New Schedule for Savings Bond Maturities

The Treasury Department announced on Tuesday a schedule of maturity dates for U.S. savings bonds designed to reduce confusion among bondholders who are unaware of when their bonds stop earning interest.

“Financial institutions and savings bond and note owners will now only have to recall an easy to remember ‘40-30-20’ formula to determine how long bonds will earn interest,” the department said in a statement.

For instance, it said:

* Series E savings bonds issued before December, 1965, will stop earning interest exactly 40 years from their issue dates.

* Series E bonds, Series EE bonds and Savings Notes (Freedom Shares) issued after November, 1965, will stop earning interest exactly 30 years from their issue dates. Outstanding Series H bonds, issued between 1959 and 1979, also have a 30-year final maturity.

* Series HH bonds issued since 1980 will stop earning interest 20 years from their issue dates.