NS&I to bulk buy or drip feed

Rakushun

Hi,

I have a question of probability(?), if you find yourself with a lump sum to save and you want to save it in tax free accounts, is it better to purchase an entire large lump sum of NSANDI bonds eg 10k+, or better to drip feed in smaller 1-2-3k runs of tickets?

I realise that NSANDI is not necessarily the best way to protect against inflation, but the payoff could be huge in the long run, and the money is not at risk, only the value so if it is needed later it is accessible.

What does everyone think?

TIA,

Rakushun

P.s links to your theory sources would be appreciated.

gravel_2

Bulk increases your chances. Unless you are tactically eating up your personal savings allowance first before buying premium bonds then it makes most sense to go into the bonds in full from day one. See here for an idea on how the odds, on average, change based on the amount invested.

https://premiumbondsprizes.com/

Ozzig

Each bond has the same chance of winning if they were bought 50 years ago or 50 days ago.

GrubbyGirl_2

Statisticians will confirm that each bond has the same chance of winning whether bought individually (not that you can buy one bond) or as a single block of £50k, in the same way as the probability of winning the lottery with numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is the same as any other combination.

Rakushun

gravel_2 said:

Bulk increases your chances. Unless you are tactically eating up your personal savings allowance first before buying premium bonds then it makes most sense to go into the bonds in full from day one. See here for an idea on how the odds, on average, change based on the amount invested.

https://premiumbondsprizes.com/

Hi Gravel,

As it stands, I went for a bulk buy in the interim since I can move it later. Paid off immediately which is promising, but short term equals not much towards understanding if it was a good decision, may have just been lucky. I’m curious how the stats actually play out so I am thinking of a 1 year experiment to see what happens.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this tactically eating up my savings allowance though!

Hope to hear from you!

BW.