Hi all,
My family has an antiquated tradition of gifting savings bonds to young relatives that I'd like to continue.
I know that they're not a good hedge against inflation and that there are better investments out there, but I found savings bonds to be a good teaching tool, one that stuck with me through the years. I also realize that finding a paper bond is becoming harder, and I'm hoping to purchase an actual bond certificate and not a gift card.
As the US Treasury Department no longer issues paper savings bonds, I'm exploring options from non-US countries. (I really do like the physical paper bond certificate, although it looks to be harder to find these days. Canada made a similar transition.)
My base requirements in order (only the first one is absolutely required):
-Legally purchasable by US citizen with no foreign residencies or dual citizenship
-Minimum purchase amount $100 – $200 USD (open to going higher if needed, but I'd prefer smaller denominations)
-Paper bonds issued if possible, electronic is fine but I'm sentimental.
-Generally stable government in decent financial health, although my risk / reward tolerance is pretty high. Open to developing countries.
Does anyone have any experience in this area? I recognize that this tradition is antiquated, but I think it's sweet and nostalgic.
Thanks for taking a look.
Paper Savings Bond Options for Gift – US Domestic or Foreign
byu/ParkingtonLane ininvesting
Posted by ParkingtonLane
3 Comments
This is actually pretty wholesome, love that you want to keep the tradition going
Have you looked into I Bonds through TreasuryDirect? I know they’re electronic only now but you can still print out a nice certificate-looking thing for gifting. Not the same as the old paper bonds but might scratch that nostalgic itch
For foreign bonds with paper certificates, that’s gonna be tough – most developed countries have gone digital. Maybe look into some UK Premium Bonds or Australian government bonds, though I’m not 100% sure on the US citizen purchase requirements for those
Someone needs to create an index fund share certificate with the look and feel of the old EE bonds. Those traditions were created before the era of free money when they made sense.
Are you asking about negotiable bearer bonds? Ie. bonds on paper which can be redeemed.
Since the late ’80’s many countries have started to transition from issuing bearer bonds because it was commonly used for money laundering and illegal transactions.
I think that maybe Bunds (German sovereign debt) may still be available in bearer certificates. I am not sure if there are new issues – but there are still bearer bonds which may trade on the secondary market.
Although – not sure how secondary transactions in bearer bonds work though or how you would go about buying any…