US Savings Bonds? I have MANY that were purchased for my children

[Mind_your_head]

given as gifts at their birth.

What of those?

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. Use this US Savings Bond calculator

http://www.savingsbonds.gov/BC/SBCPrice

[Mind_your_head]

6. Thanks for that link

I'll have to go through them all and put in the series, bond number, and issue date.

*sigh*

I hope that the 'number' the calculator comes up with is a 'good' number AND that it will be paid out! Yeesch, what a mess/nightmare/disaster this all is!

Thanks for nothing, neocon fools!

[DailyGrind51]

11. Thank you very much for this!

You made me slightly richer this morning!:party:

[Whoa_Nelly]

12. Great!

Sounds like bonds, (or at least some bonds?), are doing A-OK :thumbsup: :hi:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. Maybe you can paper your walls with them?

:shrug:

really though ...

[movonne]

4. Why do you say that???

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. don't mind me... I am in a foul mood tonight...

Barter, anyone...will trade _________for ___________

sorry, but that is what I think the future holds in store for us. Just call me nihilistic.

[Jamastiene]

3. I'm no expert, but I have always heard that savings bonds

are a good investment. I would definitely wait for them to mature before cashing them in though.

[roamer65]

5. Make sure they haven't reached final maturity.

At that point, they gain no further interest income and need to be cashed or rolled into another investment. If they have reached final maturity and you want to continue with gov't bonds, I would recommend Series I inflation-indexed savings bonds. See your bank about Series I bonds, if you want more info on them.

[Mind_your_head]

8. Thank you. I will check. n/t

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

9. They now only sell electronic bonds which you purchase at this link

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/

Savings bonds are the safest possible investment you can have - since they are issued directly by and insured by the full faith and credit of the US Gov. If they ever go, that means everything has gone.

You used to buy a bond from this site and they mailed it to you. Now, you create an account and you never see the bond, it is just sitting in your account. It works fine. I made my own little automatic savings plan and purchased 2 bonds a month automatically for a long time. Then later, when I needed the money, I cashed them in online and the money was in my account the next day.

You have complete control over the account in terms of starting and stopping automatic purchases, buying and selling, etc. Like any electronic account, you need to occasionally print out a hard copy to keep for your records.

I bought some I bonds about 5 years ago that had a great rate and they have turned out to be one of the best and most consistent performers I have.

[TexasObserver]

10. US savings bonds are not at risk

In fact, they're solid. The interest rate is probably really low, but you will be paid. You're investing in the US government with those bonds, not any private bank or financial concern. Your only real concern with US savings bonds is that your REAL dollars are diminishing, because the buying power of your dollars is diminishing. Each year, due to inflation, your dollar buys less. Since you invested with dollars that bought a lot more, if inflation devalues the dollar faster than your interest rate paid replenishes it, you're losing buying power.