Budget And Premium Bonds

[SIRandyraven]

Good old George announced he was increasing maximum holding to £40K.
He also mentioned increasing maximum prize win per month from 1 lump of £1,000,000 to 2 prizes of £1,000,000.
Will they fund this extra million prize by reducing the number of smaller prizes ?

[Jomlett]

Yes. Martin Lewis, founder of the MoneySavingExpert website, accused the chancellor of a "nice bit of sleight of hand", and claimed the increase in the number of top prizes was being made without increasing the prize fund, which was currently 1.3% of the amount held in bonds. "Quite simply, for every new million-pound prize winner, thousands of people won't win the £25 or £50 they rely on for returns," he said.

[SIRandyraven]

That's what I feared they would do.
What a silly move ...tut !
More people will be hacked off via buying bonds and winning nowt each month, even with £30K's worth. He has shot himself in the foot on this one.

[Ric.ror]

So I shouldn't increase my stake the?

[Tilly2]

Well you'l,l have 10,000 more chances of winning nowt!

[Ric.ror]

And that's what I won this month

[mikey4444]

Premium Bonds are a ludicrous way to save. There is no guarantee whatsoever of any win, and therefore return, and every day your bonds don't win a prize, their value is being eaten away by inflation. Investments for daft people !

[atalanta]

With the increased limits, which some people will take up, there will be more money invested, hence more "interest" to pay out in prizes.
By the way, my father used to have the maximum number, and he won lots of prizes. He even won 3 prizes after he died.

[royfromaus]

Investments for daft people !



I see them as a risk free gamble.

[SIRandyraven]

Bonds are a gamble of course. Only an idiot would invest for a regular monthly income. They should only be invested in as a secondary investment.

[factor-fiction]

Some of the posts on here seem identical to those on a similar thread so i might as well copy and paste my earlier comment in response to mikey4444's comment.

I've only got one (£1) but I accept that they can be a useful part of an investment portfolio, especially for higher rate taxpayers, and the prize fund builds in a rate of interest that is similar to net returns available elsewhere

[LazyGun]

I sort of resent my mum being called daft, or that her investments strategy is "ludicrous", Mikey.

Quite the contrary. She has done the math. She has tracked back all her winnings on her £30,000 investment over the last 5 years. In every single year, without exception, she has won, on average, £550. Given that she does not want to tie up her money in a long term investment bond, the best kind of rates she could have received would have been around 2% a year or approx. £600 a year. So - she has lost nothing compared to the best rates available for shortish term savings vehicles, and has had the chance of winning, each month, a life-changing sum.

She likes a gamble, does my mum. She sees this as a risk-free gamble, gives her something else to look forward to when the postman drops the post through the mailslot each day, and is secondary to other investments that she has. I think you are being unduly judgemental in your assessment.

[modeller]

mickey //Premium Bonds are a ludicrous way to save.//

Is that any more ludicrous than earning about 1% after tax in any other cash savings schemes. At least with PBs there is always the faint chance that you MIGHT win something worth having. If you have used up the ISA limit there is little choice.