Premium bonds

1 1

117 M34

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 May 2010
Messages
14,026
Does anyone have premium bonds?

I have a bit of cash in a savings account with the bank and getting 0.6% interest.

I would want to be able to take it out at any time that I want and it needs to be risk free - I don't want to end up losing large chunks of it.

Would premium bonds work for me?

Any pros/cons?
 
Odds of winning are very long , but on the plus side they are a safe investment
 
An ISA is possibly better. Look at the T&Cs on withdrawals, you normally lose interest for withdrawing at short notice but you are better to have some interest and lose it than get f'all.

PS nothing is risk free.
 
My business partner put £10k in about 5 weeks ago simply with a view to leaving there and seeing what happens. From my limited understanding there aren't many cons, particularly given the low interest rates the banks are offering currently
 
When I had some I seemed to generally win a similar amount to what the money would have made in interest if it was in the bank.
 
Now you are all going to laugh at this but I don't care!!

I have had ONE Premium Bond since the week they first came out in November 1956. At the firm I then worked for we all put in 1/- a week (5p for you youngsters) and as there were 20 of us we bought 1 bond and had a draw to see what order we would receive a bond and my name came out first. The idea was that, whilst we worked together, if we won the money would be split equally between us all. When someone left the bond went with them. (Just to give you an idea of prices etc. I was earning £2.00 a week at the time so a shilling felt like a lot of money when I was giving my Mum £1.15s for my keep. (£1.75 young 'uns) and having 5 shillings (25p) to pay for my lunches and my bus fares to work and my pocket money!!

Now 62 and a half years later, I am still waiting for my win!! But it is too much trouble to cash it in for £1 when maybe before I die I will win!! Is that the eternal optimist in me or what? After all I was supporting City for 50 odd years before we got some luck there!!! :-)


When I had my kids I bought them 1 each at the time of their birth and they have all won small amounts over the years!! But nothing for a few years now. I don't really think, now that they can only be bought in 'bulk', that ours actually still go in the draw!!! (just kidding)
 
I've had a similar return to your interest rate even though i have held a large amount of bonds for several years,and i've never won an individual prize greater than 50 pounds.
 
117 M34 said:
Does anyone have premium bonds?

I have a bit of cash in a savings account with the bank and getting 0.6% interest.

I would want to be able to take it out at any time that I want and it needs to be risk free - I don't want to end up losing large chunks of it.

Would premium bonds work for me?

Any pros/cons?
Click to expand...
Shop around and get better rates than that
 
117 M34 said:
Does anyone have premium bonds?

I have a bit of cash in a savings account with the bank and getting 0.6% interest.

I would want to be able to take it out at any time that I want and it needs to be risk free - I don't want to end up losing large chunks of it.

Would premium bonds work for me?

Any pros/cons?
Click to expand...
I think they're a good idea but something to be aware of:

When you buy them, you get entered into the next draw which falls one one full calendar month after you've bought them. So if you bought some today, the first draw you would be entered in would be July's. A bit of a con and therefore buy them at the end of the month, not the beginning. Then you "only" have to wait a month.

If you have tens of thousands of them, then you pretty much win every month and amount of money you get in winnings is fairly comparable with other instant access savings accounts. And of course you could win much more if you are lucky.

On the other hand, if you only hold a few (like £100 say) then you're not going to win in a month of Sundays. But the loss of interest on £100 is fuck all anyway, so who cares.

Either way, I think they are worth it if you want a dead safe place for some savings.
 
For the vast vast majority of people, you’d earn more in the bank at 0.6%.

They pay out the rate of inflation over the Premium Bond universe, so for every one that wins a million pounds, there are far more than a million winning nothing.

There are much better [equity] risk free options out there. Depends on how much cash you have (not asking on here) and what you want.
 
Chippy_boy said:
I think they're a good idea but something to be aware of:

When you buy them, you get entered into the next draw which falls one one full calendar month after you've bought them. So if you bought some today, the first draw you would be entered in would be July's. A bit of a con and therefore buy them at the end of the month, not the beginning. Then you "only" have to wait a month.

If you have tens of thousands of them, then you pretty much win every month and amount of money you get in winnings is fairly comparable with other instant access savings accounts. And of course you could win much more if you are lucky.

On the other hand, if you only hold a few (like £100 say) then you're not going to win in a month of Sundays. But the loss of interest on £100 is fuck all anyway, so who cares.

Either way, I think they are worth it if you want a dead safe place for some savings.
Click to expand...

Your statement about owning tens of thousands is wrong.
There was a time when I had the maximum allowed for 2 years.
There were several months I never won anything.
Over 2 years I earned just over 1%.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top