Are Premium Bonds a scam?

24

Comments

  • ballyblack wrote: »
    Premium Bonds!

    Because of the poor chance of winning they are a government tax on fools

    A tax on fools - a truly progressive tax.
  • isofa wrote: »
    T

    Don't forget the money is 100% safe and the returns are tax free too.

    Premium Bonds is another "under the matress" job.
    What is tax free on zero return? Had £10k in PMs for more than 4 years now and probably "won" £300 in fifties. I feel that they may well be a scam.
  • stevetodd wrote: »
    I don't think they represent great value, but I think it would be unfair to call them a scam as they are transparent, what you see is exactly what you get.

    How do we know they are transparent? How can we check that we are not being fed bull.?
  • LesU
    LesU Posts: 338 Forumite
    I can't speak for other holders, but I have about £3500 in PB's and my wife has about £4000. It's only in small wins, but both of us got a return of about 8% over last year, which is not bad tax-free, esp. as the wife pays 40% tax.
  • Gwhiz
    Gwhiz Posts: 2,322
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Premium Bonds is another "under the matress" job.
    What is tax free on zero return? Had £10k in PMs for more than 4 years now and probably "won" £300 in fifties. I feel that they may well be a scam.

    I've got £30K and I'm averaging over £100 per month tax free. Not a bad return at all!
  • isofa
    isofa Posts: 6,091 Forumite
    Premium Bonds is another "under the matress" job.
    What is tax free on zero return? Had £10k in PMs for more than 4 years now and probably "won" £300 in fifties. I feel that they may well be a scam.

    You cannot describe them as a scam, They are utterly transparent. All the details are there to read.
    If you argue "how do we know this is true", "they must be lying", you can argue this about literally anything, any bank/BS account.
    They are even very open when the "rates" drop as they have done recently.

    If you feel this about your PBs, why don't you withdraw them? No-one is forcing you to keep them there. Why anyone would hold them and complain is a mystery.

    Because you haven't won much, doesn't mean others haven't. I know people who have won decent amounts, but nothing up the top of the jackpot scale.

    For me personally, I've beaten high rate interest instant access savings for the past two years with my "wins" so I'm quite happy. I've had PBs for years, sometimes they return well, other times not, but there is always a chance of winning a larger prize, which you'll never have in a bank account.

    As part of a balanced portfolio they are an option, and for me a useful one. For a high rate tax payer, they are even more interesting.

    Anyway this should be on the main discussion not a new thread - search for the topic and contribute first, or start a new thread where there isn't a discussion :rolleyes:

    The only tax on the stupid IMO is the lottery.
  • so these spies , how much are they holding?

    Is ernie given the virtual screws on his thumbdrives and told what numbers to pick?

    Does the govt kidnap his family and say do as we tell you or your daughterbaord gets it?

    Do they blackmail him with jpegs of his extra marital affairs with the teasmaid and nights out at a laptop dancing club?
    Have you tried turning it off and on again?
  • Trollfever
    Trollfever Posts: 2,051 Forumite
    I am a fan.

    If you look on Teletext you will see that one of this months million pound winners had a £400 holding bought in Oct 2006!
  • DX-SFX
    DX-SFX Posts: 61
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    helkin wrote: »
    In the late 80's, there were a number of articles in the press speculating that Premium Bonds were being used to pay the wages of special agents and spies.

    The name's Bond! Premium Bond!

    :rolleyes:

    I blame the "X Files" for the all the dumb conspiracy theorists.

    Just to rub salt in the wound, my other half has premium bonds and she wins a jammy number of times way above what she should average. Of course her good fortune must be balanced by someone else's bad fortune. Based on the poor return (see elsewhere in the forum) I prefer to place my money elsewhere.
  • helkin wrote: »
    Well between me and other members of my family, we have about £120,000 yet we only ever win the occasional £50 or £100. Also, we've had that money in there for the past 10 years and we're still not winning anything big!

    same here, family have about 90k and average about 200-250 a month between the 3 accounts although last month got 500 surprisngly.

    Usually only win a couple of 50`s (cheques), on the odd occasion a 100. Never had a 500, 1000 etc
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