Time to give up on Premuim Bonds?

goatcheese1

I am 22 and have had Premuim Bonds for 22 Months Nearly. All I seem to win are prizes of £25.00. I had the max in before they upper the limit to 40k. I now have 36k. I have won £475 in total over 22 months. Is that Good, Average or Poor?.

Thanks.

alanq

See http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds

Paulrm71

Over the last 18 months I have had between £2.5k and £30k, currently have £5k. I have won the grand total of zero during that time! I am giving up and they will be put into next years stocks and shares isa. I must be the unluckiest premium bond owner ever!

ChesterDog

Premium bonds are a lottery. You cannot 'expect' any return at all from them, not even the average.

torbrex

goatcheese1 wrote: »

I am 22 and have had Premuim Bonds for 22 Months Nearly. All I seem to win are prizes of £25.00. I had the max in before they upper the limit to 40k. I now have 36k. I have won £475 in total over 22 months. Is that Good, Average or Poor?.

Thanks.

I have held PB's for over 35 years and all I have won is a single prize of £25 so you are doing a damn sight better than me.

brewerdave

Just calculated my return over the last 22 months on an initial £27k..... ..its ~ 1.43% ie equivalent to ~1.8% gross so not very good!
However,as a pensioner, its just part of my savings and investments...in view of the OP's young age my advice would be to get out of PBs and get into stocks and shares via NISAs

colsten

brewerdave wrote: »

Just calculated my return over the last 22 months on an initial £27k..... ..its ~ 1.43% ie equivalent to ~1.8% gross so not very good!
However,as a pensioner, its just part of my savings and investments...in view of the OP's young age my advice would be to get out of PBs and get into stocks and shares via NISAs

An S&S ISA would make sense if the money can be put aside for the longer term (at least 5 years, preferably 10). However, if the OP needs the money in the next few years. e.g. for a deposit, it should be kept in cash savings, not put into investments.

HappyMJ

As the article explain you should not expect any return whatsoever and any return you do get on average it will be below the average return of 1.35% (if you didn't get really lucky and win a prize other than £25)

On average with the maximum investment you should win the £25 every few months.

nilrem_2

goatcheese1 wrote: »

I am 22 and have had Premuim Bonds for 22 Months Nearly. All I seem to win are prizes of £25.00. I had the max in before they upper the limit to 40k. I now have 36k. I have won £475 in total over 22 months. Is that Good, Average or Poor?.

Generally they are not a good investment and it's unlikely you will win a big prize but you might do, every month someone wins big time!

It's a gamble, you lose out on interest but you can get your stake back if you don't win, imagine going into a bookie and putting £100 on a horse and when you go back the bookie says hard luck sir your horse fell over but never mind here is your £100 back why not try again?
OK the odds are probably better on the horse than premium bonds but you get the principle.

Just to whet your appetite I mostly win prizes worth £25 but 3 months ago I had a £1000 prize so you never know!

I would say it's worth having a few to be in with a chance but don't treat them as serious savings.

6022tivo

If you have the full £40k holding, you are gambling a lot of money.

With current account switching you could get over 4% interest on this money, so you are effectively gambling £1000 interest a year.

So, if you are happy gambling £1000 a year then premium bonds are for you.

Personally that £1000 pays for my gas and Sky bills. Every penny helps and all that.

VT82

Logged in just to thank 6022tivo's post.