When you were a little boy or girl, was your grandmother in the habit of giving you a bright, shiny U.S. savings bond for your birthday? And did you have to pretend to be excited about a gift that you weren't allowed to touch for several years? And then when the bond finally came due, had you long since forgotten about it?
Apparently, there are many Americans in that very situation. The Treasury Department has determined that there is some $16.5 billion in uncashed, fully mature savings bonds lying around. There may be one in the bottom of your junk drawer.
One nice thing about savings bonds is that they continue to accrue interest even after their due date. According to this story, there's a 33-year-old man in Florida who was given a savings bond with a face value of $25 as a child. He never got around to cashing it in, and now it's worth $136.
So start scouring those old birthday cards you may still have in a trunk somewhere. The government thinks there's roughly $50 in savings bonds for every man, woman and child in America - and some of it might be yours.
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