Do you own savings bonds or even buy them occasionally as gifts? Starting January 1, you'll need to give up the idea of going to a bank to buy them in paper format. Instead, they'll be electronic only, a move that is reported by CNN Money to save $70-120 million dollars over the next 5 years (their article wasn't entirely clear on that point). The one exception: You can still use your tax refund to buy paper bonds, which in my humble opinion defeats the purpose of going all electronic.
Have paper bonds now? Hold on to them because you'll still be able to redeem them at banks. You can also convert lost bonds into electronic ones if you've misplaced them.
I can appreciate the cost-saving measures, but I wish they'd still allow an easy way to buy a paper bond. Granted, if you bought one as a gift at a bank, it took a few weeks for the actual bond to show up in the gift recipient's mail box. As a gift now, I just don't see it as an easy, viable option.
What do you think of this move? Are you comfortable with the idea of not having an actual piece of paper to redeem when mature?
1 comment:
Well, I suppose it's a good idea for the government to save on printing out paper bonds but I will no longer invest in them. The only reason we bought bonds was the grandchildren loved to get something in the US Mail with their names on them along with their investment growth. An EMAIL message just doesn't cut it. Besides isn't the US Mail having budget problems too? As usual the government changes something that they really haven't investigated the freakenomic repercussions on. By trying to save that dime they are stepping over those paper presents that young Americans love to get and older grandparents loved to give. Oh, well I guess this is progress. Thank God the banks still allow us to hand write checks, for now.
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