When I was a wee lad, my mother and father bought me savings bonds. I remember cashing in some of them when I went off to college. The savings bond program began in 1935 during the first Roosevelt administration, and it was a way for ordinary Americans to invest in a basically risk-free, fee-free savings instrument with a return that usually exceeded a savings account.
Linda and I have been giving U.S. savings bonds for our grandson and our great-nieces and nephews every Christmas. We get the $50 dollar bonds from our local bank. We feel like we are helping the kids and our country.
Now the Treasury Department proposes to eliminate the paper savings bond except when we file our tax returns. At the very time when the United States government should be encouraging citizens to invest, it is making it harder for ordinary citizens like me (who do not own a credit card) to go into a bank and buy a savings bond.
Every day we see advertisements to buy lottery tickets. We never see advertisements to buy savings bonds. Unfortunately, the Treasury Department is making it harder for us to do what is good for us and for the country. I try to be optimistic, but it is difficult.
Such a shame. We bought a lot of Bonds for our son and they sure came in handy when he went to college and then bought his home.
ReplyDeleteInstead of our country getting loans other countries we should encourage bonds from American people.