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November 20, 2009 | 05:27 PM

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You are NEVER required to download updated software:
Since the Bond Guru functions via the Internet, there is no software for you - the user - to ever have to download. The "software" is available on our servers so that anytime you access The Savings Bond Guru at SavingsBonds.com and enter your email address and password, you will have access to the entire suite of programs and services.
You are NEVER required to download the newest interest rate tables to receive the most accurate data:
The Bond Guru interest rate tables, and bond value tables, are revised just as soon as the government releases the new interest rates and redemption values for the upcoming six-month period. We then upload those revised tables into our servers for everyone to access. You never need to be concerned about the information that you observe on your SAVINGS BOND PERFORMANCE REPORT© is 100% accurate.
You NEVER need to back up your bond information:
The Bond Guru has automatic procedures whereby all of the savings bond database files are automatically copied (backed up) onto a separate disk drive every night. A tape backup is accomplished once each week. So, even if your PC should become inoperable, lost or stolen, your bond information will not be affected.
Software enhancements automatically provided:
The government is always changing the rules and regulations concerning the Savings Bond program. Also, our company, SavingsBonds.com, is always seeking ways to enhance and improve your experience with The Savings Bond Guru and the various reports we provide. Therefore, as, and when, changes are required to be made to the software, the reports, or the system itself, you can be 100% confident that the required changes will be made as quickly as possible and the revised programming will be uploaded to our servers so that when you next access the Savings Bond Guru, the enhanced, upgraded service will be ready and available for you.
This beneficial feature by itself makes our service a better alternative:
Than any other similar service (or software) offered by the governmen or any one of our competitors. When you use other similar services, you must take responsibility to back up the program and bond data files from your PC onto some other removable media. Thus, IF you don't faithfully "back up" your bond information, and IF your PC ever "crashes", you will probably lose the programs AND all of your bond information. Since all of the software created for the Savings Bond Guru, as well as the savings bond information you entered, is actually stored on servers owned and operated by our firm, your PC never has any bond software or savings bond information stored on it. So, if your PC ever "crashes", you won't need to be concerned about the bond information you worked so diligently to enter. Then, once your PC is repaired, or you obtain a replacement PC, you don't need to be concerned about your savings bond information. It is safe and secure and waiting for you to access it once again.
If your PC is ever damaged or stolen, your bond data is 100% safe and secure:
Because all of the software created for the Savings Bond Guru, and your savings bond information, is stored on servers owned and operated by our firm, your PC never has any savings bond information stored on it. Thus, you should never be concerned that someone else will be able to access your savings bond information. Furthermore, once you obtain a replacement PC, you can be 100% confident that once you log in to the Savings Bond Guru, you will find that your bond information is safe and secure and just waiting for you to access it once again.
Every time you access the service, your information is automatically recalculated:
Only the bond series (E, EE, H, HH, Savings Notes, and series I bonds), denomination, issue date and the serial number (optional) is stored on our servers. Every time you log in to the Bond Guru, the information is instantly re-calculated. Therefore, no matter when you access the Savings Bond Guru to review your savings bonds, the information that you see is always 100% fresh and accurate.
Information presented in easy to read descriptions - as well as elaborate spreadsheets:
If you are like most bond owners, the most frequent report that you will utilize is the SAVINGS BOND PERFORMANCE REPORT©. For those of you who prefer to review information in a spreadsheet format, the detail page(s) - with columnar totals - is probably most interesting for you. However, for those unfamiliar with looking at accounting style reports - instead of immediately going to "the bottom line" on the last "detail" page - the essential savings bond information is also displayed (or printed) in a single paragraph, containing 4 sentences, on the front page (or top page - also know as the "Summary" page). Therefore, in about than 10 - 15 seconds, you can read a few sentences that will summarize all the critical information about the value of your entire portfolio.
Access your account from any PC with Internet access with your email address and password:
Because no savings bond programming, or savings bond information, is stored in your own PC, anytime that you wish to review your savings bond information, in another location, say in your accountant's or investment adviser's office, or at the bank, or even a relative's home, just as long as you have access to a PC with Internet access, you can use the Savings Bond Guru to review and/or display your savings bond information.
Quick & easy data entry requiring just 3 pieces of information to value a bond:
We have designed, and then we refined our data entry processes continuously for over 10 years. Since the only information that is needed to be entered for each bond is the series (only 1 or 2 digits), the amount, (or denomination - which is selected from a pull-down menu), and the date of issue (also selected from a pull down menu), each bond's information is processed swiftly and easily. (The serial number is not required for the successful operation of the service, so that information is optional.) We have received numerous compliments from many of our satisfied subscribers about how easy the service is to use. Most people find that once they enter 2 or 3 bonds, they are able to enter hundreds more savings bonds in only a few minutes. Even if you make a mistake, all you need to do is select the bond and click on the "edit" button, and correct the mistake.
Quick entry of multiple bonds:
Early on we realized that many people with large numbers of savings bonds bought the same series of bond, in the same denomination (amount), month after month, year after year, as part of a payroll deduction plan. So we enhanced our data entry process that requires you to click on "copy" and then just change the issue date information. What could be easier? Subscribers have reported that they have entered their entire portfolio - containing hundreds of savings bonds - in only a few hours.
Data encryption ensures that your bond information is 100% accurate:
By using special communications techniques, your data is always 100% safe and secure when passing over the communication lines to our servers - and back again.
Cash-in values and interest rates are always guaranteed to be 100% accurate:
The government usually issues new bond interest rates and bond redemption values twice each year. We receive this information and load it into our servers within a few hours of its release. Once the revised tables are ready - and tested - they are downloaded into our servers. This process is usually accomplished well ahead of the time that the new information goes into effect.
Our Live consultants are available for telephone support between 9 and 5 EST:
We are a leading edge technology company employing the latest tools and techniques to deliver a world-class service to you. However, when it comes to communicating with our subscribers we are very "old-fashioned". We have real, live, persons answering our phones - usually after only one or two rings. The only time that your phone call is picked up by an answering machine is when our offices are closed. If you leave an intelligible message - with your name and phone number - a live person will return your call just as soon as possible.
Email support for off hour inquiries answered in 1 business day:
If we are ever not available for phone support, you can simply & easily email us from within The Savings Bond Guru service. This online email support form communicates directly to our highly trained and knowledgable staff your account information along with your message. We pride ourselves in our technical and customer support with having an average reply and resolution time of 1 business day to customer inquiries.
The Bond Guru service will never become obsolete:
Because our main business model focuses on United States Savings Bonds, (issued since 1941), and because we have numerous sources within the government to learn about impending changes to the savings bond program, we are always looking ahead to see whether the impending changes will affect our service. We are "on top" of events in the world of savings bonds, and because we are able to make modifications to our software before the changes go into effect, we can safely state that our service is always "current".
Our "Pro-Active" color coded reports offer the advantage of quickly and easily knowing everything you need to know:
This is a major benefit that distinguishes and separates our service from any other similar bond valuing and tracking software. By displaying different background colors behind each bond itemized on the spreadsheet has dramatically changed the way savings bond owners review their savings bond information. By providing various colored backgrounds, the bond owner does not need to interpret the information on the report - they only need to understand what each color represents. Through the use of color, the information literally "jumps off" the page right into the bond owner's brain. After only a few short minutes, the bond owner will learn all about the status of their savings bonds. This is an EXCLUSIVE feature in our Savings Bond Guru service. To the best of our knowledge no other service dealing directly with the owners of savings bonds offers this extraordinary feature.
How to prevent taxation issues with the IRS:
According to IRS publication 550, when your bonds reach FINAL MATURITY, (when they stop earning interest), the interest earned must be reported on your Federal Income Tax Return for that same tax year. Once any savings bond listed on your report has a RED background color, it alerts you that the bond has reached its FINAL MATURITY. If you fail to report the Interest Income Earned by that bond, you could become liable for penalties and possibly interest assessments on the taxes that would have been due if you had properly reported the Interest Income Earned at the proper time. You can review the affected IRS publication 550 information by returning to the Bond Guru home page and clicking on IRS in the heading.
When your bonds have stopped earning interest:
When bonds that were issued BEFORE December 1965, are 40 years old, they will have reached FINAL MATURITY and they will no longer earn any interest. When any savings bond issued AFTER November of 1965, reaches 30 years of age, those bonds have also reached FINAL MATURITY and they will no longer earn interest. So that the bond owner will not have to remember these rules, any bond with a RED background has reached its FINAL MATURITY date and the value that is seen will never increase or decrease. At this point it is too late to do anything except cash-in these RED bonds. They cannot have anyone's name changed or added as either a Beneficiary or a Co-Owner. When any bond is cashed-in, the redemption agent, (usually a bank), is responsible to issue you a 1099-INT form which advises you how much of the proceeds are Interest Income Earned - which must be reported on your Federal Income Tax Return for the same year the bonds were cashed-in.
The best time to cash-in a savings bond:
When the bond owner observes the green color, or no background color, behind any bond information, it means that the bond just had interest posted on the first day of the current month. If you were looking to cash-in some bonds, and you were trying to decide which bonds to cash-in, green bonds, or no background color bonds, should be a factor in your choice. Comparing interest rates would also be another factor.
How to avoid forfeiting up to 6 months of interest:
When the bond owner observes the color yellow behind any bond information, it means that the bond will have interest posted to it next month. Thus, you should not cash-in the bond during the current month. Bonds issued before March of 1997, have interest posted twice each year. Cashing a yellow bond even one day early could cause you to forfeit up to 6 months worth of interest. Also, do not cash-in bonds with a blue background, which carries a three-month interest penalty if you cash them in before they are 5 years old (since their date of issue).
How to avoid interest penalties:
DO NOT cash-in bonds with a BLUE background. BLUE colored bonds have a three-month interest penalty if you cash them in before they are 5 years old (since their date of issue). The cash-in value that you see on the report has the three-month interest amount already deducted.
Which bonds can't be cashed-in yet:
When you purchase a savings bond, there is a minimum "holding period" of twelve months. During this "holding period", you cannot cash-in any bond. To help savings bond owners from attempting to cash-in those bonds, we place a SILVER background color behind each bond. Once the bond reaches its first anniversary, the bond will have a BLUE background color until it reaches its fifth anniversary.
Helps the Novice or Experienced Investor:
This is another major benefit that further distinguishes and separates our service from any other similar bond valuing and tracking service. By placing the cursor in the heading of many of the columns on the SAVINGS BOND PERFORMANCE REPORT© and clicking on it, the contents of the report will be arranged in either ascending or descending sequence. Clicking in that same column heading again will re-sequence the contents of the report in the reverse order from the initial click. Why is this feature so valuable ? Let's assume that the bond owner decides that he/she wants to cash-in some bonds. The most common question is; Which bonds should I cash-in ? One answer might be to cash-in those bonds with the lowest rate of interest ! (That's right, all bonds DO NOT earn interest at the same rate.) So, by placing the cursor in the heading of the column labeled as "CURR INT RATE %", the entire report will be re-sequenced based on the contents of the Current Interest Rate. Now by looking at the various bonds the owner can see which bonds are his/her better performers and which bonds are his/her lesser performers. Thus, assuming that the bonds don't have a YELLOW, BLUE or SILVER background color, it would be logical to pick that/those bond(s) with the lowest interest rate(s) for cashing-in. Thus, via the Re-sequencing feature, along with specific color-coded backgrounds, the selection as to which bonds to cash-in has better logic than just cashing-in the older bonds. Clicking in the heading of the Date-Issued column will re-sequence the report contents back into their original sequence.
"Redeem" bonds you have cashed in to keep information in a separate area:
Once a bond owner cashes-in their bonds, they no longer want them "cluttering up" their "Active" bond's portfolio. So, by "editing" the bond and placing it into a "Redeemed" status, the bonds can be taken off the report and put into a different status. The "Redeemed" bonds are still there, but they have been relegated to the "Redeeemed" pool. Redeemed bonds can be printed out.
Print out a selected group of bonds from your entire portfolio:
From time-to-time the bond owner wants to print out only a certain portion of their portfolio. By selecting only those bonds that they want on this "Selected" printout, they can keep the bonds in their "Active" portfolio, but still have a shorter list for whatever purpose that they had in mind. Just another feature that separates us from our competitors.
Notifies you via email when any bonds reach final maturity every month:
Every month, as part of the service you receive as a paid subscriber, we send to you a MONTHLY SUMMARY STATEMENT© - via email. While this report has another purpose, at the same time that the Summary Statement is being developed, the servers also determine if one or more of your savings bonds have reached (or passed) their FINAL MATURITY date. If your portfolio contains one or more matured bonds, a warning message is printed in RED alerting you to this milestone. Therefore, even if you don't access the Savings Bond Guru, you are still advised that one or more bonds have stopped earning interest and should be cashed-in.
Notifies you via email about the changes in your bond values every month:
Every month, as part of the service you receive as a paid subscriber we send you a MONTHLY SUMMARY STATEMENT© - via email. This is a single-page report that is produced after our servers scan through your bond information and value your savings bonds as of the current month, and the prior month, and then it subtracts one amount from the other. The primary purpose of this report is to advise you on how your savings bonds are performing on a month-to-month basis. However, other messages and warnings, (if appropriate), are also included on this report
Our service is always being improved and updated:
There is always something happening in the world of savings bonds. And when newsworthy events surface, we will send you an email telling you all about it. Also, since we are always adding new features to the service that will enhance either the way we deliver the information to you, or the information itself, we will send you an email to make you aware of the enhancements. As we observe how our service is used, and as subscribers tell us how to make our service even better we will improve and enhance our service for everyone. When you become a subscriber, you automatically become entitled to use any new or improved services that we may create. So long as you remain a paid subscriber, you will have access to the exact same services that everyone else receives. (Subject to the level of service that you subscribe to.)