U.S. Savings Bonds

See: Savings Bond Plan.

A savings bond is...kind of like charity. Charity...because interest rates on savings bonds are exceptionally low, even by government standards.

There was an era in America when taxpayers happily and willingly loaned money to Uncle Sam, and were happy to do so, because they had great faith and trust that the people we elected were, in fact, decent, honest, hard-working representatives who had the interests of the nation placed far ahead of their own personal gain. Think: the greatest generation.

So savings bonds used to be a standard birthday present for young people. Kind of like the Cross pens that Jewish boys get at their bar mitzvah. Grandmothers, after slathering in a bathtub of angry perfume, loved handing the $50 savings bond envelope to their college-bound progeny.

Savings bonds are issued by the U.S. treasury, and have no stated maturity date. Instead, what happens is that the savings bond just pays interest for some period of time, like...say, 10 years, and at the end of that decade, it simply stops paying interest. You can cash in the bond at that time, or just let it ride, essentially renting money to the gov for free.

And yeah...you don’t want to confuse a savings bond with James Bond, who, uh…needs no saving.