Q&A for How to Securely Convert Paper Savings Bonds to Electronic Securities

Most financial institutions will redeem your savings bonds. If your bank does not, it should be able to point you to a bank that will handle the redemption. You also could convert your paper bonds to electronic form through TreasuryDirect.gov and then redeem them into your bank account.

Yes. There is a website that does this for you called Treasury Direct. You will have to create an account if you haven't already.

Once your TreasuryDirect account is set up, log in, go to ManageDirectSM and click on the link “Establish a Conversion Linked Account,” which appears in the “Manage My Linked Accounts” menu.

To file a claim for a savings bond that is lost, stolen, or destroyed, complete a Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds (FS Form 1048). Sign the form in the presence of an authorized certifying officer (available at a bank, trust company, or credit union).

With that in mind, you have one option for avoiding taxes on savings bonds: the education exclusion. You can skip paying taxes on interest earned with Series EE and Series I savings bonds if you're using the money to pay for qualified higher education costs.

Mail the document, along with the unsigned bond(s), to the Treasury Department. Then wait for three-to-four weeks for the conversion to take place.

You can now convert your paper savings bonds to electronic form. When you make the SmartExchange, you trade paper savings bonds for electronic savings bonds held in TreasuryDirect, the online system that offers you 24-hour access to your Treasury securities.

Once in your TreasuryDirect account, the bond will be registered in your name alone. You can then add either a secondary owner or beneficiary. Once you have a TreasuryDirect account, you can convert other paper bonds you own to electronic bonds.