Why you may not wait too long to cash savings bonds

Don't wait too long to cash savings bonds
If you purchased or were gifted savings bonds before the 1980s these savings bonds have matured and are no longer earning interest. To find the value of these bonds, you can go to the TreasuryDirect.gov website, download the Savings Bond Wizard.  You can input your savings bond portfolio if you wish or use the site's savings bond calculator.

The Savings Bond Wizard will let you load the entire portfolio and see the yield on each individual savings bond, today's value and the breakdown of principal and interest. 
You can also find the total interest earned on the entire portfolio and the total value of the portfolio.
You have to pay the taxes when redeeming the bonds unless you paid taxes on the interest as it was earned over the years. 

If you own savings bonds you can defer income tax
on the interest earnings until the year that a bond is cashed in or the year that it matures. Tax obligation do not disappear. You may have to pay a penalty if you owe taxes on the matured bonds.

If your bonds matured within the past three years, you may be able to avoid paying the penalty by filing amended tax returns. This is something you need to discuss with a tax professional to make sure you do it right, however taxes and penalties should not be a reasons for not to cashing in matured savings bonds that are no longer earning interest. 

Taxation and inflation tend to diminish the value of your money. 
Most people are concerned about taxation (which is necessary to keep our roads paved and pay for our firemen and policemen) since it is something we must pay, when inflation is a silent thief.
It creeps up on you and you don't always notice it.

Remember, your money is only worth what it can purchase and inflation erodes the purchasing power. Unless your money is keeping up with inflation it is worth less. When I got married, a loaf of bread cost 65 cents. You'll be hard pressed to get a GOOD loaf of bread today for less than $4. Simply put, your money has to keep up with the cost of bread.

So cash those bonds and enjoy your money (help the economy) and consult your advisor about a suitable option for another place to put your money in that keeps up with the cost of living. 

Many options are available, but always remember to make an informed decision.

Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/savings/times-up-cash-old-savings-

This posting is for information purposes only and not meant to promote any product or service.

What is the world coming to?

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. - Police have arrested two 14-year-olds in the fatal shooting of a western Pennsylvania woman after she told them to "get a job" when they tried to bum a cigarette off her boyfriend. 

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Gunmen shot dead a woman working on U.N.-backed polio vaccination efforts and her driver in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, officials said, raising to eight the number of people killed in the last 48 hours who were part of the immunization drive.

Associated Press 12/19/2012