You can verify if you have any lost bonds before submitting anything, according to Leslie H. Tayne, founder of the Tayne Law Group. “Treasuryhunt.gov, which lists matured, uncashed savings bonds, is a shortcut you can employ to find lost savings bonds,” Tayne explains.
Treasury Hunt is an online service provided by the Treasury Department. In 2017, the tool was retired, but it was resurrected in 2019.
Fill out Form 1048
Go to the United States Savings Bonds website to look for misplaced savings bonds. Fill out Form 1048, “Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds,” on the Treasury’s website at treasurydirect.gov.
Tayne advises, “Fill out as much of the form as possible.” “Ask for the purchaser’s Social Security number and an estimate of the purchase timeline.”
Verify for your form
Don’t just sign your form after you’ve completed it to the best of your ability. It must be accredited. This isn’t easy, according to Justin Pritchard, a financial consultant at Approach Financial. “Getting your signature certified is the most difficult part of the process,” Pritchard says. “To finish the process, you’ll need a signing guarantee or another appropriate kind of documentation. Unfortunately, having a paper notarized isn’t enough.”
Go to your local financial institution, such as a bank or credit union, to have your form confirmed. You will sign the form and have it confirmed by the institution’s certifying officer rather than a notary. Make an appointment with your bank or other financial institution ahead of time to see whether they have a certifying officer.
How do I find out whether I have any bonds in my name?
A: Because the Treasury Hunt website is arranged by social security number, it only includes savings bonds purchased from 1974 to the present. That is when social security numbers were first required. If you feel you may be owed money from an older bond, fill out this form or contact 1-800-553-2663 to request a manual search.
A: You will be encouraged to file a preliminary claim if you find a bond for yourself or your family on the Treasury Hunt website.
(Make sure you don’t skip this step.) Since its launch, the Treasury Hunt website has received 350,000 hits based on social security numbers, but only 100,000 people have provided their contact information to collect their bonds.)
A Treasury Department “finder” will then contact you to obtain additional information and investigate your claim. If you are a match, the finder will either mail you claim forms or you can download them from the internet.
A certified signature is required on savings bond claim forms. This procedure entails visiting a bank, credit union, or other financial institution, presenting identification, and signing paperwork in the presence of a bank officer or notary who validates your signature as valid.
Q: Is there anything else I can do if I believe there should be savings bonds in my name but can’t discover any?
A:Yes.
The Treasury Department adds a half million bonds to the database every month as they mature, so check back often.
Q: I suspect I may possess bonds that have not yet matured but which I have lost track of. What is the best way for me to look for those?
A:You can request a bond search by filling out this form or calling 1-800-553-2663. Treasury officials will look into your request depending on the information you’ve provided, such as your social security number.
A: Over the years, the Treasury has issued a variety of savings bond series, each of which is slightly different.
However, the Treasury Hunt search system’s basic series “EE” savings bond worked as follows:
1. You paid half the face value for the bond.
A $50 bond, for example, would cost $25.
2.After 20 years, that EE bond was guaranteed to increase to its face value. As a result, a $25 savings bond would have increased to $50.
3. After that, the EE bond would continue to receive income for another ten years.
4.The EE bond had fully matured after 30 years and was no longer earning income.
As a result, it’s ideal to cash it in or reinvest it so that your money can begin to work for you again.
Q: I purchased savings bonds several years ago but never received them.
How do I go about getting my money?
These are referred classified as “undeliverable” bonds by the Treasury Department.
The answer is to request a manual search once more. You can fill out a request form or call 1-800-553-2663 to do so.
Q: I have a record of the dates and types of savings bonds that I possess.
How can I tell if they’re no longer earning interest?
A: The Treasury Department’s website has charts that will show you.
Still undecided?
The Treasury’s “Bond Wizard” is a good place to start.
The Series H bonds, which were issued from June 1952 to January 1957, pay interest for 29 years and 8 months.
Where can I look for my uncashed savings bonds?
To look for uncashed savings bonds in your name, go to the Treasury Department’s TreasuryDirect website. To see results, enter your social security number or Employee Identification Number (EIN) into the Treasury Hunt page’s search area and click the “Search” button.
What if my savings bond was lost?
You can obtain a replacement electronic savings bond if your paper bond is lost, stolen, destroyed, disfigured, or you never received it. Individual savings bonds are not splittable and must be reissued in their entirety. You can request that your bond be redeemed instead of replacing it electronically.
What happens to savings bonds that aren’t claimed?
The majority of savings bonds have a 20- to 40-year original maturity. The Bureau does not notify bondholders when savings bonds reach their final maturity and stop earning interest. The Bureau has no active program to find bondholders and pay them the proceeds to which they are due for fully matured notes that have not been redeemed. The registered owner has traditionally been responsible for remembering to redeem the matured bond decades after the initial purchase. As a result, the US Treasury holds around $26 billion in matured savings bonds that have gone unclaimed.
What is the value of a $100 US savings bond?
You will be required to pay half of the bond’s face value. For example, a $100 bond will cost you $50. Once you have the bond, you may decide how long you want to keep it for—anywhere from one to thirty years. You’ll have to wait until the bond matures to earn the full return of twice your initial investment (plus interest). While you can cash in a bond earlier, your return will be determined by the bond’s maturation schedule, which will increase over time.
The Treasury guarantees that Series EE savings bonds will achieve face value in 20 years, but Series I savings bonds have no such guarantee. Keep in mind that both attain their full potential value after 30 years.
Is it possible to cash savings bonds that are not in your name?
When it comes time to cash in your savings bonds, as long as you have the necessary documentation, the process will be relatively simple. It’s important to keep in mind that savings bonds cannot be sold, exchanged, or given away. The only person who can cash in the bond is the person whose name is on it (with a few exceptions, which we’ll discuss shortly).
First and first, you’ll need the bond (unless it’s an electronic bond, in which case there’s no step at all). The monies are deposited into your bank account once you cash it in via the Treasury Web site). However, make certain that the bond may be cashed: It’s been at least a year since it was published (some bonds only require a six-month retention period).
How can I get free stock and bond searches?
Go to www.treasurydirect.gov and type in your Social Security number or the name of any family member who may have owned a missing bond. You can start your “Treasury Hunt” to determine if you are owed any money so that you can get it for free.
How do you track down misplaced funds?
To find out if the federal government has any unclaimed monies, you must first determine the sort of benefit or payment that may be involved, the expected payment date, and how the payment should have been made.
Given this information, the agency in charge of certifying any outstanding payments should be able to assist you in determining the payment’s current status. The United States Government Manual, which is available in most public libraries, contains the titles and addresses for all federal departments.
The government entities listed below offer databases where you can search for unclaimed funds.
Their website was created by state unclaimed property experts to help the general public search for funds that may belong to you or your relatives for free.
