Premium Bonds Suck

Baldeagle095

Currently a lot better than investing in the stock market!

jimjames

PremiumBondsSuck said:

After 35 years with a maximum Premium Bond holding ... and having had no wins of any note ... I've finally come to the conclusion that enough's enough ... 

Shame you didn't invest that £50k instead of buying premium bonds if you didn't need the money for 35 years. Rather than £50k you'd probably now have nearer £500k

https://www.aviva.co.uk/investments/investment-account/investment-calculator/

Section62

thriftytwosome said:

It seems you have been particularly unlucky with your holding and have been very patient waiting for the elusive prizes.

I have heard that there are bond holders that will withdraw and reinvest in new bonds with new numbers. Perhaps you could try with part of your holding? I realise there is a waiting period before the new numbers go into the draw but as you are not getting a return on your holding maybe worth a try?

The new bond numbers won't have any greater chance of giving the OP their win than the old bond numbers would if they had been retained.  The only thing achieved is depriving oneself of the chance of winning for one month's draw.

On the plus side it would be another feature of Premium Bonds that could be complained about.

Swipe

jimjames said:

PremiumBondsSuck said:

After 35 years with a maximum Premium Bond holding ... and having had no wins of any note ... I've finally come to the conclusion that enough's enough ... 

Shame you didn't invest that £50k instead of buying premium bonds if you didn't need the money for 35 years. Rather than £50k you'd probably now have nearer £500k

https://www.aviva.co.uk/investments/investment-account/investment-calculator/

The max PB limit was much lower until fairly recently though but I agree with your point.

Section62

PremiumBondsSuck said:

After 35 years with a maximum Premium Bond holding ... and having had no wins of any note ... I've finally come to the conclusion that enough's enough ... 

What does "of any note" mean here?  £500, £1000, £1m ?

Part of the "luck" element of Premium Bonds is the higher up you set that figure, the luckier you have to be to achieve it.

wmb194

jimjames said:

PremiumBondsSuck said:

After 35 years with a maximum Premium Bond holding ... and having had no wins of any note ... I've finally come to the conclusion that enough's enough ... 

Shame you didn't invest that £50k instead of buying premium bonds if you didn't need the money for 35 years. Rather than £50k you'd probably now have nearer £500k

https://www.aviva.co.uk/investments/investment-account/investment-calculator/

The OP has more than the £50k +£50 they’ve mentioned, there must have been plenty more wins.

Robin9

As has been said "all in the luck of the draw"

It's a good source of competition in our household. My wife and I both have £50k. This year I've won £800 and she £400.

And there's always that -. one day ...........

We wait for that knock on the door towards the end of the month -   then we remember that the Premium Bond Lady doesn't work Bank Holidays or Sundays ......   heaven forbid gone on holiday........

badmemory

Since I reached maximum I have been winning around the amount they say they are giving.  So not lucky but not unlucky either.  Before I reached maximum I realised that the bonds I had won were not winning, so I sold them & rebought as a block.  According to my records my winnings are better from blocks of bonds than those bought in a small block.  To put it another way a block of £5k has more winners than 100 blocks of £50, that is my experience anyway.

vacheron

I've read so many articles in major newspapers and websites about how many bonds you need "to win", to "improve your odds" or "make it worthwhile".

• A premium bond is nothing more than a number.
• Each number has an equal chance of winning
• A very heavily audited and tested computer system selects the winning numbers completely at random.

Any percieved improvement in bond returns from owning particular bonds, owning a certain number of bonds, or how they are allocated is nothing more than coincidence mixed with a large dollop of confirmation bias.


 

EssexHebridean

I got a £100 win on £1,500 holding last month, so perhaps I have the OP's share of the "luck"?!