PREMIUM BONDS MARCH ONWARDS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

New thread and I've been asked to give some basic info. Feel free to add stuff

PB have been about since 1957

Been 30yrs (April 2024) since a million was then the highest prize

nsandi-corporate.com/news-research/news/30-years-premium-bonds-ps1-million-jackpots#

Each bond is £1. You have to buy in minimum of £25 so means 25 chances to win every purchase - years ago you could buy £1 at a time.

Odds of winning £1 million on Premium Bonds at face value are 1 in 2,489,469,818 if you have £25 in PBs.

However most people have more than £25 so the odds depend on how much you do hold.

If you have £100 the odds in any given month are 1 in 49,563,028

£1,000 in PB the odds are 1 in 4,954,991

£50,000 in PB the odds are 1 in 96,839

To win anything odds are 1 in 22000

So providing you have more than £100 you have better odds than winning the lottery 😄

And obviously far better than the lottery - you don’t lose your stake !!!!!!

Bonds have to be in for a clear month before going into the draw

If you want to cash bonds in then usually takes 3 days to go into your account

Winnings can be reinvested if holdings are under £50k

This means they will go into the next months draw without losing a month

Or sent to named bank account if winnings take over FH /want winnings in bank account

More info here

www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/savings/types-of-savings/premium-bonds

The best time to buy premium bonds is on the last day of the month, as this means they are only held by NSI for one month and one day, without being entered into the prize draw.

PB to me is the fun and thrill each month of what if I win big and a millionaire - to then hoping win thousands to a day or two later being grateful if win £25😂

I have nowhere near the maximum and probably never will unless I win £50k + on pb

But only takes one £1 to win that million !!!

I love seeing the low holdings win high amounts

We've seen over the years £100 win £100k and £50 win £25k and even £1 won £10k

Maximum is £50k per person so some do have all for family- mum dad and 2 kids so £200k etx

Those on the thread are varying from few hundred /few thousand - to 20/30k to full holdings of £50k

Everyone is welcome to join in whether small or full holdings

One would expect if had full holdings of £50k to win something every month and think over the year to earn the same as if in a high interest account to win around £1925 in prizes

If have £5k average luck is £175 winnings a year

Obviously some people have better 'luck' than others and some worse - Ie full holdings and not winning anything a month or two or even longer

PB odds calculator below

moneymarvel.co.uk/calculators/premium-bonds/

Or this one is quite good as shows the interest rate of the winnings - obv anything over 4% is good as if in an account you wouid be taxed so be more like 3%)

In August 2023, NS&I hiked the prize fund to a 24-year high of 4.65 per cent from 4 per cent, a level not seen since 1999 🙀🙀🙀🙀

But it has been steadily falling since, and of January 2025, the prize fund rate - the amount of the total fund paid out in prizes - is 4 per cent (www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-14127405/Premium-Bonds-prize-fund-rate-cut-NS-deals-blow-savers.html)

www.candidmoney.com/calculators/national-savings-premium-bond-calculator

From google (august 2023) - The consistent winners are the 1.16 million people who have the maximum £50,000.

They hold almost half of all premium bonds and, at current odds of 1/22000 can expect a monthly stream of tax-free prizes: two a month and three almost every other month, 28 or 29 a year totaling £1,925

From google (Jan 2024) Tho equally With Premium Bonds, for every person who wins £1 million, a lot of people have to win nothing. So the median average will always be lower than the mean average.

This means that, with average luck, most people will win less than the prize rate each year, regardless of how many bonds they hold

To work out your own personal % rate

Take your total prizes, divide it by the number of months and x by 12.

Then divide that figure into your total holding and x 100.

So say £500 prizes in 6 months / 6 x 12 = £1000.

Holdings £30,000 = 1000/30000 x 100 = 3.33% interest rate.

But many on here do have £50k and then consider moving it to an account that pays 4% if their bonds aren't doing very well as would then def get extra money

But remember savings /interest get taxed

PB and their winnings don't

So anything over 3% in winnings is considered good.

So they do dither whether to pull out from pb and put in high interest account if not winning anything so that they will def earn x amount of interest

But then lose the what if won a million or £100k

If you have PB but not sure if you have ever won esp if moved about a lot

you can write to NS&I. Include these details in the letter:

	Current name

	Current address

	Premium Bond holder number 

	All previous addresses where you might have registered bonds

	Your signature 

You can send your letter to:

NS&I,
Sunderland
SR43 2SB.

There are 2 apps afaik

Cream - prize checker and if won previous month will show a pic - which we all get excited over 😂😂😂

Blue - the app its self works but the showing early often doesn't work for me but those who reinvest their winnings say it shows if won the day before app shows 🙀🙀🙀

Seems the higher the winnings the earlier it shows and can be from 6pm the night before the app shows

And to confuse things I have a White app that is a bookmark - which shows info/list 😄😄😄

Now this has been debated on MANY times but seems to be correct

When do we find out if going to get a visit from AM 😂

The two winners of 
the £1million prizes will be contacted by Agent Million (AM) 😂😂 the day before the first working day of the corresponding month.

There may however be 
exceptions to this, such as when the first working day of the month is a 
bank holiday, for example.

So

Day before first working day - Millionaire knock /call

First day of working month - list showing all winners million to £1k winners - which I always put up for those who can't find it

Day after first working day , including weekends - cream app showing all winnings

You can also check to see if have won via this link with your holders number

www.nsandi.com/prize-checker

Hopefully I've covered everything

Good luck one and all 😄

Buy a house with about half of it, though there's naff all round here at the moment worth buying, it's mainly new builds, which really dont do it for me. (Not that I've been looking! 😆)
Then pay a load (c 200k) into my pension, and put some in investments for the kids, then I'd work out how long til I could retire on the rest!
Would people still keep money in premium bonds after that? I think I might be tempted to pull most of it out after a really big win..

A million, I would start with a new sewing machine and a second overlocker, then a new car, then I’d move into town and maybe a dachshund puppy, after that a lot of new fabric and some new sewing patterns! Friends, family and charity would benefit too.

Reluctantly accepting that this is another month that I won't be handing in my notice...

I wonder if Blondes is limbering up yet or still watching the telly?

I'd still keep mine in there after a big win, even if just for the tax free element. Though I'd also probably convince myself I might win again...

The winnings are tax free, so paying it into a pension wouldn't really make sense. You wouldn't qualify for any tax relief when paying in, but would pay tax when withdrawing the money.

Personally, I'd pay off the mortgage and increase the budget for our planned extension.

That would leave £500k which is nowhere near enough to retire, so I'd put it all into a stocks and shares investment account (e.g. a Global ETF fund such as LGGG) and then use that, via 'bed and ISA' to max out our ISAs and kids ISAs. I'd also start and max out Junior SIPPs for the kids. That would be around £64k getting sheltered every year until it was all moved across.

It's a bit boring, but not having a mortgage would leave us £2,600 a month better off, which would make a massive difference to our standard of living and holiday budget. Having the £500k invested for 20 years until retirement should end up as £2+ million which would hopefully be enough to provide a reasonable lifestyle.

Generally, when you pay into a pension, 20% gets added (pay in £80 and it instantly becomes £100). And you can withdraw some of it tax free, so it's definitely worth doing.

I’m ready and waiting

I checked mine too, me, postie and random cars that set it off.

no AM for me either, not had a win since October, and have a reasonable holding too. Might have to cash them in if I don’t win this month.

Here we go. Hope link works as some months it shows for me but not for everyone

im off to bed. Too tired to check as worked last night and no nap today

https://www.nsandi.com/prize-checker/winners

https://www.nsandi.com/files/asset/xlsx/prize-may-2025.xlsx

good luck

A £2 bond bought in Merseyside January 1957 right when they started has won £10,000. Hope they are found!

Not on the high value list here 👎.

Me neither. Oh well!

Yes always nice to see v.small holdings from way back win nice prizes.

Crossing fingers for tomorrow now...

Yes, but that's because you've paid tax upon your earnings.

"An annual allowance limits the amount someone can pay into pension schemes each year before they must pay income tax. In 2025/26, people can contribute up to £60,000 into pension schemes without paying income tax. Usually, people cannot receive tax relief on pension contributions above their annual earnings."

Dammit, looks like I'm off to work today after all. Fingers crossed for tonight/tomorrow 🤞

Picture has already changed today to woman being rained on!

Nearly there, everyone!

I thought you could pay in up to 100% of your salary and get tax relief? So as long as I carried on working I could essentially just not get paid and put the money into my pension (which is shockingly low atm) instead?

"can contribute up to £60,000" You can contribute that whether you pay tax on your income or not. I paid in a small amount to a pension for a few years when I wasn't a tax payer. Each year I paid in £2880 and then took out £3600. Some of what I took out was taxable but I'd only have to pay tax on it if my total income including the withdrawal was above the Personal Allowance. Whether I paid tax on it or not, I'd still gained.

Not many winners from my area this month

Someone in Wiltshire has won £1K with a £10 bond, which is the total value of their holding. They bought this in December 2021. I thought the minimum holdings you can have is £25?

Checking in for the monthly disappointment! Not won anything for several months, and stopped checking the HV list.

I can't find that one?

You could buy more than £25 then sell some to get back down to £10

More winners than usual this month in our area on the HVW list, but unfortunately not including us!