Investing in savings bonds 

When investing in savings bonds, keep in mind that they are usually sold by the United States government



This type of bonds can be purchased with a face value ranging from 50 to 10,000.

The cost of these bonds is 50% of the face value

In order to find out how much interest you will earn, you need to know the redemption value, or the value of the bond when it is redeemed.

A chart similar to the one below can be used when computing the redemption value

Say for instance, you buy a 1000 dollars bond and redeemed it 4 years later. What is the redemption value of the bond? How much interest did you earn?

You can compute the redemption value as the following:

Cost of Bonds = Face Value × 50%

Cost of Bonds = 1000 × 0.50

Cost of Bonds = 500

Redemption Value = Redemption Value of 100 dollars × Number of 100 dollars in Face Value

Redemption Value = 60.21 × 20

Redemption Value = 1204.2

The redemption value is 1204.2 dollars

Interest = Redemption Value − Cost of Bonds

Interest = 1204.2 - 1000

Interest = 204.2

The interest is 204.2 dollars