Bonds Should Be Handled Carefully

Daniel Pederson, author of “U.S. Savings Bonds: A Comprehensive Guide for Bond Owners and Financial Professionals,” offers the following tips for bond owners:

Don’t rely on verbal advice from banks, relatives or coworkers. Get the facts in writing.

Organize your bond holdings. Record the serial number, issue date, series, denomination, and the name and Social Security number of the owners.

Make two copies of this record, keep one with the bonds and one in a separate location. Store both the bonds and the copy in secure locations.

Don’t randomly cash your bonds. Consider the timing issues, interest rates and tax impact of your decision.

Don’t assume that older bonds should be cashed first.

Make sure your bonds have not reached final maturity - you won’t earn any interest after they have.

If you have bonds that have been lost, stolen or destroyed, file a form PD F 1048 so that your holdings can be researched and replaced. These forms are available from local banks, or from Federal Reserve Banks that handle bonds.