Do you gamble to make ends meet? Poll discussion

ggugvrunt

Do Premium Bonds count as gambling?
I know you can get your stake back but this could be invested much more wisely.

Gordon_the_Moron

ggugvrunt wrote: »

Do Premium Bonds count as gambling?
I know you can get your stake back but this could be invested much more wisely.

To me yes, people tell me I'm wrong but look at it like this:

1. If you put £1000 in premium bonds for a year and don't win have you gambled and lost anything?

If you put £1000 in a top ISA for a year and then draw the interest out and bet it on poker/horses/lottery etc is that gambling (if it is then why isn't gambling your interest on premium bonds gambling?)

2. If when premium bonds were introduced in 1956 by Harold MacMillan you had bought £100 worth of bonds, you had won nothing since, you would still have £100 today, taking into account inflation, have you lost nothing?

If you can afford to lose what you'd earn in interest then by all means go for it on the chance of winning bigger BUT if you need the money to live on ITS IS A GAMBLE YOU MIGHT NOT WIN

NOTE: I have £6000 worth of bonds, I'm not saying they are bad, just don't go for them if you are relying on the return, they are not a guaranteed investment and you can lose from them.

sharrison01

The lottery is sadly just another tax but one that was a fantastic bit of politics. Before Major introduced it, the government were the ones dishing out money to youth clubs, arts centres, sports clubs etc etc but now the lottery takes on that mantle and the public pay for it without realising that.

A sad story a few years back was of a poor family up north where the dad literally pretended that he had won the lottery. He had a phone call from his wife asking if they could afford to buy a new pair of school shoes for their child, a minimal cost but one that they simply could not afford. In desperation, he said of course they could afford it, they had just won the lottery. Over the coming weeks, all the local banks gave him huge overdrafts on the premise that he would invest some money with them and this enabled him to actually spend like a lottery winner with cars and even a party with friends and family to celebrate. Obviously it caught up with him and despite him spending £1000's a week on tickets to actually win it, he ended up in prison. This was the general story but it shows how sad it is that people can be that desperate...

Paul_Herring

sharrison01 wrote: »

The lottery is sadly just another tax [...]

Erm - no it's not. Taxes are obligatory, the Lottery is optional.

leanneloves

No, I do not

[Deleted User]

How about rephrasing the question - Do you struggle to make ends meet because you gamble? For MSE to even describe gambling as a form of financial planning is nuts.

gadgetmind

I don't do (and have never done) the lottery because the odds of losing are high and those of winning very low. I don't do any other gambling for the same reason and I don't own premium bonds as there are better ways to invest my money.

I do buy shares, but I research them at length first, and spread the risk across sectors and territories. There are always ups and downs, but this strategy has been shown to work over the long term, and I think long term.

sharrison01

Paul_Herring wrote: »

Erm - no it's not. Taxes are obligatory, the Lottery is optional.

Optional like driving a car and paying taxes through fuel and a road fund license?

My point was that before the lottery, the government apportioned some of their budget to parts of the community that they no longer have to because the lottery does it. Whether or not you individually choose to buy lottery tickets is not the point as it is the sales of lottery tickets that contribute to these causes.

happy_lass

lottery and thats it. I personally wouldnt do the lottery but other half insists that "one day his numbers will come up" yeah right, i say, dream on !!!:)

Paul_Herring

sharrison01 wrote: »

Optional like driving a car

Yes. That sort of optional.