The Federal government uses Treasury bonds, along with Treasury bills and notes, to finance its debt. When you purchase a Treasury bond, it pays a fixed interest rate for a set number of years and accumulates interest every month or six months, depending on when it was issued. When a bond no longer earns interest, it is considered fully "mature." You can redeem or cash a Treasury bond before it matures, but you may lose out on some of the interest that has yet to accrue. The Department of the Treasury maintains TreasuryDirect.gov, a website you can use in a few different ways to determine if your bond has matured.
Use Treasury Hunt
Open your Internet browser and go to TreasuryDirect.gov. Select the "Individuals" section.
Click the "Tools" tab near the top of the page. Select "Treasury Hunt" from the left column. Hit the "Start Search" button.
Type the Social Security Number of the individual to whom the bond is registered. Click "Search." Any savings bonds Treasury Hunt reveals have matured and stopped earning interest.
Use Savings Bond Calculator
Go to the TreasuryDirect.gov website. Click on the "Individuals" section and then the "Tools" tab.
Select the "Savings Bond Calculator" option from the list of options in the "Tools" section. Scroll down and click "Get Started."
Select the series (e.g., EE/E, I bonds) and denomination (e.g., $75, $1,000, etc.) of the bond for which you're determining the maturity. Enter the bond's issue date and serial number in their respective boxes.
Click the "Calculate" button and review the results. Look for the "Final Maturity Date" field to determine if the bond has already matured or the date it will mature and stop earning interest.
Use Issue Date
Go to the TreasuryDirect.gov website and click on the "Individuals" section. Select the "Research Center" tab near the top of the page.
Click the "Treasury Securities that have Stopped Earning Interest" option from the research center options.
Look at the chart with the "savings bonds that no longer earn interest" heading. Check the series and issue date of your bond and match it to the series and issue dates listed in the chart to determine if your bond has matured. For example, the chart notes that "All issues" of Series E and Series H bonds no longer earn interest and have matured.
Look at the "how long bonds earn interest" chart to determine if your bond has matured based on its issue date. Match your bond's series and issue date to the correct columns listed in the chart. Add the number of years the bond earns interest to the issue date. For example, the chart shows that all issues of Series EE bonds mature after 30 years. If you have a Series EE bond issued in October 1986, for example, the bond won't mature until October 2016.
