My daughter is 11 years old and she has won 2 separate savings bonds. The 1st one she won in a raffle at her cheerleading scholastics dinner for $100 last year. The second one was this past weekend at her cheerleading awards banquet for having the best grades in her squad for $50. We have both of the actual paper bond that came in the mail but I am so clueless as to what to do with them now that we have them. Are you just suppose to keep them until a certain time or should I open some sort of account for them to be deposited into? Do they mature after a certain amount of time? I would love for my daughter to be able to use them towards her college education and considering I don't make much money and my 1st husband (her father) passed away when she was 11 months old so she doesn't have any financial help from him I would like to know what the best option is to get the most out of these bonds. Thank you.
2007-02-22 00:03:57 · 6 answers · asked by Mrs. Torres 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
It depends on what kind of bonds you have, Series EE or D, as to what you can do with them but your local bank should be able to explain that to you or ask in economics, the series is on the bond. Bonds vary but what has happened is the person who made the bond gave $20 to mature to the bond amount.
So for a $50.00 bond someone gave $40 to mature in so many years. Obviously someone can explain it better to you then I because, without knowing the series, their are different rules.
Some still acrue interest even after maturity and some don't.
2007-02-22 00:18:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, you don't put them in a bank account. If you do that, you have effectively cashed them in so they are no longer earning interest.
There are different types of savings bonds. Go to the website below and figure out exactly what she has. I'm assuming these are US Government savings bonds.
But basically, you hold them in a safe place until they mature. They won't be worth $100 until the maturity date. If you cash them in now, you'll only get a fraction of the face value.
If it's an EE bond, it will mature in 5 years so in 5 years, it's worth $100. Right now, it's worth $50. You do not have to cash it in at the maturity date though. It will continue to earn interest after 5 years so if she saves it until she goes to college in 7 years, it will be worth $100 + whatever interest it earns during the last 2 years after maturity.
2007-02-22 08:15:02 · answer #2 · answered by Faye H 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First off, congratulation's to your daughter on her gifts! My kid's were issued bonds when they were born from family members. Basic bonds are EE bonds. You should either purchase a safe (if you don't already have one) which you can keep other important papers or valuables in or put them in a safety deposit box. The following link is pretty good to explain how bonds work. It also has some interesting tools such as a savings bond calculator and a savings bond wizard program to help you keep track of your bonds.
2007-02-22 08:18:11 · answer #3 · answered by jmpnjckflsh611 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It should state when the maturity of the bonds will be. They are not worth the face amount until then. You can put them in a savings box at the bank but I would not waste the money and put them somewhere you can find them later.
2007-02-22 08:15:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hold on to them for your child until she needs it for college or after she's 21.
Best of luck!
2007-02-22 08:24:12 · answer #5 · answered by Common Sense 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They mature in 7 years. Put them in a home safe or safe deposit box.
2007-02-22 08:13:01 · answer #6 · answered by redunicorn 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋