<prompt> Human: I recently remembered that I have a slew of savings bonds bought for me over the years for birthdays, confirmation class, and the likes. My realization is that these are making me less money than interest on my student loans currently, and Im thinking about just cashing all of them out and throwing a chunk at my loans, bringing me under 10k in loans and really starting to help me see a light at the end of the tunnel of my goal to pay off my loans before the end of 2016, which will amount to 4 years of student loan payments instead of the prescribed 10.Is this the most logical use of the savings bonds? Should I look into other options, say a IRA? Do I have to pay a penalty of the bonds havent fully matured yet? Thanks for the helpadvice!  <response>: Keep in mind that US savings bonds have a guaranteed doubling period. As such, you might have a bond earning 1 interest that will jump 30 in value a year from now. You should check when your bonds date is. 