NS&I premium bonds any good?

[Lilifer]

Can anyone advise me on their experience of these premium bonds. as i understand it you get a bit more or a bit less than the equivalent of a decent interest rate in prozes over the course of a year, albeit not every month, is that rigth? Otherwise why wouldnt people jist put the cash into a high interest savigns account and pay tax on the interest? im tryimg to figure out which one comes out ahead after 12 months in terms of cash in your pocket?

On the Money Matters section there’s an ongoing PB thread, have a scroll through and you can get an idea what people are winning. The last thread someone did share her experience of winning £1m!

2025 I got £1100and this year so far this year only 525. I have just over 30 thousand invested. I like the surprise and up til now I have done too badly but no big wins.

You need to be prepared not to get an equivalent amount in prizes as you would from a high interest account.

This year I am over that amount on prizes but DH has hardly won anything.

We do it for the excitement of winning big but if money was tight and we needed the interest to live on we would put it elsewhere.

I’d say you can expect around 2-3% returns unless you’re lucky enough to get a big win. I won 10k a couple years ago on full haul and that year over all my wins were about 12.5k. Some years are better than others but I also withdraw occasionally so don’t always have 50k in. At the moment I have 48k and I got 225 this month. It’s alright but I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve probably won all of the big wins I’ll get and will move some of it to s&s isa at some point and just keep my emergency fund invested in pb.

I'm not sure you've understood what premium bonds are.

It's literally a random raffle, sure if you buy more tickets you have a statistically higher chance of one of them being drawn but that's all.

Other people's experiences while nice if they've had a big win are just stories, do you really not know how it works?

Mine do OK, I’ve got the full holding and looking back at the last 6 months have won £1250, so over a year that would be 5%. The highest in one month was £525, that is unusual. I like the element of surprise too.

I have full holdings and win most months. It averages out around 3.5 %. But it's tax free and last year I won £10K one month

ETA I also like the gamefication aspect 😀

I have 50k for over 10 years, get a win each month but not for the last 2 months, first time ever, i worked out i get average of about 3% return....but remember inflation is eating away at the capital and thats around 9% now...dont believe the govt stats that its only about 3%..!!

I dont have anythjng close to full holdings, but I've won one prize of £100 in 4 years. Absolutely pants for me. But I keep some cash there because somebody has to win the big prizes 😂

I’ve got £30k in premium bonds, I like the accessibility, the regular small wins and the chance that you might win something big. This month I have won £5k!! I only found out yesterday!! I am so shocked!!

@Lilifer I have the full amount of PB and would say if you want to guarantee interest of c£1,500 a year then PB are not for you. You could win more, you could win less, you could get £0.

As pp have said I win most months but not all. I enjoy checking each month and have other investments that do generate income.

Thanks all - really helpful info and I will have a think about it all 👌🏻👌🏻

My brother won £50k on PBs last year.

I've had £30k in PBs since last November and I've won something most months. £675 so far since November.

Op it's not guaranteed at all so what's the money for ?
Are you very wealthy ? Have you got stocks and shares investment ? Generally saving etc ?

There is a premium bonds chat on here and you can see the winnings and no winnings .

It's generally seen as a not an ideal place for serious money making but more when you have maxed out all your other saving options like isas .

Many of us use as somewhere to park money for tax.

You may not win anything at all over a year.

I have full holdings and probably average about £100 of winnings per month.

DH has about 30k and he probably averages about £50

There is absolutely no way of knowing. No guarantee. It’s down to chance, pure and simple.

its literally a lottery, except you dont lose your stake. Your “stake” is the interest you are giving up.

it sounds like you want a guaranteed return and I would therefore say this isn’t the right option for you.

My earnings on full holding has been on a par with cash ISA for years.

I like PBs because they are simple and require me to do nothing at all; with the added frisson of a big win - which I know is unlikely but it is there!

I get a reasonable return without having to worry about anything - they are just there bringing in tax free income for me.

Over the past year I've won the equivalent of 7.5% which is as good as other high interest accounts (or actually better).

DD has full holdings and in the last year has averaged 2.85%.
Meanwhile, her GIA with AJ Bell is tracking 13% during its first year.
She is going to shift half out of PBs, they don’t work hard enough for her.
I had £10k in and made less than £300 in the year, so I’ve taken most of that out and put it towards projects in the house. There is a few thou left for ‘just in case’ I hit the big one!

If you wanted guaranteed interest then do the ISA but I enjoy the excitement of the premium bonds, I have just over 50% of the maximum and I just reinvest any prizes, I didn’t get anything this month but it’s pretty rare I don’t win I have had prizes ranging from £25-£600

I invested £100 2 years ago and top up by £25 per month.
At the moment I have £1575 having a few wins.
I don't need this money it's in my mind a back up for an emergency.
Plus someone will win the million pounds why not me.

Not necessarily - if you're an additional rate tax payer you'd get £1251 of interest on that £50k, whereas with average luck you'd get £1900 of untaxed winnings with PB - £649 better off. Obviously you might have worse than average luck, but you could also have better.
Premium Bond Probability Calculator. Unique tool predicts what you'll win plus NEW 'luck test'

I track my returns and am a higher rate tax payer so keep an eye on the return vs what I’d get in savings after tax. I’ve averaged around a 5% return over the last 3 years, it’s very variable with wins from zero to £700! however that’s still worth it for me over cash savings.

They are tax free, which for some people is a bonus. This year has been dire for us, we would have earned far more if we had put 100k in the NS&I fixed term bonds paying 4.7% instead. Our joint return is just over £2000 in 9 draws this year, but mine is only £850 and 5 out of 9 months I've not won anything at all.

I had between £10k to £15k for many years and would received £25 or £50 every 2 - 3 months. My luck changed last summer when I won £500 one month. Then earlier this year I won £50k. Now I'm back to winning the odd £25 or £50 again. Those are the only 2 large wins I've had in over 40 years.

There are 2 x £1m prizes, around 70 x £100k and 170 x £50k each month, but many millions of bonds in the draw to win them. I think many of us like the anticipation and weirdly the disappointment each month (a touch of Del Boy perhaps), but if you want a guaranteed return, don't bother.