Premium bonds

[JASR]

You used (till recently) to be able to get 5% on various bank accounts and drip feed savings accounts.
Most of those have now gone/reduced.
Eg tsb drops to 3% in July. Nationwide seems to have stopped completely. Lloyds now 2%

Paying off debts (mortgage/cc’s) is now by far the best ‘investment’ available.

I’m saving for something big next year, so need access to the cash, so have started lumping into premium bonds - access, safe and chance of a bonus.

 

[BimboBob]

Put it in that Goldman Sachs new account. Easy access and quite high interest.

 

[Chippy_boy]

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%.

No, it is not.

You were unlucky and that's not the usual experience. The median average earning for someone with £31,000 is £400, i.e. over 1% per year.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds/

 

[Chippy_boy]

My mum's got £3000 worth and she wins £25 twice a year if she's lucky.

What do you expect? £50 return on a £3,000 investment is 1.7% and that's tax free. That's pretty good for an instant access account, and one which *might* pay you a million quid, unlike any other bank account.

 

[dave1967]

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 had one bought for me as a birth present in 1957 still not won anything yet

 

[denislawsbackheel]

No, it is not.

You were unlucky and that's not the usual experience. The median average earning for someone with £31,000 is £400, i.e. over 1% per year.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds/

Try retaking O level maths.

You said “if you have tens of thousands of them, then you pretty much win every month“

If that were true there wouldn’t be a bell curve distribution of winnings would there?

 

[Chippy_boy]

Try retaking O level maths.

You said “if you have tens of thousands of them, then you pretty much win every month“

If that were true there wouldn’t be a bell curve distribution of winnings would there?

No need for the dickhead comment.

The plain fact is if you have say £40,000 you do win nearly every month and often more than one £25 per month, and you end up with on average 1.x% return per annum. Sorry again if you had shit luck.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

Me and my two brothers each had a £1 bond bought for us when we were born.
I have mine with me in a shoe box of my "important stuff" - never checked to See if I have won though.....

Remember every Saturday morning in the late 60's and into the 70's listening to Radio 1 and the news would announce this weeks PB winners and would say where they were from and 9 times out of 10 they were always from Surrey, Middlesex, Essex or Buckinghamshire. A deep ingrained grudge against southerners developed from that early age....

 

[Chippy_boy]

Remember every Saturday morning in the late 60's and into the 70's listening to Radio 1

I'm questioning if this is true. The Smiths weren't around back then, so what need would you have had for a radio?

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

I'm questioning if this is true. The Smiths weren't around back then, so what need would you have had for a radio?

Junior Choice with Ed "Stewpot" Stewart and then Tony Blackburn and his dog Arnold.