US Savings Bonds

Archive for March, 2010

Question: how can i raise a disabled child, when the government keeps me from having financial stability?

I am 28 years old, married with 3 girls. My middle child has severe disabilities and so I am forced to be a stay at home mother relying on my husbands paycheck and the little bit of money we get from Social Security (which flucuates according to our income). We are always broke.I cannot figure out a way to improve our financial position. and according to massachusetts law we are not allowed to have any more than $3000 in total combined assets (this includes savings, life, insurance, IRAs, stocks, and bonds) or we would lose my daughters SSI. It makes no sense to me that because i have a child with special needs that my husband and i can’t even put away for retirement, and what are we going to do when we get older and our daughter is still living with us and we no longer have the means to support her.what am I going to do when my other children want to go to collage and we were not allowed to even get them Savings Bonds? I am so stressed out trying to plan for an uncertain future

Answer: If you have the means to save money it can be done. What you need to do for your disabled daughter is a special needs trust. You need a lawyer who specializes in special needs trusts to do this. You can also put away money for your other two children in trusts. There can be a college fund trust for each of them.

You can prepay all your burial costs. You can have a $1,500 burial expense fund for each of you.

You can have $1,500 of life insurance per person.

You can have an IDA of any amount. (http://www.socialsecurity.gov/ssi/spotlights/spot-individual-development.htm)

And you can have an IRA – who ever told you you could not is mistaken. An IRA counts as an asset for an adult on SSI, but not a parent’s IRA when it is the child who gets SSI. http://www.cbpp.org/3-10-00socsec.htm

HEALTHCARE REFORM EXPLOSION – DEMOCRATS PLAN TO TAKE IRA & 401Ks TO PAY FOR IT

Question: Question about Savings Bonds?

When my daughter was in elementary school, she won two $50 Savings Bonds. She is now grown, but we don’t know how Savings Bonds work. Do you cash them in or is it better to let them mature? Can someone explain.

Answer: Cathee,

I will assume you have EE bonds aka Patriot bonds. I would let the bonds mature unless you are going to use them for college education (if use for college, tax free). The are not subject to local or state tax but they are taxed at the federal income tax rate of the redeemer. I have gathered some info for you. Vote this one the best answer!

Series EE Bonds are among the most popular of Treasury securities. The face amount printed on the bond is known as its denomination, which ranges from $50 to $10,000. EE bonds are available in paper or electronic form. Paper EE bonds are sold at a discount equal to one-half of the face value of the bond. In other words, a bond with a face value of $100 would cost you $50. Electronic EE bonds are issued at face value starting at $25.

Instead of paying interest to bondholders, EE bonds are a form of zero-coupon bond. This means that the value increases in set increments and continues to gain in value for as long as you own it or until it matures.

You can hold EE bonds for 30 years or cash them in (redeem them) before that time. The original principal plus accumulated interest is payable upon redemption.

You must hold Series EE Bonds a minimum of one year, and there is a three-month interest penalty for the redemption of bonds held less than five years. EE bonds are limited to $30,000 per person per calendar year. You can redeem your bonds at most banks.

If you have Series EE Bonds or Series I Bonds, you generally pay any income taxes in the year you redeem the bonds or at maturity, whichever comes first. The difference between the purchase price and the redemption value is taxable interest.

To find out what your governments Savings Bonds are currently worth or whether they’re still paying interest, go to TreasuryDirect’s website at www.publicdebt.treas.gov/sav/savrdtbl.htm.

I (probably don’t) need those t-shirts

Question: How can I find out what my US Savings Bonds are worth? Where can I cash them?

Bonds were issued 04-2001 Series EE.

Answer: The Us Savings Bond Calculator is here: http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/sav/savcalc.htm

You can cash them at any bank.