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Interest on savings bonds can provide you with an income – but only until the bonds stop paying interest. Savings bonds are issued with original terms to maturity, and then may automatically enter one or more extension periods, during which they will continue to pay interest. However, many people lose track of when such interest payments will really stop. When that happens, you’re no longer just losing income, but inflation is also eroding the redemption value of your bonds.

Savings bonds that have stopped paying interest

The U.S. Treasury provides information on savings bonds it issued that no longer pay out interest.

The following saving bond series have stopped paying interest:

All issues of A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J and K bonds

All issues of Savings Notes (Freedom Shares)

Depending on the issue date, the following bond series may have stopped paying interest:

EE Series savings bonds issued through November 1981 based on the date this article was published of 11/1/2011 (EE bonds have a 30 Year Maturity Term. If the current date was July 2018, EE Series bonds issued through July 1988 would have stopped paying interest.)

HH Series Saving Bonds  issued through November 1991 based on the date this article was published 11/1/2011 (HH bonds have a 20 Year Maturity Term. If the current date was July 2018, HH Series bonds issued through July 1998 would have stopped paying interest. New issues of HH serues saving bonds were discontinued as August 2004. )

When will I Saving Bonds stop paying interest?

All I series bonds are paying interest at the time this article is being published. I Series Bonds were first issued in 1998 and will pay interest for 30 years after maturity. An I bond Issued 1998 would stop paying interest in 2028.

Online aids for you to find the value of your bonds

The U.S. Treasury provides other useful information such as the length of time each type of bond pays out interest, and an online query tool called “Treasury Hunt” to help you determine if you own any bonds that have matured. On the U.S. Treasury website, there’s also a “Savings Bond Wizard” to tell you the value of your bond, how much of that value is interest income, and what the yield of the bond was over its period to maturity. If the bond has not yet matured, you’ll also see its current yield.

This lesson is part of our Free Guide to Buying Savings Bonds.  Continue to the next lesson here.