Could Forever Stamps Become Worthless? What Bankruptcy Might Mean for USPS

With news reports of the U.S. Postal Service talking to restructuring advisors and being close to bankruptcy, it’s time to ask what might seem like a silly question: Are Forever Stamps really forever?

In the past two weeks, Reuters described USPS as “on the brink of bankruptcy”, the Associated Press explored what happens “in the event of a shutdown”, and the San Francisco Chronicle says postal executives are meeting with corporate “restructuring” (AKA bankruptcy) advisors.

Canceling the $2.5 billion worth of unredeemed Forever Stamps held by tens of millions of Americans is a political non-starter. The same goes for the couple of billion dollars worth of other USPS liabilities held by postal customers, such as money orders, non-Forever Stamps, and box rent.

The Postal Service would never propose walking away from those obligations, and Congress would never approve it.

But they might not be given the choice.

When a private business goes through bankruptcy reorganization, it cedes to the court control over which liabilities get paid. Unsecured creditors (like owners of Forever Stamps) are in line behind secured creditors and often end up with nothing, as you might know if you’ve ever owned a gift card for a retailer that went Chapter 11.

No one has spelled out what a “bankruptcy” or “reorganization” would mean for the Postal Service, though clearly there are thoughts in some quarters about how to void the Postal Service's labor contracts and selected financial obligations.

The point is that, whether liberal or conservative, you should be wary of any effort to present bankruptcy court as the answer to the Postal Service’s mounting debts and financial losses.