Premium Bonds Article Discussion Area

nilrem_2

hector127 wrote: »

We are being ripped off big time as usual and everybodys rolling over as usual. Lets be British and unite together and let them at the top know were unhappy , otherwise the will just keep on walking all over us , as they think we're all a walk over. Mr Sugar will be on his boat P---ing his sides at us suckers otherwise. Just take 2 minutes of your time to e-mailed or a bit longer to write

Well I have had P bonds for over 30 years and though I am not pleased that the chance of winning is so low now I don't see how we are being ripped off big time, if we were compelled to hold bonds then your accusation might carry some weight but P Bonds are voluntary, if you don't like the terms or feel the chance of winning is now poor then either don't buy bonds or cash in the ones you have!

Likewise why should we bother complaining to them? if we are not happy just cash the bonds in and don't buy any more until you feel they are worthwhile again.

MILLWALLFC

I've just taken my 30k out on the 01/12 and everyone should do the same, it will go back in when the interest rates go up again.

I put it into birmingham Midshires 5.5 % bond for 6 months, just got in there in time.

langtoft_lad

Going slightly against the grain of this thread...
The reduction in prize fund to (currently) 1.8% has perversely made me more likely to buy premium bonds - not less.
My reasoning?
After Icesave my confidence in banks has been severely dented. Savings rates are now so low that I'm willing to trade the minuscule amount of interest achievable for a punt - however long a shot it maybe. "You've gotta be in it to win it!"
As inflation reduces, the effect on my holding is minimal.

I'll accept it's not an investment (although investments aren't always that great). But it's better than putting a bunch of used fivers under the mattress - so I believe Premium Bonds still have a place in a balanced 'savings' portfolio.

As for changing the prizes - I think it's important (for people with the same attitude as myself) that some of the prizes give a chance of a life changing amount. So perhaps I'd agree to one of the million prizes being divided up to say £500 ones and perhaps the other million being split to 2x £500k.
(I think it would be harder to market though than the eye catching million pound prize)

Paul_Herring

If your only reason for going into PB's is because of the perceived safety, why not use one of the NS&I savings products instead? You know, the ones with the guaranteed return instead of the one product they have which is basically a gamble as to whether or not you'll get that 1.8% return?

langtoft_lad

Not my only reason - the main reason for choosing premium bonds is not only their security but the chance (however slight) of 'winning' a life changing amount of money for little/minimal cost... ie lost of interest and/or the effects of inflation.

So now with falling interest rates and possible deflation then precisely because returns in any savings vehicle are pathetic, I'm more encouraged to have a punt now...
...either that or spend it!

Tim_Deegan

NeilW wrote: »

Interesting article.

There is one comparison that you missed, which is to take the 'excess' interest (ie everything above 3.8%) you earn putting your money in a savings account and buying a bucket load of tickets in the National Lottery when they have one of those super rollover/super draw things.

It'd be interesting to see how the probabilities of doing it that way stacked up against Premium Bonds and straight savings.

I'd love to know what is the most probable way of becoming a millionaire given an investment of £1000 :-)

NeilW

A group of work mates and myself had £600 left over that we had saved up for our Christmas do last year. So we put it all on lucky dips and won £90. So with that £90 we bought scratch cards and won £250. So it looks like scratch cards have better odds than lotto.

suzysue52

I have had 16000 bonds since july and have not won anything, is this a record? should i cash them in or has anyone else started this badly.

Pssst

Jonbvn wrote: »

Haven't you figured it out yet?

The gov't doesn't want your PB money. They want you to put it into your high street bank, who will then lend it to somebody.

Yes indeed,put it in their bank,they give you practically nothing and lend it out at an exorbitant rate

Poor_Sport

suzysue52 wrote: »

I have had 16000 bonds since july and have not won anything, is this a record? should i cash them in or has anyone else started this badly.

No its not a record see my reply to Paulisverytall earlier in the thread. This guy has had a joint holding of 57,000 and never won. I honestly believe some numbers never get included (see also the link to the BBC news story where it has gone wrong before). If you download the full lists of winning numbers and do a search around where your bonds are you can see some glaring gaps.

There is just no way of verifying that your numbers are included so if it feels wrong cash them in and reinvest in different numbers.

isofa

If it is entirely random, then it's entirely possible for millions of numbers never to come up, just as it's equally possible for the same bond number to come up 100 times in 100 draws.

Humans expect randomness to be numbers not in sequence or repetition, but this isn't at all true randomness.

The sequence:
5,5,5,5,5,5,6,5,5,5,5,6,5,5,5,5,6 is equally as random as 1,7,3,3,5,9,2,1,4,5,9,8,7,3,7,5,4

Or actually in this case neither are random, because I subconsciously thought when picking the numbers!

Flipping a coin 100 times and 99 of those landing heads, is just as random as 50-50 heads/tails.