Premium Bond Winner ?

eskbanker

Markdavid1962 said:

So I purchased my first bonds just over a year ago.
The one thing I have noticed is I seem to win more frequently now that I own more bonds., ie from Nov 2024

[...]

Purchase of Bonds
July 2024 
Nov 2024 
March 2025

As above, it's hardly surprising that more bonds equals more prizes, but perhaps worth putting flesh on the bones by quantifying those purchases, i.e. how many did you buy at each stage?

Markdavid1962 said:

Each month you can download a spreadsheet of high value winners which includes the purchase date and also the holdings of each winner. This may help you with what you want to achieve.

How can a spreadsheet of past wins actually help anyone achieve anything?

castle96

purely PURELYa matter of luck. Anything else is a myth

WindfallWendy

I'm just doing some financial planning for 26/27 and will be topping up premium bonds a bit, mid-year when a fixed term bond matures. 

But it got me thinking of the timing that reinvested wins happen.

Does anyone know if they become immediately eligible for the following month, or if they would appear mid-month (as any purchase of bonds on 3rd of the month might), and therefore not increasing chances of winning until the end of the following month? I.e. will my November reinvested wins help me win again in he December draw, or will they not go live until the January draw?

Kim_13

WindfallWendy said:

I'm just doing some financial planning for 26/27 and will be topping up premium bonds a bit, mid-year when a fixed term bond matures. 

But it got me thinking of the timing that reinvested wins happen.

Does anyone know if they become immediately eligible for the following month, or if they would appear mid-month (as any purchase of bonds on 3rd of the month might), and therefore not increasing chances of winning until the end of the following month? I.e. will my November reinvested wins help me win again in he December draw, or will they not go live until the January draw?

If a win was reinvested from a prize in November, those bonds would be in the draw in December.

If bonds are purchased at any time in November, they are eligible in January (missing the rest of November and with December being the whole month that new purchases have to wait.) So it’s best to buy them as close to the end of a month as you can.

WindfallWendy

Kim_13 said:

If a win was reinvested from a prize in November, those bonds would be in the draw in December.

Thanks for confirming. I just wasn't sure this would necessarily be the case since we don't know the outcome until it is officially too late to purchase new bonds for the next draw, if you see what I mean. 

So in summary, far better to auto- reinvest because bonds are immediately eligible. The alternative being to have winnings paid into an interest generating account for 2 or 3 weeks before purchasing. My thinking was at least if going via a current account they would generate a few pennies for the month, that's all. Probably counter productive given the faff involved 😂

Kim_13

WindfallWendy said:

Kim_13 said:

If a win was reinvested from a prize in November, those bonds would be in the draw in December.

Thanks for confirming. I just wasn't sure this would necessarily be the case since we don't know the outcome until it is officially too late to purchase new bonds for the next draw, if you see what I mean. 

So in summary, far better to auto- reinvest because bonds are immediately eligible. The alternative being to have winnings paid into an interest generating account for 2 or 3 weeks before purchasing. My thinking was at least if going via a current account they would generate a few pennies for the month, that's all. Probably counter productive given the faff involved 😂

Yes, I would reinvest. You would gain interest for a few weeks on any winnings, but then have the money doing nothing for a whole month (rather than just three weeks if the prize is reinvested and becoming eligible for the next draw.)

subjecttocontract

Surely the buying of premium bonds has nothing to do with investing or reinvesting ? You are just buying a ticket for a prize draw.

Kim_13

subjecttocontract said:

Surely the buying of premium bonds has nothing to do with investing or reinvesting ? You are just buying a ticket for a prize draw.

That is the terminology they use, but there is a difference between purchased bonds and prizes that are automatically converted into more bonds (with the latter being the only bonds that will be eligible for inclusion in the next draw.)

kempiejon

subjecttocontract said:

Surely the buying of premium bonds has nothing to do with investing or reinvesting ? You are just buying a ticket for a prize draw.

I used to think of it like buying a lottery ticket or a draw entry with odds so gambling.
But did I actually buy anything? The cash spent on my bond(s) can be returned whenever I like and it's not a prize draw is it, a draw every month until one wants that nominal payment returned.
Is it savings in a way perhaps, the principal remains (but is inflated away) and there is a return.

WindfallWendy

kempiejon said:

subjecttocontract said:

Surely the buying of premium bonds has nothing to do with investing or reinvesting ? You are just buying a ticket for a prize draw.

I used to think of it like buying a lottery ticket or a draw entry with odds so gambling.
But did I actually buy anything? The cash spent on my bond(s) can be returned whenever I like and it's not a prize draw is it, a draw every month until one wants that nominal payment returned.
Is it savings in a way perhaps, the principal remains (but is inflated away) and there is a return.

It's a gamble of sorts, but as you say, you will always be able to get the money you put in back again. So the gamble is more about whether you'd rather definitely get interest, or if you take a chance that you might get a big win. The other benefit is of course that winning on Premium Bonds is tax free whereas guaranteed interest from bank savings could be taxed (circa dependent).