Premium Bonds

Whitterbod

Just a thousand pounds in preimium bonds, have had two twenty five wins ,,its there instead of the lottery, my luck might get better ,

bluefukurou

With Premium Bonds it's a case of horses for courses. I live overseas and cannot access ISAs, the best high street savings accounts, etc, so after maxing out the guaranteed income and growth bonds that NS&I offers, I decided to stick some money in PBs (£30k), being someone who likes a flutter.

Although I could have put the money into the Income Bonds that NS&I offers (which pays 1.15% from next month) and received a guaranteed £345 over the year, I opted for PBs knowing full well I may get nowt, but also aware that if I'm a bit lucky I may get back somewhere in the region of £700. There's also the chance, however small, that I could get one of the bigger prizes, somebody has to win them right?

Therefore, as long as people understand that the 1.4% rate advertised on PBs is not a real interest rate, I think PBs are perfectly fine for someone wanting a safe way to save money with a bit of fun involved.

Shedman

talexuser wrote: »

Also partner has had one bond since 1957 and won nothing

Ditto for me. Still.. this time next year Rodney..:rotfl:

Alex9

I've had £2k in sinceMay 2017 and haven't won a penny

MisterMotivated

dont_use_vistaprint wrote: »

I've never done the lottery but have always been interested in what motivates people I know who do. Its nearly always a desire to get rich without having to work for it or make wise decisions with finances.

I have substantial savings, but still play the lottery occasionally, normally when I've had a bad day at work. It's normally due to the desire to get rich without having to work for it, although I'm sure if you offered anyone that option, they'd take it. I'm still working on getting rich, but building a net worth of ~£15million by age 40 would be a stretch for me at the moment, so for the occasional £2 the lottery offers an (extremely small) outside chance of that. I think for the majority of people who play the lottery, it's not solely down to a desire to get rich without working for it (read: greed and laziness), but also a realisation that, no matter how hard they work, the lottery is actually the only "realistic" way they'll ever be rich enough to escape the day job of, for example, scanning baked beans in Tesco while worrying about losing their job to someone who only knows two phrases in English; "Beep" and "unexpected item in bagging area". Everyone can have lofty aspirations, but sadly the vast majority will go unfulfilled.



I have Premium Bonds as well. I've filled generally of all the decent interest paying instant access accounts, and can't tie the money up due to a planned large purchase as soon as the opportunity arises, so have parked £10k in PBs for another outside chance of a win. The way I see it, it's costing me about £10 a month in lost interest (offset by £75 winnings since December 2017), which I can live with, and will be the first asset to be called into action in an emergency.

salad_dodger

I've had the maximum holding for three years and haven't achieved anywhere near a return. Going to give it until after xmas then start cashing to invest elsewhere

dont_use_vistaprint

I put £3K in Dec 2017 and won £25 in Jan, I put another £5k and won in Feb and March. Nothing in or out since. £75 profit on £8K in 10 months. I honestly think you only win with new tickets, it seems flawed. I'm ready to move it out once I find somewhere else where it will grow without having to keep moving it every 12 months , any ideas ?

moneytorques

Ive had the maximum investment and in 13 months returned £375 profit.

eskbanker

dont_use_vistaprint wrote: »

I put £3K in Dec 2017 and won £25 in Jan, I put another £5k and won in Feb and March. Nothing in or out since. £75 profit on £8K in 10 months.

You're only slightly below the average return and may yet achieve it - with average luck £8K would be expected to win £100 in prizes over a full year but you've only held £8K worth for eight draws so far. It's fundamental with PBs that returns are random though, so there'll be much more volatility with a medium sized holding over a shortish period.

dont_use_vistaprint wrote: »

I honestly think you only win with new tickets, it seems flawed.

Demonstrably not true - this month's winners of the top £1m prizes bought their bonds in 2003 and 2015, and other large prizes dated back to 1981.

dont_use_vistaprint wrote: »

I'm ready to move it out once I find somewhere else where it will grow without having to keep moving it every 12 months , any ideas ?

In your other thread you're looking for annual returns of more than 8-12% so premium bonds were always extremely unlikely to deliver anywhere near that - if you're happy with the risks then stick with P2P, etc....

dont_use_vistaprint

eskbanker wrote: »

In your other thread you're looking for annual returns of more than 8-12% so premium bonds were always extremely unlikely to deliver anywhere near that - if you're happy with the risks then stick with P2P, etc....

No i want some in zero risk, but this zero risk return is £0 since March!