I finally took the plunge and sold off all our EE Savings Bonds! I'll be sad to see them go, but I sure won't miss the minuscule interest ;) Plus, it's been on my to-do list ever since March's net worth review, so it feels good to finally cross it off now. In fact, it also spurred accomplishing another item on that list - opening up a Roth IRA for the Mrs.

And oddly enough, converting the bonds literally only took 17 minutes! It took me some time to actually *find* a bank that would do it right there in person (you win Bank of America!), but it was well worth it in the end. This is how it went down:

- Walked into Bank of America (with a smile)
- Explained to the teller what I wanted to do. (with a smile)
- Signed and addressed the backs of all bonds in front of her. (no smile as it was pretty tedious)
- Got handed the $749.54 in cash and a printout of the transactions! (*huge smile*)

Again, if you're considering converting any paper bonds yourself, do check around and see if you can find a bank locally that will handle it for you. I came super close to just doing it online with Treasury Direct and it did NOT look fun. We're talking 1-2 weeks just to open an account (you do it online and then they mail you a card to activate/confirm your identity in the future), and then another 2-3 weeks to get them all converted (you have to physically mail them over and wait for a response)! I'm sure the process only takes seconds if you're converting electronic bonds only, but I'd hate to imagine what would happen if you filled out the paperwork wrong and/or it got lost in the mail :(



Okay, so now we're $749.54 richer and ready to go spend it, right?! Hah! Where do you think you are? ;) If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's to keep re-investing your earnings and to make sure to do it fast. The longer that cash sits in your account, the higher the odds of it not going anywhere - or worse, being spent! (something the old me would have LOVED to do)

Needless to say, I had a plan for every last penny before it even hit my grubby little hands: our Roth IRAs. I really think we'll earn a helluva lot more in stocks & mutual funds over the long run (the key factor) than we will in bonds, even though I certainly see the benefits of them. So $496.54 of the total is going to help max out MY Roth, since most of the bonds were issued to me over the past 29 years of growing up, and the remaining $253 will go into the Mrs' Roth - being leftover of the $500 wedding present bond we got last year which will unfortunately never grow to fruition ;) I sorta feel bad for that one, but I'm an "all or nothing" kinda guy these days and I don't want 1 single paper bond laying around to worry about, ya know?

That said, I'll def. miss the nostalgia of those old boogers. The bonds dating back to the 80's were so COOL looking! I remember thinking how rich I was when I was a kid ;) It was like sitting on 3 Nintendo Game Boys! haha...oh well, can't hold on to them forever. I'd much rather have plumper IRA's to look forward to now.

-------------
PS: If you want to learn more about the bonds you have, you can check them out at Treasury Direct w/out creating a login or anything - they're excellent for tracking their worth and all :)

Labels: bonds, investing, roth ira

Cuz i gotta tell you, it sure feels like it ;) I don't know about you all, but that's alllll i got growing up from the g-parents! Birthdays, holidays, confirmations, you name it. A big, fat, weird paper looking thing that we weren't able to cash.

Of course, back then if it couldn't be played with or eaten, i didn't care what it was! haha..but NOW i'm like "Hot damn i got some bling bling in my safe!" That's an extra $500 smackers i have access too.

That being said, do i really want to go down as the next Grandpa in our family? Sure I find them sexy as hell, but would a 1 year old? (okay yeah, that sentence didn't come out right at all). I'm not sure to be honest, so i say it's time to play the ol' Pros vs Cons game! This usually helps sort it all out.

PROS of Gifting Savings Bonds:

1. Double the present, for half the money! If you pick up an EE Savings Bond, you only pay half of what it'll one day be worth. So if i go the $50 route per my holiday budget, i can actually give a $100 bond! And even if the kid can't wait the 20 or whatever years, it'll ALWAYS be worth at least the original $50 you plopped down.
2. You can buy them online. That's right, so as i sit here typing away 3 days before Christmas, all i have to do is hop over to TreasuryDirect.gov and fill out a little info! Of course, you could also just slip into your neighborhood bank as well. (Update: #1 - there's a 2 week waiting period once you sign up online :( #2 - some banks stopped issuing them...Our local M&T bank stopped, BUT our local credit union still does them! Filled out the form and good to go now)
   
3. You can buy one for ANY amount. Have a budget of $25? no problemo. $200? works for me! If you're picking up an electronic EE bond, you can actually buy them to the penny with a min. of $25. If you go the paper route, the denominations are $50, $75, $100, $200, $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000. Remember though, you only pay HALF of that with the EE bonds.
4. No wrapping required! It's like giving yourself a gift :) Or if you prefer, you could always print out the online "gift certificate" Treasury Direct concocted and wrap that little guy up too....i don't know why, but it cracks me up. Click on the picture up top to see what i mean ;)
5. Your Grandparents will smile down on ya :) Yup, that's a fact Jack.

CONS of Gifting Savings Bonds

1. You'll be perceived as an old fart. I think we pretty much covered this one...
2. It can't be used anytime soon. Not so great for instant gratification.
3. It's sorta like giving cash. While it's def. an investment, you're still handing over money.
4. It may get lost over time. If in paper form. (You can always purchase electronic bonds through Treasury Direct though, and/or convert your old paper ones.)
5. You'll get thanked 20 years from now... Unless the kid is the next Warren Buffet, he/she won't actually appreciate your thoughtfulness until they grow up ;)

Yeah, i think the Pros won me over. It may not be the funnest gift out there, but perhaps i can convince the little booger of value early on (he's 1 y/o). Plus, i'm really running out of time here! I swear one of these years i'm gonna have all my Xmas shopping done in November...

Any of you ever give the gift of investment? And did it go over smoothly?

Labels: bonds, gifting

That's right, miraculously we're STILL getting wedding checks sent our way :) I guess that "1 year to give a gift" rule is pretty common these days. Not that i really care one way or the other, i just find it pretty funny. This rule doesn't apply to birthdays, graduation,or Christmas so why weddings?

I asked a couple friends but no luck, they all came back pretty much with "i dunno, it's just the way it is". Okay, so let's just say that's the deal. Why do it though? I mean, it takes a lot of time to make arrangements to go to the wedding, get a hotel (if needed), and schedule your family's life around it cuz of the time it consumes, so the present part should be the easy part, right?

The only thing i can think of is that perhaps it just gets forgotten w/ all this other stuff going on. Or it's just laziness :) I've never sent a late gift myself, but if i did it would totally come down to the lazy factor. But enough of this talk, my word vomit is going wayyyy off track now.

The reason for this post is to give an update on our newest check contenders in our Bank Battle! So here they are:

• USAA moves up a notch to 2nd place with a $200'er (holler)
• Commerce Bank brings in another $50.00
• And PNC makes it a 3-way tie for first, w/ another respectable $100.00!

Ooh, and i almost forgot about the BEST gift ever! A $500 Savings Bond :) Similar to the others in my safe, it's a "Patriot Bond" (EE) worth $250 at the present time, which will work it's way up over the years. I love it! (For more info on bonds, check out the snazzy Treasurydirect.gov site.)

There's just something about those little guys that bring absolute joy to my life. I think it's the whole "you can watch me grow, but you can't spend me!" thing. Fine by me, my other bonds will now have an extra friend to play with. No shame in that game!

So there you have it, our old cash gift total worked it's way up from $6,000 to $6,350, and USAA is battling Navy Federal for the 2nd place title...will it end here? Only time, and laziness, will tell ;)

Labels: banking, bonds, gifting, PNC, USAA, wedding

I WON THE LOTTERY!!! j/k....oh well, so what if Operation Panera is now down the toilet, it'll happen one day :) I DO have good news though!

Thanks to E.C. (& Tom's) post on my treasure chest find, I now have some answers regarding my savings bonds! Seriously thanks guys, there was no way i was gonna find that site myself w/ everything going on this week.

First, what are EE Savings Bonds? Directly from: Treasurydirect.gov

EE Bonds are reliable, low-risk government-backed savings products that you can use toward financing education, supplemental retirement income, birthday and graduation gifts, and other special events.

They are purchased at half the price of the face value, and mature over a certain amount of time. If redeemed in the first 5 years, the 3 most-recent months' interest will be forfeited, but anytime after 5 years is free from penalization. The interest gained are also state & local tax free, but you do have to pay federal tax.

Now, would you like to know the juicy details of how much mine are worth? do ya? do ya? Have you been good? okayyyyyyy, here we go!



Not bad, right? What was interesting was the fact that they were all purchases for only $25.00, i had no idea that's how it worked! Not only that, but that some are now worth 6 TIMES the original price! Sweetness for sure. The two under valued under $50 i wasn't expecting, but whatever it's totally a great deal.

After debating the last few days what to do with them, i think i'll hold onto them until each reaches 30 years (the limit at which interest will stop accruing). I *might* convert them into electronic bonds through that same website, so they're at least up to modern times, but either way those bad boys will remain in my safe for a bit.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments, and be sure to check out the site yourself and see what YOUR'S are worth!!! it's sexciting, that's for sure :)

Labels: bonds, updates

How cool is it that i even HAVE a safe?! ha ha...i bought one a cple years back when i was in splurge-mode after hearing horror stories of important documents going up in flames. I also always thought it was "cool" using them at hotel stays, and seeing rich people use them on T.V. The most awesomest being Scrooge McDuck's of course, from Duck Tales.

At any rate, i was digging through it a few weeks back and came across an envelope full of old Savings Bonds I got when i was a wee one. My Grandparents were HUGE fans of these things, so I'm dedicating this post to them. Thank you much G-ma & G-pa!

The most awesome thing about 'em is that they just LOOK so old! i don't know what they look like now, but seeing the typed out text makes me laugh a little...i can see a banker putting one through a typewriter or something.

Here's what i found:
A $50 bond - dated FEB, 1980 - Series EE
A $50 bond - dated MAR, 1980 - Series EE
A $50 bond - dated DEC, 1984 - Series EE
A $50 bond - dated DEC, 1994 - Series EE
A $50 bond - dated DEC, 1996 - Series EE

I vaguely remember my mom telling me how important it was to hold on to them until the maturity date, so i'd imagine they have to be good by now. I'm just glad i still have them after all these years! To be honest though, i'm not sure if i really even want to cash them in. My mind is currently full of questions:


1) Are they still Valid??? i mean some are from 1980!! hahaa...
2) How much are they worth now?
3) What do the "EE"'s stand for?
4) Can i just roll up to a bank and turn them in willy nilly? And if so, what if I have an online back (I use USAA), would i get charged some crazy fee if i tried giving them up to a different bank?
5) Do i need to prove who i am? I'd imagine i'd have to show proper I.D. to prove my name, but i'm hoping not for the address that's listed on the bond...i've moved 20+ times in my life and can't imagine showing this proof.
6) What are the tax implications? Maybe there's some sort of tax-free status, considering i've been waiting over 20 years on some! i highly doubt it though.

As you can see, i'm just starting to dive into this crazy arena. If any of you know what's up, feel free to help me out. I'll probably just google it when i get some free time (or when i'm bored) but i'm way too lazy right now. Plus the "what if" excitement is fun for the time being ;)

Have a most joyous weekend everybody, and HAPPY BLOGGING!!!

Labels: bonds