The seven deadly sins of NS&I Premium Bonds

atypical

MacsReturns wrote: »

Yes, on AVERAGE, a savings account is better, and the odds of a big win on PBs are minuscule - but you will NEVER win £1,000,000 from a savings account

I guess you didn't read this bit?:

"put £2,900 in premium bonds and your jackpot odds are 1 in 14 million. Instead, put the same in a top savings account and you'd earn £5 interest after a month – enough to buy 5 lottery tickets each with a 1 in 14 million chance [of winning more than £1m]."

Not that I think that the argument of potentially winning £1m is a strong one.

lvader

atypical wrote: »

"put £2,900 in premium bonds and your jackpot odds are 1 in 14 million. Instead, put the same in a top savings account and you'd earn £5 interest after a month – enough to buy 5 lottery tickets each with a 1 in 14 million chance [of winning more than £1m]."

.

That requires quite a lot of effort. Not to mention that if you remove money each month in many accounts you wouldn't earn any interest.

Mids_Costcutter

If we're looking at Premium Bonds from the gambling point of view, some might prefer that National Savings and Investments is government-owned unlike the National Lottery. As such (and as Jonbvn points out) NS&I provides a relatively cheap source of government borrowing.

MacsReturns

atypical wrote: »

I guess you didn't read this bit?:

"put £2,900 in premium bonds and your jackpot odds are 1 in 14 million. Instead, put the same in a top savings account and you'd earn £5 interest after a month – enough to buy 5 lottery tickets each with a 1 in 14 million chance [of winning more than £1m]."

Not that I think that the argument of potentially winning £1m is a strong one.

I read it all... I just have no interest in the National Lottery or faffing around buying tickets weekly or having to get a TV or start buying papers to check the numbers (though I suppose they must have a website...) and then facing the heartache of last week's numbers winning this week and all the rest of it.

Having 1% of my net assets in something random is entertaining, that's all. One day they'll they'll surprise me, and even if the surprise is having 'won' nothing in five years, I'm not going to shed any tears over it :beer:

sabretoothtigger

samhuzz wrote: »

I like them personally. I have had £50 in since 1989 (my grandad bought them for me and all my cousins) and I have won £50 and £25 from them! Maybe I'm biased, but I agree with Glider, you can get your money back, unlike the Lottery. I was actually saying to my mum the other day (after I won the £25) imagine how much money you'd have now if you'd have put it in Premium Bonds rather than done the Lottery. She plays about £10 a week! :eek:

Its better then the lottery for sure because the money can always be used for emergencies as well as the very unlikely possibility of winning.

Any actual savings with interest is best done with the index linked certs as mentioned

with Premium Bonds it's an eye-popping one-in-40 billion.

I didnt realise the odds were that much higher, which actually means this is the best conclusion -

it's only currently worth it for top-rate taxpayers