While you cannot sell a savings bond, you can redeem them at face value prior to maturity (you must wait one year to redeem).

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Rates are very low right now, but there is an interesting facet to EE bonds: the Treasury guarantees the bond will double in value if held to maturity, which is 20 years.

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The Treasury could conceivably buy something above market value but below fair value and hold it to maturity.

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It required banks to write down the value of assets (such as long-term bonds) to market value, even if the banks intended to hold them until maturity.

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The same phenomenon can be observed in the index-linked government-bond market, where both interest payments and the maturity value are pegged to inflation.

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These funds primarily buy bonds maturing in the year the funds will terminate, so that the funds can collect the bonds' face value at maturity and pass the cash along to investors.

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By holding assets to maturity, the government could benefit if they rise in value.

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And as to your point, I think disclosure will help people understand the real values so that you put a number on what you think the current present value of this asset is, based on the probability of holding it to maturity.

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