Fixed saver ending thinking of Premium Bonds

meat_n2_reg

Hi 
Have 30k saved in fixed rate saver ending soon , looking round the rates are real low , best instant access 0.5% , best fixed 1 year approx 0.6% 
So thinking might be worth trying Premium Bonds to see if rates pick up later in 2021 
Don't want to fix for 5 years @ 1.25% ....
have read MSE premium bond guide and seems to make sense to me , instant access so can I can move if better accounts become available 
would value you thoughts 
thanks 

Albermarle

It is the best paying easy access account and pays on average 0.8% to 0.9% + an infinitesimal chance of winning a Million.
If you do not need £30K on tap , you could consider investing in a S&S ISA with some of it , or increasing pension contributions.
Difficult to say really without knowing your circumstances.

Costabit

Have got £35K in bonds and haven’t had a winner since Aug, so don’t bank on 0.8% !!!.
OH has similar amount invested and has won over £300 in that time , so no complaints from her.
You take your chance 

AskAsk

premium bonds are a good option at the moment because of the low interest rates available on savings.  however it is only good if you think you have average luck as it does very much boils down to luck as some people win more than their fair share at the expense of others.

if you feel lucky and want to take a punt, then you could certainly try out your luck with premium bonds.  it is particularly attractive to high rate tax payers as the winnings are tax free.

Albermarle

Costabit said:

Have got £35K in bonds and haven’t had a winner since Aug, so don’t bank on 0.8% !!!.
OH has similar amount invested and has won over £300 in that time , so no complaints from her.
You take your chance 

Of course the 0.8% is an average . Maybe between you and the OH it works out around that much ?

[Deleted User]

With about 13k I was winning about £25 a month. I think it is worth it. If you don't win anything after six months you can always cash in and buy another round of bonds. So they say it doesn't matter but I find some chunks of bonds are more lucky than others.

grumiofoundation

[Deleted User] said:

With about 13k I was winning about £25 a month. I think it is worth it. If you don't win anything after six months you can always cash in and buy another round of bonds. So they say it doesn't matter but I find some chunks of bonds are more lucky than others.

Are “they” people who understand probability?  The only thing that selling/re-buying will achieve is to miss out on a prize draw.

Eco_Miser

Deleted_User said:

With about 13k I was winning about £25 a month. I think it is worth it. If you don't win anything after six months you can always cash in and buy another round of bonds. So they say it doesn't matter but I find some chunks of bonds are more lucky than others.

Yes, the chunks of bonds that are still in the draw do much better than those that have been cashed in. The latter include most of the early issues.

[Deleted User]

grumiofoundation said:

Deleted_User said:

With about 13k I was winning about £25 a month. I think it is worth it. If you don't win anything after six months you can always cash in and buy another round of bonds. So they say it doesn't matter but I find some chunks of bonds are more lucky than others.

Are “they” people who understand probability?  The only thing that selling/re-buying will achieve is to miss out on a prize draw.

As I said, they say it does not matter as every bond should have an equal chance of winning. But in my experience it has worked. I think you knew that from my first post.

I had 10k of bonds for three or four years, never won once. I cashed them all in, then after a time purchased more new bonds, almost every month I was winning £25.

Eco_Miser

[Deleted User] said:

grumiofoundation said:

[Deleted User] said:

With about 13k I was winning about £25 a month. I think it is worth it. If you don't win anything after six months you can always cash in and buy another round of bonds. So they say it doesn't matter but I find some chunks of bonds are more lucky than others.

Are “they” people who understand probability?  The only thing that selling/re-buying will achieve is to miss out on a prize draw.

As I said, they say it does not matter as every bond should have an equal chance of winning. But in my experience it has worked. I think you knew that from my first post.

I had 10k of bonds for three or four years, never won once. I cashed them all in, then after a time purchased more new bonds, almost every month I was winning £25.

However, you don't know how many of that 10k of bonds had numbers drawn after you cashed them in.  Could have been the big one, but you'll never know because NS&I don't publish the list of 'ERNIE picked these numbers, but they'd already been cashed in'.

[Deleted User]

Eco_Miser said:

Deleted_User said:

grumiofoundation said:

Deleted_User said:

With about 13k I was winning about £25 a month. I think it is worth it. If you don't win anything after six months you can always cash in and buy another round of bonds. So they say it doesn't matter but I find some chunks of bonds are more lucky than others.

Are “they” people who understand probability?  The only thing that selling/re-buying will achieve is to miss out on a prize draw.

As I said, they say it does not matter as every bond should have an equal chance of winning. But in my experience it has worked. I think you knew that from my first post.

I had 10k of bonds for three or four years, never won once. I cashed them all in, then after a time purchased more new bonds, almost every month I was winning £25.

However, you don't know how many of that 10k of bonds had numbers drawn after you cashed them in.  Could have been the big one, but you'll never know because NS&I don't publish the list of 'ERNIE picked these numbers, but they'd already been cashed in'.

That is true but realistically premium bonds are good to win the small prizes. I don't ever expect to win the million etc. Far more efficient to chase the smaller prizes. Maybe IF I had never cashed in the original 10k of bonds, maybe I would have the million now. It is a big if....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-RfHC91Ewc