LUFCTALK

Just finished going through my online banking & the intrest I receive on my savings account is pitiful. So would I be better investing in Premium Bonds ? Anyone got any & how lucky are you with them ? Surely it's got be better than what I currently have.

That is bizarre NW, only the other day I set myself up online to view my Premium Bonds, well Mrs B did, as I didn’t know how much I had or if I had won anything recently.

Anyway, I have £203 worth and I have won sod all for donkeys years.

Premium Bonds aren't a bad thing and I've won about £50 in total having had v low premium bond for most of my life

NottinghamWhite wrote:Just finished going through my online banking & the intrest I receive on my savings account is pitiful. So would I be better investing in Premium Bonds ? Anyone got any & how lucky are you with them ? Surely it's got be better than what I currently have.

Funny enough I've just invested again yesterday after a few years without them. Starting to put my new pension in every month. We've won 1x£1000 and 2x£50 with a £1000 worth of bonds over 3 years so yes was worth it. Even if I'd have kept it in the bank it still wouldn't have got me over a 100% return.

Still my brother has had a few grand in bonds for over 25 years and won nothing.

To me its a case of am I willing to lose very little on interest against ? For me the answer is yes.

We've been discussing buying some over the last few weeks as my parents have most of their savings invested in them.

They regularly win £25 and there is always the chance of winning a larger prize.

Their winnings equate to just over 1.2% per annum, which is not far below the best instant access accounts.

Thanks for the replies I'm thinking of starting with £5000's worth even one £25 win would be more per annum than I'd get from HSBC.

I wouldn't bother.

My old man had thirty grand for a few years and only ever won about £250 pa with that lot - not much of a return, is it ?

I kept five grand in there for about four years and had a £100 win and a couple of £25 jobbies, I think.

Again, it's not much is it ?

£5000 investment
£150/4 = £37.50 pa

I always remember growing up back in Yorkshire a local lad from the village where i used to live won £25000 on PB that his dad had invested for him. He would have been about 18 at the time. So with that in mind i invested in a couple of grand about 15yrs ago, especially with Ernie just living down the road from me, i thought he may favour the locals.

Anyway i won around £250 in the first 4 years. One hundred prize and 3 fifties if my memory served me right. I ended up cashing them in after not winning for a few years. I always remember someone asking on a program years ago why does more prizes seem to go to southern areas, to which the answer simply was that there was more money invested in PB down South? At the time i invested it was a £20000 limit.

If you have got more cash lying around than in your ISA allowance, and you don't fancy the stock market, give it a go you have nothing to lose.

I've had £30k's worth for several years. Get a win most months, usually £25. Sometimes two or three. My best win was 5 in one month (at old rates) which was 4 x £50 and 1 x £100. Interest rates are so poor its Hobson's choice. At least with Premium Bonds you have a chance of the big win, however unlikely.

Edit: I should add, however, that I still have £10's worth of bonds that I got in the 1960's when it started. They have never won a single thing. (And £10 was a weeks wages in those days!)

Some wealthy people on this forum by the looks of it

I suppose your decision can depend on whether you're actually intending or considering spending the interest that your funds accrue. I would think that that is very rare so if you can afford to put funds in Premium bonds then there is always the chance of a big win, something that the banks etc can't offer.