Paper bonds can only be purchased as part of your annual tax return. If you're looking to buy individual government bonds, you can do so directly through TreasuryDirect.gov.

About 1.9 million paper I Bonds — amounting to roughly $250 million — had been issued through early 2022 since the inception of the tax time program.

Bonds issued from May through October 2024 have a composite yield of 4.28%, including a fixed rate of 1.3% and an inflation rate (which adjusts every six months) of 1.48%.

Rates on I bonds have fallen to more pedestrian levels as inflation has eased. I bonds bought from Nov. 1, 2024, through April 30 are paying an annualized composite rate of 3.11%.

The program, dubbed SmartExchange, is not mandatory, but Treasury officials are hoping that holders of the existing 760 million paper bonds will take them up on their conversion offer.

The paper savings bond is now extinct. The government switched to an electronic version in 2011. But when Dan Hood tried to cash in his older matured bonds in February, his bank wouldn't accept them.