2 thirds of PB holders have never won anything....Which report...just for info really..

Stubod

From Which:- 

"If you're unlucky this month, you're not alone. New analysis of NS&I data shows two thirds of current premium bond holders have never won a bean. The odds of winning could also get worse if the government-backed provider decides to make drastic cuts to its products, following an annual report that shows it overshot its financial target last year."

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/premium-bond-winners-in-august-why-have-you-never-won-a-prize-agkJu2y6SxCB?utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=4464145-C_WS_EM__20240802&mi_u=215041262&mi_ecmp=C_WS_EM__20240802

Would be interesting to find out the max. no of bonds they hold never to have won anything???

I have always thought unless you can afford to "max out", or close to, then you are better off using normal savings accounts??

gravel_2

I have 5 PBs from when I was 2 years old and have won nowt. I imagine there are plenty in the same position skewing it down.

RetiredTaz

There are plenty of people that only hold a £1 bond. I was one of those for many years. You can make statistics fit for most situations. 

eskbanker

Stubod said:

From Which:- 

"If you're unlucky this month, you're not alone. New analysis of NS&I data shows two thirds of current premium bond holders have never won a bean. The odds of winning could also get worse if the government-backed provider decides to make drastic cuts to its products, following an annual report that shows it overshot its financial target last year."

As mentioned in the other thread about NS&I overshooting its net financing target, I'm not convinced that in itself this is likely to have a huge influence on their rates for this financial year - apart from anything else, they'll have known for many months about last year's results, despite them only being released to the public this week, so if they felt that 'drastic' action was needed, it would have happened by now IMHO.

That's not to say that they won't change rates and/or odds for other reasons though, such as market conditions, etc, but their products will be calibrated to this year's (higher) target, rather than being unduly influenced by last year's.

onomatopoeia99

Stubod said:

From Which:- 

"If you're unlucky this month, you're not alone. New analysis of NS&I data shows two thirds of current premium bond holders have never won a bean. 

I suspect that the analysis is pretty much in line with what the probability of winning a prize on a single bond suggests, as the sample size is too large for it to deviate massively.  So people aren't unlucky, they are as lucky as the odds suggest.

The article contains zero surprises.  I guess a writer at Which must have been pretty bored.

eskbanker

IvanOpinion said:

Maybe Ernie isn't as random as he thinks he is.

Maybe Which? journalists aren't as intelligent or insightful as they think they are....

Albermarle

eskbanker said:

IvanOpinion said:

Maybe Ernie isn't as random as he thinks he is.

Maybe Which? journalists aren't as intelligent or insightful as they think they are....

Their personal finance reporting/articles are often poor and/or inaccurate. Better they stuck to reviewing vacuum cleaners.

eskbanker

Albermarle said:

eskbanker said:

IvanOpinion said:

Maybe Ernie isn't as random as he thinks he is.

Maybe Which? journalists aren't as intelligent or insightful as they think they are....

Their personal finance reporting/articles are often poor and/or inaccurate. Better they stuck to reviewing vacuum cleaners.

Yes, their analysis sucks

Albermarle

Stubod said:

From Which:- 

"If you're unlucky this month, you're not alone. New analysis of NS&I data shows two thirds of current premium bond holders have never won a bean. The odds of winning could also get worse if the government-backed provider decides to make drastic cuts to its products, following an annual report that shows it overshot its financial target last year."

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/premium-bond-winners-in-august-why-have-you-never-won-a-prize-agkJu2y6SxCB?utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=4464145-C_WS_EM__20240802&mi_u=215041262&mi_ecmp=C_WS_EM__20240802

Would be interesting to find out the max. no of bonds they hold never to have won anything???

I have always thought unless you can afford to "max out", or close to, then you are better off using normal savings accounts??

The more bonds you have the more likely you will get a return for the year close to the average ( about 3.8% or 4.4% depending on how you look at it).
If you have a lower number of bonds, the more likely the return will deviate from this average ( higher and lower) so it becomes more of a gamble.
Not sure at what level you are reasonably likely to get an average return. > £20K ??

edgex

Premium Bonds should be treated as either a savings account or a lottery;

put a large sum in, or make regular sizable payments, just as you would with a savings account
or
buy the equivalent of £1 a week as if you're playing the lottery. At the end of the year you'll have at least £52, unlike the lottery.

You should also set it to automatically reinvest any winnings in additional PBs, so you compound any winnings.
There's also the tax advantage, useful for those that have already used their ISA allowance.

mebu60

edgex said:

Premium Bonds should be treated as either a savings account or a lottery;

put a large sum in, or make regular sizable payments, just as you would with a savings account
or
buy the equivalent of £1 a week as if you're playing the lottery. At the end of the year you'll have at least £52, unlike the lottery.

You should also set it to automatically reinvest any winnings in additional PBs, so you compound any winnings.
There's also the tax advantage, useful for those that have already used their ISA allowance.

Lotto £2.00 Wed & Sat. Euromillions £2.50 Tue & Fri.
Minimum PB purchase £25.00.

Can't reinvest winnings once you have max holding of £50k. 

Agree re the tax benefit, particularly for those paying higher rates.