Premium Bonds - £50k each?

sequin123

Can both my husband and I both hold £50k each? 

We currently have £50k in my name and £50k in IB’s in joint names. In light of interest rate changes we are thinking of moving the IB’s to PB’s in my husbands name, is this possible and when do you think would be the best date to make the transfer? Thank you

Alistair31

Yes and nearer the end of the month is the best to buy PBs, assuming your money is earning something elsewhere. But in your case it’s probably just as well to trigger a switch now or on the 24th, it’ll make little difference.

Stubod

..as above, each individual can hold a max of £50k in their own name, so £100k for a couple. If you are not into investing it's probably a no brainer at the moment. If you can afford to max. out you are more likely to achieve the published interest rate, and as above, when you invest you "lose" the first full month, so if you put the money in now you will be in the January draw....good luck!

VXman

Never really 'got' premium bonds. Always seemed to me.to be better to.save in a interest bearing account than trust luck. However, given the level of interest rates avaliab!e now it.seems more understandable. Personally I'd still prefer to put 100K  in a.reasonably safe investment fund.

I had a friend with 6 accounts maxed.out (using other people's names) and always raged each month about how.much she won. What she never did was work out what the equivalent interest was. It would be interesting to know if she really did any better than a 1% savings account.

Albermarle

Never really 'got' premium bonds. Always seemed to me.to be better to.save in a interest bearing account than trust luck.

The more PB's you have the less luck comes into it , in terms of winning the standard prizes which make up the vast majority.

A couple with £100K between them will almost certainly earn around 0.8% pa, with the added infinitesimal chance of winning a Million. 

ranciduk

I’m interested in getting some premium bonds but I don’t quite follow how it works

is it a bit like a bank account?

by that I mean, can you withdraw money whenever you want, and if you do - do they just transfer the money into a bank account of your choosing ?

[Deleted User]

ranciduk said:

I’m interested in getting some premium bonds but I don’t quite follow how it works

is it a bit like a bank account?

by that I mean, can you withdraw money whenever you want, and if you do - do they just transfer the money into a bank account of your choosing ?

It's like having a lottery ticket that is in monthly draws that you can sell for face value at any time into your nominated bank account
If you win a prize - it goes into your nominated bank account

eskbanker

ranciduk said:

I’m interested in getting some premium bonds but I don’t quite follow how it works

is it a bit like a bank account?

by that I mean, can you withdraw money whenever you want, and if you do - do they just transfer the money into a bank account of your choosing ?

As with anywhere you consider putting your money, make sure you research it adequately first!

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds/ offers a dummies' guide in the MSE house style but https://www.nsandi.com/products/premium-bonds has the authoritative position, especially https://www.nsandi.com/files/asset/pdf/premium-bonds-brochure.pdf

sequin123

Thanks I wasn't sure if it was £50k max per household so that's good news.  We've held £50k since July and have won a reasonable amount so far so 'could' prove to be better than of the instant access accounts at the moment.

ranciduk

What is the reasonable amount roughly?! If you don’t mind me being a nosey sod

eskbanker

ranciduk said:

What is the reasonable amount roughly?! If you don’t mind me being a nosey sod

If you're interested in what other people win on premium bonds, fill your boots on this thread as it approaches 600 pages:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/81778/premium-bond-winner#latest