Someone I know very well told me that old bonds are left out of the latest draw in favour of new bonds, to encourage people to save.

As I know quite a few people who have had them since birth and never won a farthing. Yet I know others who have won after only a few months, its becoming sort of believable.

Is this an ‘urban myth’?

Is this an ‘urban myth’?

Yes

some folks luckier than others

odds of winning a thing are incredibly low

doesnt mean i dont have any money in there though ….. isas are all full for the year and the banks are offering pitiful interest in any other riskfree products.

odds of winning a thing are incredibly low

I win £25 every month or so and my Dad wins 50 every couple of weeks to a month. Odds aren’t that bad!

I’ve got about a tenner’s worth since birth (34 years ago), and recently won £25ish. So, they definitely aren’t being left out of the draw.

how much do you have invested in though. is it a significant return on investment….. does it even work out at 1% ?

i just view it as storage for money and a risk free lottery really at the moment – soon as there is anywhere i can be earning a descent return on it itll be out of there !

With the maximum £30,000 in Premium Bonds, if you have average luck
you would expect to win £400 over 1 year.

chvck and his dad must be very lucky

I’d expect to do a whole lot better playing the horses

26,000 to 1 odds. Better than the lottery, and you get your money back too.
Its a good place to put income tax (as a self employed person).

I’m guessing fewer people are saving this way, as there just isn’t spare money anymore.

how much do you have invested in though. is it a significant return on investment….. does it even work out at 1% ?

Think I’ve studied this before, and you do get more back through a savings account from interest then you do through premium bonds, unless of course you win big.

Since they changed the payouts the effective rate of interest is now very low <1%. Safe but very low return.

30000 in bank

£0 Exactly

1 in 3,270,020
At least £25

Virtual certainty
At least £50

Virtual certainty
At least £75

Virtual certainty
At least £100

Virtual certainty
At least £150

99.8%
At least £175

99.4%
At least £200

98.5%
At least £250

94.4%
At least £350

71.2%
At least £400

53.9%
At least £450

37.2%
At least £500

23.7%
At least £750

3.9%
At least £1,000

1.61%
At least £1,500

1 in 282
At least £2,500

1 in 715
At least £5,000

1 in 720
At least £10,000

1 in 1,532
At least £25,000

1 in 3,685
At least £50,000

1 in 8,414
At least £100,000

1 in 23,490
At least £1,000,000

1 in 115,336

“Think I’ve studied this before, and you do get more back through a savings account from interest then you do through premium bonds, unless of course you win big. “

i maybe loose 25 quid a year in interest with the money i keep in premium bonds its without doubt that you get more from interest in a 3% bank AC – but your odds of winning big are 0 in there but you have guaranteed return …. 10000000000 to 1 of a big win is higher than that …. i guess like bunnyhop says spare money you want quick access to only.

What?

Gosh trailrat – you’ve certainly studied this subject 🙂

I have ‘won’ less than what I could have earnt if I had the cash in certain savings accounts over the past 5 years, but it is only in there as I am willing to take my chances that I could win a decent amount and am happy to not earn as much as it could in those other sources.

It is hit and miss, however, as so far this year I have already won more than I won in the whole of last year, but it is still only returning an annual percentage of 2.something %. I think I have had money in there for about 5 years and the total return has been 12% so far.

I put £2k in there 13 years ago and asked for the winnings to be re-invested.

Now have £2,550.

Did not win a bean for the first three years then won £250 over the next two years and then have won about once a year ever since.

I was gutted when I won my first £25 prize – the previous minimum was £50 and I had not noticed the re-allocation of prizes.

I am seriously toying with the idea of cashing them in and paying off a small chunk of my mortgage.

me the mrs and 2 kids have just about a full hand each. its certainly true that if the moneys in a bank you ll get more than you will if you just win the minimum on that size stake each month, especially since the minimum prize is now just 25 not 50 as before. BUT you only have to win a million once and your in clover. plus its a nice treat getting those envelopes each month i assume that trail rats figures are annually rather than monthly.. most we have won in amonth is 9 prizes

From the back of my statement:-

How do I know my Bonds are in the draw?
We don’t store any numbers in ERNIE – he just generates them randomly, so numbers can’t be left out of the draw. We then match Ernie’s random numbers against our records of bond numbers eligible for the draw.

Not sure how anyone could win anything every 2 weeks to a month, as it’s only drawn once a month.

We sold our house to go travelling a few years ago and put the money we got in premium bonds. We would have got more putting it in the bank, but interest rates were better then.

I have a few thousand in the premium bonds. I’ve won nothing, nothing. Ever.

My friends wife, who also has a few thousand in the premium bonds, has won lots of times. Not much money, it has to be said, but she wins on a regular basis. My friend (of the lucky wife), has 15 grand invested and he’s never won.

So I think there are lucky people and not so lucky people.

Personally, I’ll take the 1% loss. I could win a quarter of a mill. But more importantly, I get a little bit excited every time I check my numbers.