When we decided to get the attic insulated, it took THREE years. Moving all the stuff to half of the attic, then have it insulated. Then paint it, which I would have skipped. And for a brief time – maybe six weeks, the attic was again a usable space. But then time to insulate the other half, so everything’s then in the OTHER half of the room. And this took the contractor FOREVER to do, until I got…rather grumpy about it, let’s say. Room gets insulated; floor, which was weakened, was repaired; room (again, I believe unnecessarily), was painted.
NOW, finally I could put things from one side of the attic into the other, rather than have everything packed to the ceiling on one side, where I can’t access/find anything. Some of the clutter are old bills and the like, which I WOULD have gotten to a couple years ago, if that had been possible.
One box, I quickly determine was receipts of The Wife’s, all from 2004, the year the Daughter was born. One thing I DID take out was a $50 savings bond. Hmm, I wonder what it’s worth. I go to the TreasuryDirect calculator, and discover that a $50 savings bond purchased in April 2004 doesn’t mature until April 2034. The $25.00 outlay has gained $6.96 in interest, currently at 0.63%, and is now worth a whopping $31.96.
I then remember that I have a about two dozen $100 savings bonds, purchased for $50 each, from the mid-1990s, and I should check their value.
The first one, purchased 01/1993, has gained $89.56 in interest, is still gaining at 4.00%, and is now worth $139.56, more than face value. Cool.
The first ones I got in the next two years are worth somewhat less: the one I purchased 02/1994 has $57.56 in interest, still at 4.00%, for $107.56. 01/1995 has $53.72 in interest, at 4.00%, for $103.72.
But then it drops off badly. My 01/1996 purchase $50.00 has made $50.00 in interest, but is getting only 0.59% interest now. And the last one I bought, in 08/1997 has garnered only $36.20 in interest, and is receiving only 0.63%.
So if I were to have to cash them in, I’d start with the 1996 issue, then 1997, 1995, 1994, and keep those 1993 bonds for last. Savings bonds don’t seem to be the golden value they used to be.
A long time ago when I was a teenager it occurred to me that if I ever managed to acquire a million dollars, then I could put all that money into a bank savings account at a minimum of 5 percent interest. Then I could live quite well off the then princely sum of $50,000+ per year without touching the principal. That’s a long dead dream.
Savings bonds, bank accounts, IRAs and all those other bank issued “instruments” are all but worthless these days, and probably will continue to be. If you want to get rich there are only two ways left, gamble in the stock market or gamble in real estate. There is no more of the safe investment that the parents of Baby Boomers enjoyed, the Powers That Be have taken that away from us.
There’s legalized stealing: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/27/opinion/goldman-sachss-aluminum-pile.html?_r=0
Well Rog, I was talking about us normal people, not the privileged one percent. Unlike the people who run Goldman Sachs, neither you nor I have a representative of our personal interests whispering into President Obama’s ear and telling him what to do. Remember when the Hunt Brothers got nailed for cornering the silver market? Them days is long gone.
Awful that savings bonds have suddenly become useless for savings.
When I was a very little kid (eight or nine?) I had $25 saved up from multiple Christmases. My grandma and grandpa took me to the bank to buy a bond. Really educational experience.
Every little bit helps! Both daughters cashed in quite a few birthday savings bonds when they went to college and it did provide quite a bit of cash for incidental expenses. Grandmas and grandpas sent them every year from the time they were born!