Savings Bond Alert #006

Treasury assistance for hurricanes and storms

[Up-to-date information is at Savings Bond disaster relief programs]

Following each hurricane this summer, the Treasury has continued to add new counties to its emergency procedure list. Residents of counties on this list can receive expedited replacement or payment of Savings Bonds.

The emergency procedures also allow authorized banks to redeem Series EE and I savings bonds that are less than one year old.

Those who have lost bonds should complete form PD F-1048. There's a link to this form on the Forgotten, Stolen, Lost, or Destroyed Savings Bonds page on our web site.

Bond owners should write the word "DISASTER" on the front of their envelopes to help expedite the processing of claims.

The following list includes all counties and parishes whose residents have access to the emergency procedures as well as when the emergency procedures will stop.

• Through the end of September:
  • Florida: Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Hardee, Hendry, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Monroe, St. Johns, Sarasota, Seminole, and Volusia.
• Through the end of October:
  • Alabama: Baldwin, Butler, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Escambia, Geneva, Mobile, Monroe and Washington
  • Florida: Bay, Brevard, Broward, Calhoun, Citrus, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Glades, Gulf, Hernando, Highlands, Holmes, Indian River, Jackson, Lake, Leon, Liberty, Martin, Miami-Dade, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Polk, Santa Rosa, St. Lucie, Sumter, Taylor, Wakulla, Walton, Washington
  • Georgia: Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Dawson, DeKalb, Early, Franklin, Fulton, Gilmer, Madison, Rabun, Towns, Union and White
  • Louisiana: Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Tammany and Terrebonne
  • Mississippi: George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Perry, Stone and Wayne
  • North Carolina: Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey
  • Ohio: Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Stark, Trumbull, Tuscarawas and Washington
  • Pennsylvania: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Blair, Butler, Centre, Clearfield, Crawford, Cumberland, Dauphin, Indiana, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Northampton, Perry, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Washington, Westmoreland and Wyoming.

Recent rate changes make Savings Bonds less competitive at short terms

Since April, 1- and 2-year interest rates have strengthened in comparison to the 5-year rate that Series EE Savings Bonds are tied to.

Savings Bonds pay 90% of average Treasury 5-year rate when held for five years or more. Because of the three-month interest penalty when held less than five years, Savings Bonds pay 68% of the Treasury 5-year rate at one year, 79% at two years, 83% at three years, and 84% at four years.

In early April Treasury 1-year rates were 41% of 5-year rates and had been at that level since mid-June 2003. Since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates this summer, however, this ratio has changed rapidly. As of yesterday 1-year Treasury rates were 65% of five year rates and 2-year rates were 75% of five year rates.

Prior to these changes, Savings Bonds offered the best 1-year rates available in the U.S.