BOOM: Premium Bonds

[ChimpMaster]

£25 on £60k across our family
Surely this is a scam.

[northernladuk]

£25 on £60k across our family
Surely this is a scam.

You've a 1 in 24,000 to win a prize so yeah, technically you should have won 2 prizes (rounding down) and you've won one so are only 50% behind the odds...

And then it is gambling with no gaurantee of winning a single thing.

So no, it's not a scam, its gambling against high odds.

[northernladuk]

A tasty £325 this month, which makes up for a couple of crappy months

nice one. Always good to get ahead of the odds.

Pulled all mine out last month and paid the mortgage off which came out of my 5 year fixed term at the highest point a few weeks go. 3.3% on average vs 6+% for a mortgage? Miss not getting my winning mails but happy with the fact I'm saving the £600 extra I would have to pay plus the interest I was already paying.

I'll miss the mails and fun but much happier with the savings I'm getting regularly now. Just gotta start building the bonds back up again and get back in the game as quick as I can.

[ChimpMaster]

nice one. Always good to get ahead of the odds.

Pulled all mine out last month and paid the mortgage off which came out of my 5 year fixed term at the highest point a few weeks go. 3.3% on average vs 6+% for a mortgage? Miss not getting my winning mails but happy with the fact I'm saving the £600 extra I would have to pay plus the interest I was already paying.

I'll miss the mails and fun but much happier with the savings I'm getting regularly now. Just gotta start building the bonds back up again and get back in the game as quick as I can.

Easy done when you live up North

A good move nonetheless. My mortgage is 2% fixed for a couple more years, after which I will want to pay it down drastically too but the bonds will only put a small dent in it. Not to mention the much greater BTL loans I want to pay down before those fixed rates come up for renewal!

[DealorNoDeal]

Reading elsewhere, some folks are starting to get disillusioned with premium bonds, and considering pulling their money out. Now that NS&I have skewed the winnings more in favour of bigger prizes, it's harder to achieve close to the 3.3% fund rate. Some people have had the maximum invested for a year and only got 1%.

[WTFH]

Some people have had the maximum invested for a year and only got 1%.

You need to keep it invested for a reasonable length of time.

[ladymuck]

You need to keep it invested for a reasonable length of time.

So, unlike other savings products, it's entirely reasonable to put in several thousand pounds and a year later have zero returns? Even the worst performing savings accounts return something over the same period.

[jamesbrown]

So, unlike other savings products, it's entirely reasonable to put in several thousand pounds and a year later have zero returns? Even the worst performing savings accounts return something over the same period.

Yes, that’s how it works. It’s gambling more than saving, which is why it’s tax free. I’ve received well over the headline rate in the last year, but others will have received much less, that’s how probability distributions work.

[TheDude]

My father held £13k and we have won £300 since he passed away in December.

[David71]

£25 today out of 12k I put in just over a month ago. I'm ok with that, probably not win anything else for ages though!