Premium Bonds

[richyb]

Has anyone ever had a good experience with these? I put £1500 two years ago to try them out and I've still not had a single 'win'. I was a bit unsure about them so thought I'd give them a go with a small amount but it seems I am either very unfortunate or they aren't really a great investment. Now I know the score with them. Generally pay less than the interest you'd earn in a savings account but have (an albeit small) chance of returning more. I am just a bit put off the fact I've not even had a tenner.

[Dan_1981]

I put 5k in about 2 years ago.

First couple of months I won - only 50 quid ago but it was nice.

However then the interest rates started to tumble - and the prizes are linked to them in some way - interest rates go down - so do them number of prizes - I haven't seen anything now for well over a year.

I don't know what else to do with the cash though.

[ShadownINja]

I had £15k and won £100 in a 6 month period. A worthwhile investment, I thought. Oh, wait...

[richyb]

Dan_1981 said:

I don't know what else to do with the cash though.

Investment wise I am don't know what else is better either. I did however just think about pulling the money out and buying an old jeep. More of a money pit than investment but got to be more fun.

[Podie]

Both my parents seem to win each month, but they do have the maximum...

[DSLiverpool]

I have the max and get sod all these days, I used to get on average £100 a month now £25 every 2 months.

Once I got 7 cheques in one month, I thought they cant ALL be £25 each and we had an opening ceremony with great anticipation - all were |£25

I got so fed up I cashed them in last week and will rebuy them to get fresh numbers - stupid strategy I know but .....

[ShadownINja]

DSLiverpool said:

I got so fed up I cashed them in last week and will rebuy them to get fresh numbers - stupid strategy I know but .....

Well, apparently it works. Some PHer posted that they did it regularly. I tried it in November with £5k. I've made £50 since, then. :-/

[condor]

I've got just over £15K's worth and have won the £50s in the past, but since they changed it to £25s...not won a thing, till this month when I checked my number. Only £25 and from a July 2009 bond. My feeling is as long as the interest rates stay so low, might as well be in Premium bonds as anywhere else...there is always the chance that you could be lucky, and you haven't lost your stake

[Size Nine Elm]

On average I think they pay a touch more than base rate, and are tax free.

But if you factor out the jackpot wins,they're not an investment. They're a gamble on the big wins...

Had the max for a year or two (when interest rates were higher) and usually had two or three cheques a month for £50.

[SS2.]

My folks have the full 30k's worth.

They reckon that the wins dry up after a while so they cash in and buy another load every 12 months or so.

[Simpo Two]

richyb said:

Generally pay less than the interest you'd earn in a savings account but have (an albeit small) chance of returning more.

I think the average yield is 3%, reduced from 4%.

I've also heard that wins dry up after a while, so 'churning' can do no harm. Think of it as a lottery where you might win, and can get your stake back afterwards.

Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 5th April 23:04

[xr287]

I put in £1000 and won £1000 in the first month afterwards. Currently have about £4500 and over the last 10 years have won around £1400 I think.

[Four Cofffee]

Mrs 4C has £3k and wins £25 2 or 3 times a year.

[M-J-B]

I had £22k up until a few months ago and won over £800 in the last 12 months - a few £100's which helped.

Odd that I did have two premium bond numbers until I cashed them in, and as far as I can tell you should only have one number (I'm talking person reference rather than premium bond number)

My Mum has £30k and wins most months as well, £50 most months currently.

[Size Nine Elm]

Simpo Two said:

I've also heard that wins dry up after a while, so 'churning' can do no harm. Think of it as a lottery where you might win, and can get your stake back afterwards.

Churning makes no sense - it takes a month (and no wins) to get your money back, and another month (and no wins) to get the new numbers registered - so if you churn once a year it costs you 2 months out of 12 of potential wins.

Numbers should never go stale - I don't think Ernie has a memory...

[Nimbus]

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-b...

[Lefty Two Drams]

We had £60k in for about 9 months and made about £6k IIRC.

I was quite pleased with that.

[bogie]

some people have more luck than others ....and the odds with £1500 in are not too great to be honest

with £30K in, Ive done 3 x £25 for the first 3 months of this year, then nothing at all this month

but of course, you only need to get one significant win and you are well up ...thats why people have them...someone IS winning big prizes every month

there are lots of strategies re buying them, although theoretically each individual bond has an equal chance it should make no difference...but its nice to thinnk about it in more clever ways I guess for some

[ShadownINja]

bogie said:

someone IS winning big prizes every month

Yeah, not me.

[srebbe64]

I've got the maximum (£30k) and over the last five years they've generated about 3% per annum. Obviously that's Tax free so one could gross it up to 5%. As such, it's comparable to bonds. I don't consider them a serious investment just something a little different.