How much should you have in premium bonds to make it worthwhile?

[Mnetter72]

I’ve seen people say you need atleast £20k to make premium bonds winnings worthwhile. I have a couple of hundred to invest, is it even worth it?

My late DM had her block of £500 for many years, and they regularly coughed up several times a year, and more than once in the year after I inherited them. Frustratingly, you can only keep inherited ones for a year (this was a while ago so this rule may have changed), so I ended up losing that block of numbers.

I mean I think statistically you need thousands, but any bonds can obviously win. My DS has £100 and won £25. So that's a pretty good return. Gotta be in it to win it!

It's quite random in my experience. I have 25k in and had a good ish year last year winning at least 50 a month and sometimes a few hundred, this year since Jan only won 75.

My kids have 1k each for the last 5 years. They've won about 50- 100 per year each which is pretty good. A few 100 wins each.

Had 40k in for 2 years, return was about 1%, took it out and put it in a 2 year ISA, that returned £3500, spent that on a holiday and reinvested the 40k for another 2 years.

The effective interest rate on 'bonds is low now.

DH and I both have maximum amounts (both inheritances) and between us we win something each month. Probably campares with a decent savings account but it’s tax free.

Money saving expert has a calculator that shows average winnings with different amounts. It's not linear scaling, £100 doesn't earn twice as much as £50. It's basically not worth doing under £1k

£10 put in 1980 and never won a penny. Waste of time. It might be much at today’s rate but was at the time and over 40 years without a sausage

I would love to know how long the average period of time people with full holdings have to wait until they get a big win (if they do) but there’s no information out there.

Yes, I have £5000 in premium bonds and the effective 'interest rate' in winnings compared to my cash isas over the same timespan (10yrs or so) has been similar. (And I do move my isa savings around to make the most of offers.) With the psychological bonus of being able to dream about winning big :)

Average period of time will pretty much be forever. If you mean how long people who have won the million had to wait, then it is statistically insignificant as there are so few compared to those who have not won.
There is a 1 in 64 billion(ish) chance of winning a million with any single bond. With 50k that takes the odds all the way down 1 in 1.28 million. There are 2x 1 million prizes drawn every month. 24 a year.... its gonna take a while... but it won't... because the odds reset every month. theoretically a very, very... lucky person could win both prizes, even luckier, in more than one month...

But the odds of winning any prize with one bond is about 1 in 22,000, so a 50k holding should net a couple of prizes a month... on average

With 50k that takes the odds all the way down 1 in 1.28 million

@BeyondMyWits Maths was never my strongest subject so maybe I’m misunderstanding but Martin Lewis says the odds are much closer.

Ernie has LOTS OF Lucky CLUSTERS made up of Random Photons -
when the CLUSTERS become Random .......
someone Ever-So-Lucky with a £17 or £1,000 or £35k Bond wins BIG

When 95% of Bond Savers have £50k - then the Bond winners
are most likely to take up 95% of the BIG prize winner list on the website

Even just £500 in a Premium Bond account is a good idea , that £25k prize
Lucky Random Photon might land on you : Happy Time ?

Ernie has LOTS OF Lucky CLUSTERS made up of Random Photons -
when the CLUSTERS become Random .......
someone Ever-So-Lucky with a £17 or £1,000 or £35k Bond wins BIG

When 95% of Bond Savers have £50k - then the Bond winners
are most likely to take up 95% of the BIG prize winner list on the website

Even just £500 in a Premium Bond account is a good idea , that £25k prize
Lucky Random Photon might land on you : Happy Time ?

Tell me which Horse it is that usually wins at 500 to 1 with your
favourite Bookmaker that refunds the £500 bet you placed
when it doesn't win

I won again this month, £100. Went up to the max of £50k six months ago and have won almost £1K in total since then. It’s a nice little earner, tax-free. But in my view not worthwhile if you have a tiny holding,

You say this but my step grandson has won x 2 of £50 in 4yrs on £300 holdings

it can happen

be nicer if the big one but anything is a win

I had 50k in for a year while waiting for my house purchase to go through. Started off winning nearly every month (small amounts, £25 or £50) but by the time I took it out I hadn't won anything for several months.

I put it there for the instant access and the inability to spend it!

DH has 30k and won 2k,I have 5k and won £25 last year. I had only £100 in for a few years and won £50 one year on that.

Come and join us on the pb thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/money-matters/5453638-premium-bonds-decjan-2026