in a low-inflation stretch. Read the current terms.
Best for a fixed 20-year target: Series EE bonds. The doubling commitment produces a known number at year 20, which suits a dated goal such as a child’s freshman year. Con: redeem at year 19 and you get the stated rate only, no top-up.
Best for gifting: Series I held in the TreasuryDirect Gift Box. You buy in the recipient’s name and hold it until they open a login of their own. Undelivered gifts still accrue from the issue date and count against the recipient’s limit in the year of delivery.
Best for a child: a linked minor account. Opened inside your own login, it carries the child’s Social Security Number and a separate allowance. When the child turns 18 and opens a full account, the holdings transfer.
Historical and retired: Series HH bonds and Series E. Neither is issued now and both stopped earning, so cash any you find in a drawer. For a hard asset that behaves nothing like a Treasury obligation, compare with where to buy gold or where to buy silver coins.
Open the TreasuryDirect account this week rather than the week a rate changes, because verification can add days. Settle on the series before you fund it, since switching afterward means redeeming and giving up interest. For a small-denomination gift instead, our guide to where to buy Visa gift cards covers that. Buying savings bonds through the official federal channel is the one route that protects your money and your identity at the same time.
FAQ: Buying Savings Bonds
Can I still get paper certificates with my tax refund?
No. That channel closed on January 1, 2025, and the Internal Revenue Service removed the election from Form 8888. Certificates you already hold stay valid and keep accruing on their original schedule. If you want them held electronically, the SmartExchange feature inside TreasuryDirect converts eligible paper holdings into a linked conversion account.
How long does a $50 savings bond take to mature?
Thirty years, and the denomination does not change that. Both stop earning 30 years after the issue date printed on the bond, whatever the face amount. A separate 20-year mark applies only to EE, where the doubling commitment kicks in. Anything past year 30 sits idle and should be cashed.
How much can one person buy in a year?
Each Social Security Number can purchase $10,000 of electronic Series I and $10,000 of Series EE per calendar year, so $20,000 across both. The allowance resets on January 1 and does not roll forward. A trust or business entity with its own taxpayer identification number gets a separate allowance.
How do I check what an old bond is worth?
Use the official Savings Bond Calculator: enter the series, denomination, and issue date, and the calculator returns the current redemption value. The issue date printed on the face of the certificate is often not the year it was given to you, which is the most common reason people get the wrong figure.
Are savings bonds still worth it?
They compete as a safety allocation, not a growth one. The deferred federal tax, the state and local taxes exemption, and the government backing are the structural draw rather than the headline yield. A high-yield savings account may pay more in a given year and stays liquid, but offers no inflation linkage and no 20-year doubling floor. To hunt for bonds a relative left behind, start with the Treasury’s free search tool.
Editorial review: wheretobuyguides.com team. Purchase channels, annual limits, and redemption rules last verified September 2026, with reference to published guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service.