As a child I remember getting savings bonds as a gift. Lame I thought, why not give me something I really wanted like a new Barbie car.
I would heave never said that out loud as my mother would have found that disrespectful. So we all said thank you, and when we got home, Ma stored the bonds in her room.
Why Savings Bonds? There was still a push to buy them when I was little, really little late 50's early 60's we were paying off the war, or something. We still had victory gardens too
So why not now. Why not give bonds this year. They carry comparable interest return rate as the banks. But are better served the country and us, than savings in a bank.
Just look at these interest rates,1.89$, 1.59% and bonds are at : semiannual interest periods from May through October 2009, is 1.64%.
Some gave us the EE-Bonds:
An Easy and Safe Way to Save
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. Series EE Bonds purchased on or after May 1, 2005, earn a fixed rate of return, letting you know what the bonds are worth at all times. See our press release for more information. EE Bonds purchased between May 1997 and April 30, 2005, are based on 5-year Treasury security yields and earn a variable market-based rate of return.
*E Bonds are the predecessor to EE Bonds and are no longer issued by the U.S. Treasury.
Electronic EE Bonds
You can purchase, manage, and redeem electronic EE Bonds safely through a personal TreasuryDirect account.
A new program called SmartExchangeSM allows TreasuryDirect account owners to convert their Series E, EE and I paper savings bonds to electronic securities in a special Conversion Linked Account in their online account.
NOTE: Paper EE Bonds are still available for purchase through most local financial institutions or participating employers' payroll deduction plans.
Key Facts:
Buying Electronic EE Bonds
* Sold at face value; i.e., you pay $50 for a $50 bond and it's worth its full value when it's available for redemption.
* Purchase in amounts of $25 or more, to the penny.
* $5,000 maximum purchase in one calendar year.
* Issued electronically to your designated account.
Buying Paper EE Bonds
* Sold at half their face value; i.e., you pay $25 for a $50 bond but it's not worth its face value until it has matured.
* Purchase in denominations of $50, $75, $100, $200, $500, $1,000, and $5,000, and $10,000.
* $5,000 maximum purchase in one calendar year.
* Issued as paper bond certificates.
If you redeem EE/E Bonds in the first 5 years, you'll forfeit the 3 most-recent months' interest. If you redeem them after 5 years, you won't be penalized.
Now if I remember correctly the way out of debt is to save money right. So if we bought Bonds instead of stock, Bonds for our children, we could even market them as USA Bail Out Bonds, provided we did nto send the freaking money to some greedy CEO.