Premium Bonds

My mum bought my kids premium bonds when they were born 40/50 years ago Thevy ve never had a penny win on any of them not a bean

I was feeling very disappointed and left out of this conversation but have just woken up to an ns&i email telling me I have won another £50
That makes £250 since any were first drawn in May. So if I can average £50 per month that’s £600 a year which is better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick as my grandpa used to say.
If interest rates are up by more than I have won by the end of 12 months I will reconsider, but for the moment I enjoy the little flutter and it’s safer than the 2.30 at Wincanton!

I usually make between £500 and £800 a year on premium bonds which beats most of my bank accounts.
I would never spend money on the lottery so bought bonds instead.

You can go to the NS&I website and look at the last few months winners, not their names but it shows how much they had in bonds. The lower amounts (£100-£1000) don't feature as much which makes sense. Occasionally you see a small number with a big win but even the smaller wins usually go to people with > £5000 in.

I had £1000 in for 2 years and never won anything - I pulled it out last year and invested it along with the rest into property. Hopefully that will gain more than the nil amount I won!

It’s only been for the past couple of years that you have been able to have a thousand a year interest tax free. The government could easily reduce the tax free amount or get rid of it altogether, in which case if you had transferred a substantial amount out of ISAs you’ll have lost the tax free wrapper.

Really depends on how much you are investing because regular savings and bonds can be tax free too now making ISAs a bit redundant for many people unless they happen to have the best rates

You can have the monthly premium bond wins automatically reinvested to buy more premium bonds, so it feels like you’re getting the wins as interest. You do need a significant amount in premium bonds to consistently get close to the current notional 1.4%.

You can use your Isa allowance for an investment (stocks & shares) ISA, which is the best chance of beating inflation, but is only suitable if you don’t need access for 10 years or more.

Coventry building society offer some of the best cash ISA rates, but the products are time limited so you have to get in quick.

I’d go for a mix of premium bonds, cash ISA, and stocks & shares ISA for tax free saving.

I have never won a bean.

notanan I can confirm that the rate is 1.4%, see my post at 10.26.

I have max amount and have won £525 this year so far. I get an email to let me know if I have won and then it is paid straight into my bank. I have won every month this year BUT nothing this month so far.
I am very happy to have Premium Bonds and, as has been said, it gives me a little bit of fun each month!!

(Settled on a mix of premium bonds, virgin money & shipton building society when I moved my money last month x)

I think the premium bond rate is 1.4% right now?

Its just distributed unevenly. So some will get much more. Some will get much less. A lot will work out somewhere in the middle.

Its a decent return on average compared to the high street where a lot are about the 0.5/1% mark, but there are 1.4% and higher available if you shop around

(Forgive me if I have the rate wrong, shopped around earlier this month & going by memory)

We've won £100 this month (4x25). Had nothing last month.
Our stake (pension lump sum) is gradually being spent....holidays, new car etc. It is in bonds now as the money is simple to access and there's a bit of fun each month.

I have won every month for the last year, £25-£100. More than the interest I would have received and there is always hope for a big win.

Agree re the "fun" aspect of premium bonds.

If you shop around you can get up to 5% on savings at the mo which is higher than the average return on premium bonds but that sort of rate is conditional (usually as an incentive to move your whole current account and goes down after a year)

Compaired to AVERAGE "normal" ISAs & savings accounts the premium bond average return is quite good right now.

ISAs and premium bonds arent the only tax free option any more depending on how much youre savings so ISAs have gone out of favour and are not the best option for most savers any more. Look at regular/limited access savings accounts. They are out performing most ISAs now.

I've won £25 this month.
We have won £575 between us this year, usually just the low prizes. Still get a thrill when checking each month.

We've won £50 today. We win most months but not large amounts

I've won £50 this month!

I bought PBs with the proceeds of my house sale; started off well but then the wins tailed off rapidly, and the 'interest' was about the same as, or slightly lower than, interest on ISAs.

The rate of prizes is 1.4% which is about the same as the top easy access accounts so worth the gamble if you feel like it.

ISAs generally have a very low rate of interest and are not such a good idea as they used to be unless you are likely to earn more than £1000 a year in interest from other sources as we all now have a £1000 tax free savings allowance. A word of caution though, I had to fight HMRC for my tax free allowance as they had me down as receiving an amount of interest I could only dream of! When asked where they got the figure from they suggested I asked my bank! I ended up sending them a spreadsheet which they accepted.

I kept a record and got a return of 1.5% last year, with winnings of £25 per bond, never anything bigger.
It was better than the ISA rate, tax free and there was always the chance of a bigger win!

Over the last few years our winnings have beaten the rates available on Isas but...we have the maximum allowable invested. I think it’s one of those things that are sensible in times like these but once rates go up and the financial markets improve it will pay to move some money out of them.

If they are part of a mix they’re low risk but I wouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket.

i have about 45000 invested. over the past three years ive had between £300 and £375 in wins. not brilliant but i dont have to think about it or move it or declare it. its just a pleasant surprise (sometimes not) each month. i doubt it will make me a millionaire

also, if i needed access it is simple to withdraw cash or add to