At some point in time it seems that everyone gets some type of savings bond, whether it is for their birthday, Christmas, or as a prize in a contest.

Once people receive a Savings Bond they usually put them in a safe place and forget about them until they dig them out sometime in the future to try and figure out what it is worth.

Savings bonds are debt obligations of the U.S. Government and are backed by the Government’s full faith and credit. There are different types of Savings Bonds that are currently issued and each of them has different characteristics.

The most common types of Savings Bonds issued today are the I Savings Bonds and the EE Savings Bonds. Both of these bonds can be purchased as paper bonds or electronic bonds.

The Inflation Indexed — or I Bond — is designed to offer a way to save that protects the purchasing power of their investment by assuring them a real rate of return over and above inflation. Paper bonds ar