Premium Bonds: Are they worth it? Discussion Area

Gorgeous_George

While both premium bonds and the lottery are poor 'investments', I feel I should point out that the one chance in 14 million that the lottery brings you should not be compared to the one chance in 16 billion that a £1 premium bond delivers.

It's only the interest of the £1 PB that is gambled.

This makes the comparable odds of winning £1million on the PBs nearer to one in 640million for a £1 stake (about 25 premium bonds at a typical 4% interest rate).




GG

tly175

I bought my Premium Bonds through a company scheme in 1984 when you could buy them for single £1's. and I only have about £20 worth. Does this mean that because my stake is less than £100 that my numbers will no longer be in the draw?

miaxmia

clearvisor wrote:

Milarky, I also had two one pound bonds brought by my mother-in-law in the
1960's when they first came out,never won anything as yet,lol. fat chance I think,

My husband had two £1 premium bonds given to him in 1964 as a birthday present - he won £50 about 5 years ago!

Gorgeous_George

tly175 wrote:

I bought my Premium Bonds through a company scheme in 1984 when you could buy them for single £1's. and I only have about £20 worth. Does this mean that because my stake is less than £100 that my numbers will no longer be in the draw?

Your PBs will be in the draw.



GG

dazzles

Most people do not keep a note of their "winnings", if they did they would be pretty disappointed.all of us naturally remember the good times( the win) and completely forget the months when nothing comes in.....at these odds it is a poor gamble and a really lousy investment

melbury

When I look through the winning bonds on Teletext (i.e. £1 million down to £5,000 prizes) it is predominantly people with £30K holdings or close that win these big prizes. You get the odd small holding that wins a big prize, but they are few and far between. Just shows money attracts money!!

kenshaz

It may be gratitude for such returns that is causing higher-rate taxpayers to throw so much of the rest of their money into Premium Bonds, where you cannot depend on a return, although your capital is safeguarded. Mr Connolly says: “For many people, it’s more important just now to protect what you’ve got than to maximise your gains.”
taken from the www.timesonline.co.uk

sabi_2

seven-day-weekend wrote:

I have £1500 invested in Premium Bonds (bought in January and September 2005 ) and I won £50 in May 2005 and I have just won another £50 this month.

I invested £2,000 in Premium Bonds in March so far this year i have had 4 wins totally £200. So for this year they have worked for me. Will see what next year brings :-)

ManAtHome

melbury wrote:

...it is predominantly people with £30K holdings or close that win these big prizes. You get the odd small holding that wins a big prize, but they are few and far between. Just shows money attracts money!!

Well, sort of... If you have 30k in PBs, you get 30k 'goes' a month, if you have £100 you get 100 goes. Not surprising that more of the prizes go to higher holdings.

I'm sure one of the million quid winners this year only had £5, anyone else remember that?

My view - worth a few quid if you're a higher rate taxpayer, can do better if not.

casca

Can someone please explain how the calculation of winning the lottery is 1 in 14 million? By my calculation, 49^6 = +- 13.8 billion.

Also, if the odds were 1 in 14 million, all I'd need to do is wait for the prize to go above £14m and I'd be a guaranteed winner.