Savings bonds
Good morning. My husband is a member of Les Turner ALS Foundation and I had the opportunity to join your webinar for ALS families earlier this year. We had purchased many savings bonds in the ’80 s to help find our children’s college education. We have just made out last college tuition payment, but never cashed in the savings bonds. After looking at the US Treasury information, it looks like we need to cash them in this year to avoid taxes. How do I do this? We have nearly 100 bonds. I know I need to understand our finances better in the future, but would appreciate some direction regarding the bonds and college costs now. Thank you.
Terry Says
Wow — you can’t AVOID TAXES! In fact, you’ll pay a whole hunk of taxes on all the accumulated interest. But you’ll have a lot left over! (And you won’t pay state income taxes on the gains.)
Check this page at TreasuryDirect.gov for information on valuing and cashing in old paper bonds. It is a process and will take weeks, so the money will come in 2023. Remember to hold some of the money for taxes!
Start here for valuing the bonds: https://treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/savings-bond-calculator/
And here’s info on cashing in the paper bonds: https://treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/cashing-a-bond/
