Have you won big on premium bonds? Or know someone who has? Just wanting some hope 😃

[briwgalp]

I’ve invested a lot in premium bonds. Won’t 500 over two months since investing. I’m really needing some money (thousands) and wondered if anyone has won big? Is it a bit of a pointless effort…

Why not buy an ISA instead at the current high interest rates? You can put in up to £20k. Guaranteed "winnings"!

I've had premium bonds my whole life (I was born in the 1960s). I have won £1000 once and quite a few £25, £50 and £100 prizes.

I wish I'd put it into interest bearing accounts instead.

Are you on the Premium Bonds thread? Seems like every month lately at least one poster is winning big

My dad won big-ish (but not really massive) thirty years ago. I've never met anyone else who's had a big win. The odds for premium bonds are very poor (as I'm sure you know) ... but I've got some, as I like having the hope of a big win, even if it's not likely!

We both have max PB holdings and although we both win regularly, neither of us have ever won "big". On average we seem to win anything between £250-£1k/month and last year were easily beating the average until OH had a nil month and I only won £50.
Most of our wider family also have FH but I think only my nephew has ever had a "medium" win (£5k).

I think the reason people like PB's is because any winnings are tax free, your money is completely safe, you can get your money back within a few days and you never know if you will get lucky.
They are great if you already have money tucked away in ISA's etc with a known return and you aren't relying on the PB's for an income or to increase in value.

Never won a penny.

MSE did the calculations a while ago and has a calculator on the site which works out your odds. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds/

Basically your chances of winning, say, £10k are 1 in 1 in 3,352,821 per each month draw but that is per £25 'bond.'
With average luck, someone with £10k invested will win £375 per year.

As a pp said, if you want a definite 'win' put it in an ISA instead. Obviously you can only put in £20k per year, but if you top it up again this and then next April, if interest rates stay the same you'll get £2600 per year guaranteed (based on current highest interest rates of 5.2% on £50k, compared to an 'average luck' win of £1,950 on premium bonds).

Of course with higher than average luck you could win a million. But with lower you could win nothing at all and be £2600 down.

I only put money in premium bonds as the third option once I have topped out my ISA and have got to the point in a 'normal' savings account (currently about £19k, but depends on what rate of tax you pay) where any extra interest will be subject to tax.

tl;dr - even if you put the maximum £50k in premium bonds, your chances of winning 'thousands' (if by which you mean more than about 2 or 3 k a year) are very low. If you've got less than £10k in premium bonds your chances of winning anything at all are low.

I have the max amount of PBs and the most I have ever won is £325, last December. Since then I have been in a very dry spell with £25 or £50 a month - or even nothing!

I hang on to them in the hope of a decent tax free win plus the fact that they are easily accessible if I urgently need some money. But I might change my mind if I don’t start winning decent amounts!

@Nourishinghandcream you sometimes get 1k a month?! How often has that happened?! I would love this 😂

DH won £700 this month

We both have full holdings and so far this year have won £3250 between us so a decent return

We do have other savings & investments but still like PB for the chance of winning big!