Your savings bonds are still good
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 Dear
Dr. Don,
I have some savings bonds from 1983. My bank
has informed me that it is no longer cashing bonds in. I have
two questions. The first is: Would bonds issued in 1983 still
earn interest today? The second question is: How should I go
about cashing in my savings bonds?
-- Amy Accrue
 Dear
Amy,
I'll assume that you own Series EE savings bonds issued in
1983. Such savings bonds will continue earning interest through
2013, or 30 years from the date of issue. The Bureau of Public
Debt has a savings
bond calculator on its Web site that will allow you to
input the issue date and denomination. The calculator will
return the bond's current value and tell you when the bond
stops earning interest.
Older Series EE savings bonds, like yours, have
interest earnings credited every six months. If you cash in
the bond just before it increases in value, you'll lose the
last six months' worth of interest. It's best to redeem your
Series EE savings bond just after it has increased in value.
The Bureau of Public Debt has a page on its Web site that
discusses "When
Savings Bonds Increase in Value."
Your bank should have been able to point you
to a bank in your area that redeems savings bonds. Ask again
the next time you're at the bank. The Bureau of Public Debt
doesn't maintain a list of banks that will redeem savings
bonds.
You can write or call the branch of the Federal
Reserve Bank that handles savings bond transactions in your
area. The Bureau of Public Debt has a Web
page that allows you to input your zip code to locate
contact information for the Federal Reserve Bank branch that
can help you.
-- Posted: Sept. 21, 2004
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When
applying for credit cards with better terms, should I drop the old
cards so that I don't have too much available credit, or should I
keep them because of the age of the accounts? 
