Premium Bonds: A good investment?

Advantages: Winning a varied amount of money
Disadvantages: You need to invest a lot of money to guarantee consistent wins

...if you're a winner by consulting the National Savings and Investments website where all you need to do is type in your holders number in the space provided and hit the enter key. Within a few seconds you will either be jumping with joy or wishing the following months draw would hurry up and come round. I have held premium bonds for the majority of my life yet all I have to show for it is a fifty pound win when I was about five and what I had originally paid in. That's my only problem with this form of investing. I know the only reason I have not won more is because I have not invested enough to win I'm not even close to quarter of the maximum holding. Therefore my money is held in these bonds earning no interest just sitting there never getting drawn while a lucky section of the population who have invested more are reaping the rewards...

K1r5ty21 13.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of National Savings and Investments Premium Bonds

Save (a bit) for their future

Advantages: Exempt from IncomeTax & Capital Gains. A good introduction for savings
Disadvantages: 5 year period/Child doesn't get an 'actual' present

...The only update to this is to say please do not get these Bonds confused with Premium Bonds as some people seem to have got confused! They are totally different! CHILDRENS BONUS BONDS are not advertised and therefore sometimes are forgotton about as an 'alternative' gift or to help you save for your childs future. How many times have we all spent an amount of money on a present for your child/neice/nephew or friends children only for it to be outgrown in a few months? . Or perhaps Nanny & Grandad want to invest some money for their grandchildren? During the first few years of my sons life, I was given a fiver here and a fiver there from various relations to 'get him some sweets' or buy him something nice! Well I don't know about you but babies/toddlers and young kids have nearly everything these days and I didn't want to...

HotBabes 20.12.2004 · Read review
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Review of National Savings and Investments Premium Bonds

Making investment fun

Advantages: Fun way to invest money
Disadvantages: You might not get good returns

...Until a couple of years ago I had heard of Premium Bonds, but had little idea about what they were and how they worked. Last year I came into a little bit of cash and instead of wasting it on crap like I normally do I decided to invest it. I put a little bit in an ISA and decided to buy some Premium Bonds as well as a friend had some and she always seemed to be winning ? plus the idea of potentially winning money each month appealed to me as well. What they are Premium Bonds are effectively a lottery and a savings account rolled into one. The difference between this savings account and the normal ones you get is that your money doesn?t get guaranteed interest each year; instead your premium bonds are entered into a draw each month with the chance of winning prizes that range from £50 all the way up to £1,000,000 tax...

fryera2 13.06.2007 · Read review
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Review of National Savings and Investments Premium Bonds

Simple tax free savings

Advantages: Good interest rate and convenient to use
Disadvantages: No online facility to date

...of money and have watched it grow, even over just six months. Ok, it may not have the highest interest rate out there, but at least with a name like National Savings you know your money is safe! The only real disadvantage I have found with this account is that it cannot be accessed online but hopefully National Savings will consider this in the not too distant future. As well as ISA's, National Savings can offer Premium Bonds, Ordinary and Investment accounts, Childrens Bonds, Income Bonds and Savings Certificates, to name but a few. I would definitely recommend National Savings to anyone who was looking for a hassle free, safe way of saving....

natfox 08.06.2002 · Read review
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Review of National Savings and Investments

For the less-than daring.

Advantages: A safe investment which is particularly advantageous for the higher rate taxpayer.
Disadvantages: Rates of interst paid are not generous but are partly inflation-linked.

...Yes, I know I keep having a go at National Savings & Investments, but it?s not that I?m prejudiced ? it?s that they?re less than generous with some of their products. I used to tell people and particularly higher rate tax payers what excellent value this investment provided. Unfortunately they seem to have realised and the returns offered have fallen. Let me explain to you how Index-Linked Savings Certificates work. You need a minimum investment of £100 and the maximum amount in each issue is £10,000. You need to be able to put the money away for a fixed term of either two years or five years. Now the problem with most fixed-term investments is that inflation eats into the buying-power of the money you?ve invested. You may have earned net interest of 2.5% on your Building Society account, but if inflation has been more than that...

SueMagee 06.02.2003 · Read review
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Review of National Savings and Investments

You've got to be in it to win it

Advantages: could win up to £1million, can cash in at any time, secure
Disadvantages: high minimum investment, no interest earned

...I became interested in investing in National Savings products after learning about them in my financial studies, and with the recent drop in interest rates that have seen savings accounts become less worthwhile, a bit of diversification seemed reasonable. What is National Savings? National Savings is a government backed savings scheme. It's big selling point is that your money is guaranteed to be completely safe. This compares to only the first £50,000 of your money with the banks, however much you invest with national savings it is completely secure. This makes no odds to me, as I'm not lucky enough to have that sort of money anyway, but it's useful to know! They offer various savings products - fixed term certificates through to children's bonus bonds. What are Premium Bonds? Most people will have heard...

katherineh123 02.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of National Savings and Investments Premium Bonds

Premium Bonds Savings/Gamble

Advantages: never loose stake money, prizes up to a million
Disadvantages: never seem to win much!!!

...could manage to acquire a full holding (£30,000) Of course to find this sum, let alone be able to put it to one side in bonds, is normally out of reach for most of us. My chance came when I was faced with selling my house and moving in with my elderly parent in order to care for her. Not only could I invest the maximum allowed, but I had the funds to do the same for my two, adult, children. NOW, I thought, we have a chance!! With £90,000 in total surely we will find ourselves among the 'big' winners? After all the Government restrict the number of bonds held in order to avoid any one person having an unfair advantage. Well that was 6 months ago. Yes we have won. But so far the largest prize was one of £100. The rest were all just £50's Admittedly one holding won 4 of these £50s in one month, but that is just on a parr...

hunnieoo7 08.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of National Savings and Investments Premium Bonds

Laugh... I cried.

Advantages: See text
Disadvantages: See text

...suitable for children and I can see some advantage in a child of the age of seven or over being able to operate their own account, but I would doubt the wisdom of teaching any child that this was a sensible way to invest money. You?ve seen the joke haven?t you? Well, I quite regularly see pensioners drawing their weekly money and they?ll pass their savings book over with a £10 note tucked inside and say ?? and I?ll put that in for my holidays?. That?s when the joke tastes a little sour....

SueMagee 18.09.2001 · Read review
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Review of National Savings and Investments

The Silent Lottery for the Silent Majority

Advantages: Easily understandable way to gamble without loss
Disadvantages: No interest obtained on money set aside in this way

...do, it is tax-free. I?ve never been attracted to the National Lottery or Lotto as we?re now encouraged to call it. I don?t like the hype. I don?t know enough about football to bother with the pools. Besides I don?t want the hassle of doing something each week for low odds of winning. I?m not superstitious about numbers. I?ve studied statistics. I haven?t got the nerve to go on ?Who wants to be a millionaire?? with or without a coughing companion. But I do like the idea that silently each month I?ve got a relatively efficient entry in a silent Lottery that has already proven that the winner just could be me. Even if I never win again, I shall enjoy spending this £50 on something special. The National Savings and Investment (NS&I) website (formerly just National Savings) is a very well organized source of information, and I...

Discerna 05.05.2003 (27.05.2003) · Read review
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Review of National Savings and Investments Premium Bonds

ERNIE is not as generous as he used to be

Advantages: tax free, fun
Disadvantages: low-rate of return

...I like premium bonds. I've had them for years, but I have become more disenchanted with them recently because the rate of return doesn't seem as good as in the past. A large proportion of the UK population have at least a few National Savings Premium Bonds, often held for a very long time, but are they actually any good? Are they gambling or a real investment? What Are Premium Bonds? Premium Bonds are effectively a loan to the government, in exchange, all returns from them are tax-free. They are issued by NS&I (National Savings and Investment, formerly the Post Office Savings Bank) and Each bond is worth £1 and pays no interest (unlike most "bonds") but each month the owner of the bond is entered into a prize draw. The prizes range from £50 to £1 Million with odds of each bond winning a prize, of 22,000 to 1 at the moment, although...

AndrewPo 15.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of National Savings and Investments Premium Bonds