Premium Bond Winner ?

justwantedtosay

Nothing stopping you from thinking on an annual basis if you choose to measure returns in that way, but that will lead to you being pleased sometimes and disappointed at others, compared with taking the long term cumulative picture.

I reckon most people posting here are doing so because they are pleased or disappointed with the latest draw and not looking at the long term results. I think of all my finances on an annual timescale, hence I'll pencil in £1,250 from PBs. I expect it will be somewhere between £1,000 and £1,500 and I won't be overly pleased or disappointed.

eskbanker

justwantedtosay said:

Nothing stopping you from thinking on an annual basis if you choose to measure returns in that way, but that will lead to you being pleased sometimes and disappointed at others, compared with taking the long term cumulative picture.

I reckon most people posting here are doing so because they are pleased or disappointed with the latest draw and not looking at the long term results. I think of all my finances on an annual timescale, hence I'll pencil in £1,250 from PBs. I expect it will be somewhere between £1,000 and £1,500 and I won't be overly pleased or disappointed.

Yes, you should have roughly a 50% chance of winnings being in that sort of range (and obviously about 50% of not being in that sort of range!) over a year, whereas over, say, five years, your chances of being within 20% above or below 'par' would be substantially more than 50%.

In terms of people's motivations for posting on this thread, it was originally set up to test the (discredited) theory that newer bonds win more prizes, but descended into more generic 'show and tell' territory - it's true that it attracts both those who are smug and those who are horrified, but those in the latter category are often ill-informed about randomness and probability and so are more inclined to believe myths!

Swipe

I think this is one of the best threads on here. I enjoy seeing what everyone is winning (or not)

BooJewels

Me too @Swipe - it makes me happy when someone else does at least get a decent result - when, bar one month, my own have been somewhat underwhelming.  At least it proves what's possible. 

I've cashed a chunk of mine in this week to add to a fix that I think will do better for me, just leaving enough for a frisson of excitement to the start of each month, where I live in perpetual hope.

onthebench

ljayljay said:

Congratulations on your good fortune & great timing for a big win.

One thing that has always interested me & you may be able to answer is the notification timing of a large win.

As many will already be aware the large wins of £5K plus are published early to include winner location but also specifically the winning bond number. I have always therefore assumed that if I was lucky enough to win £5K or more, excluding a millionaire visit, I would be contacted either by phone or email in advance of the smaller wins being announced. Did you receive any earlier communication at all? If not, I will look forward to checking the app with greater anticipation in the future as I have always thought that without prior notification £1K would be the max I could win.

PS If there is no prior notification, I still won't be tempted to go through the published list in advance but will retain hope of a big big win right up until I check next.

No there was no early notification, the first I knew of it was checking the app. My wife received the usual “you’ve won a prize” email on Feb 4th but no indication it was a bigger proze. 

In previous months I would often go through the “big prize” list on the first of the month looking for matching location and holding amount but I hadn’t bothered this month. 

wirchow

I bought 20k about 3 years ago and have had dribs and drabs. Persuaded family to buy a load and they've had similar. But it's a lot of fun on the family WhatsApp every month.
Then last Thursday my daughter won £50k. Dad's stock has markedly risen. 

onthebench

wirchow said:

I bought 20k about 3 years ago and have had dribs and drabs. Persuaded family to buy a load and they've had similar. But it's a lot of fun on the family WhatsApp every month.
Then last Thursday my daughter won £50k. Dad's stock has markedly risen. 

Amazing! Hope she treats her dad to something nice!

vickyholly

wirchow said:

I bought 20k about 3 years ago and have had dribs and drabs. Persuaded family to buy a load and they've had similar. But it's a lot of fun on the family WhatsApp every month.
Then last Thursday my daughter won £50k. Dad's stock has markedly risen. 

love this. Its great to hear of people winning larger amounts .

Primrose

And let,s hope the family don,t expect they have an automatic right to a share of it.  One reads of some very unpleasant stories of a sense of false entitlement sometimes when one winning member of a group has a lucky break.

ForumUser7

Prize rate -> 3.30% effective next months draw

‘ The Premium Bonds prize fund rate is increasing to 3.30%, up from 3.15%, effective from next month’s draw, meaning around £15 million more in prizes up for grabs. And in a further Valentine’s Day boost for people’s savings pots, Direct Saver and Income Bonds customers will also see their interest rates increase to 2.85%, up from 2.60%, from today.’

Source ~ https://nsandi-corporate.com/news-research/news/nsi-gives-valentines-day-boost-savers