You buy savings bonds directly from the U.S. Treasury through its website, TreasuryDirect.gov. There are no brokers, no banks, and no middlemen involved. The entire process, from opening an account to owning a bond, takes about 15 minutes online. Here’s exactly how it works and what you need to know before you buy.
Open a TreasuryDirect Account
TreasuryDirect is the only place to purchase new savings bonds. To set up an account, you’ll need your Social Security number, a U.S. address, a checking or savings account (for funding purchases), and an email address. The site will verify your identity during registration, and in some cases it may require additional verification by mail, which can add a few days.
Once your account is active, you can buy bonds immediately. Your purchases are funded by linking a bank account, similar to how you’d set up an ACH transfer. There’s no fee to open or maintain the account.
Choose Between Series I and Series EE Bonds
The Treasury sells two types of savings bonds, and they work differently.
Series I bonds pay a rate that adjusts for inflation every six months. The rate has two parts: a fixed rate that stays the same for the life of the bond and a variable inflation rate that changes each May and November. For bonds issued between November 2025 and April 2026, the composite rate is 4.03%, which combines a 0.90% fixed rate with a 1.56% semiannual inflation rate. When inflation rises, your rate goes up. When it falls, the rate drops, but it can never go below zero.
Series EE bonds pay a fixed interest rate that’s typically lower than what I bonds offer. Their main appeal is a guarantee from the Treasury: if you hold an EE bond for 20 years, it will double in value regardless of the stated rate. That guaranteed doubling works out to roughly 3.5% annualized over 20 years. If you plan to hold a bond for less than 20 years, EE bonds are usually the less attractive option.
How to Place Your Order
After logging into TreasuryDirect, you select which bond type you want, enter the purchase amount, and choose the bank account to fund it. You can buy an electronic savings bond for any amount from $25 to $10,000, down to the penny. So if you want to invest exactly $76.43, you can do that.
The bond shows up in your account almost immediately. There’s no waiting for a certificate in the mail, since savings bonds are now issued electronically. You can also set up recurring purchases if you want to buy bonds on a schedule.
Annual Purchase Limits
The Treasury caps how much you can buy each calendar year per Social Security number. You can purchase up to $10,000 in Series I bonds and up to $10,000 in Series EE bonds annually. That’s $20,000 total if you buy both types.
These limits apply per person. A married couple can each buy $10,000 in I bonds and $10,000 in EE bonds through their own TreasuryDirect accounts, for a combined household total of $40,000 per year. You can also buy bonds as gifts for others, though the gift counts toward the recipient’s annual limit in the year it’s delivered to them.
Paper Bonds Are No Longer Available
For years, you could buy paper Series I bonds by directing part of your federal tax refund toward them using IRS Form 8888. That option ended on January 1, 2025. Paper savings bonds are no longer sold through any channel. All new purchases must go through TreasuryDirect electronically.
If you already own paper bonds, they’re still valid and continue earning interest. You can also convert paper bonds to electronic form by setting up a TreasuryDirect account and following the site’s conversion process.
Buying Bonds as Gifts
You can purchase savings bonds as gifts for anyone who has a Social Security number, including children. To buy a gift bond, you need the recipient’s full name and Social Security number. The bond is purchased in your TreasuryDirect account and held in a “gift box” until you deliver it to the recipient’s account.
For minors, a parent or guardian needs to set up a linked TreasuryDirect account (called a minor linked account) to receive the bond. This makes savings bonds a practical option for gifting to children or grandchildren, since there’s no risk of loss and the bonds sit safely in a government account.
When You Can Cash Out
Savings bonds have a minimum holding period of one year. You cannot redeem them before that, no matter what. If you cash out before five years, you forfeit the last three months of interest as a penalty. After five years, there’s no penalty at all.
Both Series I and EE bonds earn interest for up to 30 years. After 30 years they stop earning, so there’s no reason to hold them beyond that point. You redeem bonds directly through TreasuryDirect, and the cash is deposited into your linked bank account, typically within a couple of business days.
Tax Treatment of Savings Bond Interest
Interest earned on savings bonds is subject to federal income tax but exempt from state and local income taxes. You don’t owe any tax until you redeem the bond or it stops earning interest at 30 years. This tax deferral lets your interest compound without an annual tax drag.
There’s also a potential education benefit. If you use the bond proceeds to pay for qualified higher education expenses, the interest may be entirely tax-free at the federal level. Income limits apply to this exclusion, and the bond must be registered in a parent’s name (not the student’s) to qualify. The bonds must also have been purchased when the owner was at least 24 years old.