In February 1981, my birth father purchased a $75 US Savings Bond for me. Thanks to the power of the Intarwebs, I have discovered its current value. It was originally bought for $37.50, and it is now worth $204.36 - not the thousands I might have dreamed about, but enough for a couple of textbooks. If the historical currency converter is accurate, then $204.36 today is the same as $89.62, which is a slight gain over the original $75 value. So hey, it’s money I wouldn’t have otherwise had, right? It might be a little hard to redeem though…I will have to dig up my name change affidavit, because Reed isn’t my last name anymore, and there’s an SSN on the bond but it isn’t mine.