Reply With QuoteI've got a bit in and normally get a prize every month. Never won a big one yet but it keeps ticking over with anything from £25 to £250 which just gets reinvested automatically. A guy who works for me won £1250 this month, nice just before Xmas.
Chucked a couple hundred quid in these a while back and have had 150 back in two prizes !
Anyone had any decent success with bonds ? I might sling some more in, lol
A friend with a lot more ££ in them than me regularly gets prizes.
https://www.nsandi.com/
I've got a bit in and normally get a prize every month. Never won a big one yet but it keeps ticking over with anything from £25 to £250 which just gets reinvested automatically. A guy who works for me won £1250 this month, nice just before Xmas.
The odd £50 now and again but I did get £5k about 2-3 months ago.
My wife’s family seem to get something almost every month. Luck of the draw.
Result !!
Bonds were never on the radar until my mate said chuck some in a while ago. They were always something Granny would give you, which I cashed in when she popped it. lol
Nice sum to win for Christmas.
I won £250 this month. The most I've won is £600. I love the lead up to the beginning of the month. It's fun anticipation and about the closest I want to get to gambling!
had a single bond bought for me when i was born in 1969 - never won a thing :P
My wife and I usually get a couple of wins each every month. I still get excited about it!
I buy them for the Grandsons too. They'll both be getting them for Christmas as they really have everything they could want.
The most I have ever won from one bond is £1000.
Cheers,
Neil.
I know people with £50,000 premium bonds and they never win anything to shout about. £250 - £350 a month sometimes but never seem to get a lucky payout and they have had some level of premium bonds for many decades if i remember.
About right. I get circa £3k a year off them so not bad interest on the investment.Originally Posted by xellos99
About the same as an ISA but with the 'chance' of more
RIAC
I’ve had a premium bond for 51 years and never had a sausage.
I've had Premium Bonds since the first day of issue and, until this year, never won a thing. Had a couple of £25's this year, so a small improvement. I know people who win something pretty much every month. I very rarely win anything in raffles etc either so guess I'm just unlucky
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
I had £3k but sold after winning a £1k prize. Figured my returns were only going one way from there.
Have been considering getting some more though. Thinking man's lottery ticket...
I'm pretty lazy with investing and stick our money in PB to avoid the taxman taking his 40%. I figure the best instant access savings accounts give 4.5-ish percent, but when you give 40% of that to HMRC it reduces it to about 2.7%. As long as you earn more than that in PB winnings you are therefore up. Currently I'm on a 5% interest equivalent win rate.
i'd say that you were lucky. You beat the odds. I don't have any but Mrs T-7 has the max I think. At least your investment can't go down which means a lot in these troubled times.
You've been lucky, I have £50k and I`ve had nothing like £3 back. The average payout did improve this year, can`t say I saw much difference. Recently took £25K out so my returns are likely to decrease.....maybe!
Over a long period of time statistically you should get the calculated average, but it sure doesn`t feel like that at times.
Thinking man's lottery ticket? Yes, I agree with that statement and in times of low interest rates it's good pace to keep cash that you might want to access quickly without penalty.
I had the max until recently- had a few wins only 1 £500 I think
Had them a couple of years and got a bit jarred off winning £25 or nothing some months so sank it into a one year fixed bond when they were at 6.1%
I have some premium bonds going back to 1953. This year, winnings equate to 3.4%.
B
Current odds of a win for a single bond : 21,000 to 1. So if you have the max £50,000, then very roughly ought to expect 2 prizes.
Your bond has been in about 600 draws so odds well against you, I’m afraid!!
Do alright on returns least this year was £150, most £650.
Guy on car forum was thinking of pulling his cash out after two barren months told him to ‘hold’, he dropped £50, £100, £100, £100 & £10,000 in December!
You’re not getting relief on the money invested though… I have some cash in a SIPP that’s currently paying 4.2% tax free. Money in gets 20 % added form the revenue and further 20% back to the saver on application to hmrc
My workplace pension is having g a bit of a surge at the moment but until recently it was woeful and I was thinking of transferring to a Sipp and just getting interest.
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I won a thousand a few months ago. Make up for last year which wasn't too great win-wise!
I think it’s only worth getting premium bonds if you have a reasonable amount to invest, say £25k or more, then you stand a chance of getting a decent return. If you only have £100 then your chances of winning from month to month is very slim. I won £500 a couple of months ago and just over 5% return over the last 12 months with £30k worth so not too bad and better than my ISA I think.
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A poor choice.
https://youtu.be/q1EcrlFiwP4?si=wv-R_66I7aNOwH9N
This is true, but I can’t afford to tie this money up until retirement. I need it in a couple of years when my fixed rate mortgage comes to an end and I need to pay down that mortgage as much as possible. I’ve also maxed out my ISA allowance.
Aah..I was reading the early retirement thread at the same time and conflated the two
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The statistical probability rule hasn’t worked out for my PBs. I leave them there ‘just in case’! As others have said - it’s my small equivalent of gambling.
I think that’s an oversimplification. The video explains it’s a poor choice until you hold near the maximum number of bonds. Then the median win rate becomes 2.55%. Stick £50,000 in an instant access savings and the return is only about 2.7% as a higher rate tax payer, even worse if you earn a salary over £100k.
If you want an instant access cash fund of £50k then PB serve a purpose.
Metro bank offers 5.22% plus I think you get a tax break on savings interest.
Totally agree with this. There are periods I have had small amounts in there, which was not providing any return to speak of. But have it topped up and the income can be regular. Of crouse it is all luck, but the more you have the more luck should come your way, in theory!
I think it is a great scheme, even better that it is not instant access money, but it is readily available within a few days if you do need it. Stops the boredom spend from occuring. Plus of course, the small chance of a big win.
My wife is not overly financially savvy, but even she gets involved in the premium bonds conversation...in the past when I have sold a watch worth a few quid, she has said - put that money in premium bonds, don't leave it in your account...she clearly knows me quite well.
Does get taxed when you draw down though, of course, (subject to tax free max 25%).
Was gifted a £5 bond when I was born in 1967 and have never had a win.
It's the hope that kills you LOL
Thanks all for the reminder, I need to top up my premium bond to the max soon
£425 this month, £575 last month. Usually get something every month.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Won 2.5k this year on 50k, so 5% tax free which I'm more than happy with.
This for me but 1959!.Coincidentally Mum was telling me about the £30 a family member won all them years ago and bought 5 £1 bonds for us.
Similar for me. The returns are good at the moment and there is always the chance of a high prize. Fingers crossed
£50k invested for several years and £1,775 income in last 12 months (highest month £550)
Martin Lewis has an interesting take on PBs. on his Money Saving Expert site. But, I should add, that didn't influence me when I invested.
There was an article on radio 4 about these, they were looking at how many you need to be in with a chance and then how much more you need to spend to increase your odds, I’ll try and find a link. From what I remember £0 to 40k were the same odds.
£25 is the lowest, not £0.
That can't be correct. Aren't the odds something like 21,000 to 1 for each bond - doubling the number held obviously decreases the odds.
6 month dry spell for me. I was starting to think about withdrawing it all and sticking it in an ISA instead but this thread has made me decide to leave it in and wait for the big win.
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I get a win most months. Typically £100-200; bit more interesting than an interest rate and should work out to be a half decent % and always the change of a big one. Definitely makes it interesting.
It's not as simple as that, as the prizes are in distinct quanta (e.g. there's nothing between £0 and £25 - you can't win, say, £5 or £11.63). This means that the odds change as your holding increases.
The maths behind this is quite complex (as in "Mathematics PhD complex"), but Martin Lewis has a good article explaining it at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds/ Question 3 is the most relevant.
That article talks about the return on investment rather than odds (Q3 anyway).
Last edited by Kingstepper; 16th December 2023 at 22:03.
Wife and I had max amount each until maybe 18 months ago, cashed mine in (well kept £1 in case I want to return) we both did ok but I wanted to try elsewhere whilst the market was down, she’s still doing fine whereas I’m doing the long haul, but still ok. She get a kick out the ‘You’ve won’ email at the start of the month when she’s been lucky.
It’s more exciting to download the app and push the button every month. They do a drum roll!
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That article is really comprehensive. Sums everything up with the numbers to back it up.
Wife holds the maximum and has won most months, no large wins but over the last year it equates to 3.8% return.
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My son had about £1500. He won £500 in one draw a few years ago. in 2023 he won £50 in February. Unbelievably he has just won £100 for the 3 consecutive months of oct nov and dec !!! I hold about £5k and never win anything
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Last edited by dandanthewatchman; 18th December 2023 at 22:10.
Just had my December draw results - £225 in total.
Cheers,
Neil.
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