Premium Bonds, Good Investment with Max Holdings?

CarolWhite_2

Has anyone out there invested the maximum allowable in premium bonds?

I am seriously considering this (at least for a year) and would like to know the true returns you have experinced. Yes I know NS&I quote on average it's 15 a year, but what have you experienced?

By the way I am a 40% tax payer and have maxxed on my ISA.

Gorgeous_George

AAARGGGGHHHH!

You don't INVEST in Premium Bonds in the same way that you don't INVEST in the National Lottery.

It's not as expensive a gamble for a 40% tax payer.



GG

dunstonh

Threads on Premium Bonds usually end up the same way. Its turned into a bit of an FAQ. You are probably better off reading some of the recent Premium Bond threads to get a better idea of how the Governments Lucky dip plan works.

wheely

Thats why I hate asking questions on these boards....some smart a*se will always try and make you look like a pr*ck for asking a simple question.

Premium Bonds are not like the Lottery...Last time I looked you couldnt get your pound back from the corner shop on a Sunday morning when you'd failed to win!!!

Market_Oracle

CarolWhite wrote:

Has anyone out there invested the maximum allowable in premium bonds?

I am seriously considering this (at least for a year) and would like to know the true returns you have experinced. Yes I know NS&I quote on average it's 15 a year, but what have you experienced?

By the way I am a 40% tax payer and have maxxed on my ISA.

I held the full wack over 2 years ago, dis-invested when the interest rates on savings went up. I made an overall return of about 2%, so not that good.

dunstonh

wheely wrote:

Thats why I hate asking questions on these boards....some smart a*se will always try and make you look like a pr*ck for asking a simple question.

Premium Bonds are not like the Lottery...Last time I looked you couldnt get your pound back from the corner shop on a Sunday morning when you'd failed to win!!!

Or you get some 5 post wonder who has helped no-one making smart !!!! responses.

Premium bonds are a form of gambling but with security of capital (except at the ravages of inflation). We get Premium Bond threads almost weekly now, so pointing the OP to one of the many threads that already exist is a perfectly valid thing to do.

Paul_Herring

wheely wrote:

Premium Bonds are not like the Lottery...

They are alike. It's just the execution that's different.

Put £30,000 into a monthly paying savings account. Each month take out the interest and put it on the Lotto.

Put £30,000 into the Premium bonds, let the government take the interest and put it in their Lotto.

At the end of the year, take your £30,000 out of both. You haven't 'lost any money.' And you might be up on either.

Last time I looked you couldnt get your pound back from the corner shop on a Sunday morning when you'd failed to win!!!

To use a similar arguement, you cannot retrieve the interest you could have earned on the money in PB's if you failed to win.

Gorgeous_George

wheely wrote:

Thats why I hate asking questions on these boards....some smart a*se will always try and make you look like a pr*ck for asking a simple question.

Premium Bonds are not like the Lottery...Last time I looked you couldnt get your pound back from the corner shop on a Sunday morning when you'd failed to win!!!

A little over the top there wheely.

You clearly didn't understand the point that I was making and, given your choice of words, I shall not bother trying to explain. I bet you were fun for the teachers at school.

EDIT... Thanks Paul for explaining it so well.



GG

crumpetman

Paul's explanation is spot on. I bought my bonds at the end of March, won in the first draw in April and have had three wins since totally £400. So, given that the first month they're in there they cannot win anything they have not been a particularly good bet/investment.

As Paul suggested, I may just put the money in a savings account and each month use the interest on the lottery or go to the casino and put it all on red!

Gorgeous_George

If you would like to check what your lottery numbers could have won you if you'd taken them since the lottery started,pm me your email address and I'll send you my lottery checker. You need Excel to run it but if not, pm me your numbers and I'll check them for you.



GG