Just for a bit of fun... Switched out £65k (wife and mine) of holding from premium bonds to stock market (range of ETFs) in December.
Return Apr-Dec of premium bonds returns - £1,075 - 2.15% annualised Return so far on investments in investment account - (£802) - a minus 1.23% return.... My plan of CGT not being an issue is working a little too well.
Updating this, now the returns on the investments in investment account, £1,094. 1.07% over 1.5 months. Currently made £19 more off the investments than I did over 9 draws on the premium bonds.
Obviously that's the premium for risk and it could be well, well down by next month!!!
nothing, as expected on my feeble holding. That said, January was my best ever month for returns and £49,000 of those investments wouldnt have been there if I was on a max holding.
The lad I used to work with that won £10k last summer has won another £10k. To make matters worse he’s a spanner, holding about £40k. That £40k includes his £20k winnings, so basically doubled his money, he’s only had them for a few years.
If, like me, your Disgruntlement with Premium Bonds barometer is running at a high level today, it's more than worth reading Martin Lewis' typically clear-sighted analysis of Premium Bonds and how they work. That said, his calculator on that page currently isn't working (I tried in two browsers); and I slightly take issue with one of his points against, when he rightly addresses the emotional attraction of PBs. He says:
"Many people often think: "I'm likely to get the prize rate (or thereabouts) – and there's a small chance of winning a million", but this isn't correct. You're actually likely to get quite a lot less than the prize rate of 4.15% or 4%, and there's a negligible chance of winning a million."
So he does a good job explaining why we should expect less than the declared interest rate. However while there's obviously a negligible chance of winning a million, the chances of winning £5,000 are a fair bit better, although I have no idea how to calculate the chance. The thing about winning 5k is that on a £50k holding you've got an effective interest rate of at least 10% for that year. If I recall, at least one Lifer has told us they've bagged £5k. I've been subconsciously telling myself this for a while when justifying my continued holding; that and the monthly shared disappointment and occasional joy on this thread.
If, like me, your Disgruntlement with Premium Bonds barometer is running at a high level today, it's more than worth reading Martin Lewis' typically clear-sighted analysis of Premium Bonds and how they work. That said, his calculator on that page currently isn't working (I tried in two browsers); and I slightly take issue with one of his points against, when he rightly addresses the emotional attraction of PBs. He says:
"Many people often think: "I'm likely to get the prize rate (or thereabouts) – and there's a small chance of winning a million", but this isn't correct. You're actually likely to get quite a lot less than the prize rate of 4.15% or 4%, and there's a negligible chance of winning a million."
So he does a good job explaining why we should expect less than the declared interest rate. However while there's obviously a negligible chance of winning a million, the chances of winning £5,000 are a fair bit better, although I have no idea how to calculate the chance. The thing about winning 5k is that on a £50k holding you've got an effective interest rate of at least 10% for that year. If I recall, at least one Lifer has told us they've bagged £5k. I've been subconsciously telling myself this for a while when justifying my continued holding; that and the monthly shared disappointment and occasional joy on this thread.
My daughter with roughly half holding won £5k last Jan, think there was a lifer also last year who won £5k.
If, like me, your Disgruntlement with Premium Bonds barometer is running at a high level today, it's more than worth reading Martin Lewis' typically clear-sighted analysis of Premium Bonds and how they work. That said, his calculator on that page currently isn't working (I tried in two browsers); and I slightly take issue with one of his points against, when he rightly addresses the emotional attraction of PBs. He says:
"Many people often think: "I'm likely to get the prize rate (or thereabouts) – and there's a small chance of winning a million", but this isn't correct. You're actually likely to get quite a lot less than the prize rate of 4.15% or 4%, and there's a negligible chance of winning a million."
So he does a good job explaining why we should expect less than the declared interest rate. However while there's obviously a negligible chance of winning a million, the chances of winning £5,000 are a fair bit better, although I have no idea how to calculate the chance. The thing about winning 5k is that on a £50k holding you've got an effective interest rate of at least 10% for that year. If I recall, at least one Lifer has told us they've bagged £5k. I've been subconsciously telling myself this for a while when justifying my continued holding; that and the monthly shared disappointment and occasional joy on this thread.
I won the £5k about this time last year, having only been on PBs for about 6 months at that time. Was on full holding right from the get go. Admittedly haven't had any big wins since then, but that one off windfall was more than enough to convince me its worth sticking with.
I think another important aspect to consider is the tax bracket one is in. If you're a 45% tax payer, then having savings in the tax-free PBs is likely to make it significantly better than just regular cash savings - even a high interest account.
Hi. I'm looking for some advise. I will be 65 in March and have two final salery pensions that I will be able to take. I have a third one that I took when the pandemic started.
One of the pensions that I will be able to access gives me the opportunity to take a 25% tax free lump sum c£100,000. I'm not sure if I should sacrifice the reduction in the pension c£6k p/a that I will lose or not. I don't really need the cash as I will have the other two pensions, my state pension in 12 months and also rent out two houses and have a fair amount of savings / investments.
Should I take the cash and spend / Invest some of it or max the pension income?. Any advise gladly welcomed. Cheers.
Realistically if you take it and invest it you’ll need to live past 85/90 to be worse off, even if you have a spouse.
id take it, fairly low risk doing so but many upsides!
We all hope we live to a ripe old age, a director at Legal and General many years ago retired on his 65th birthday, guy was a workaholic (not married, no children). I suspect his DB pension was north of £200k a year even back then, he died within 3 weeks so never saw a penny!!
Thanks for the response. That is my plan. Any suggestions for maximising the investment given that there will be a drop of c £6k by taking the money rather than the pension?.
Comments
Second month on the trot I've won £50
Previous 4 months zilch
Pays my golf fees.
Obviously that's the premium for risk and it could be well, well down by next month!!!
Yesterday was about three times worse for me than the previous Monday and today hasn't gotten off to a great start. Cheers Trump!
"Many people often think: "I'm likely to get the prize rate (or thereabouts) – and there's a small chance of winning a million", but this isn't correct. You're actually likely to get quite a lot less than the prize rate of 4.15% or 4%, and there's a negligible chance of winning a million."
So he does a good job explaining why we should expect less than the declared interest rate. However while there's obviously a negligible chance of winning a million, the chances of winning £5,000 are a fair bit better, although I have no idea how to calculate the chance. The thing about winning 5k is that on a £50k holding you've got an effective interest rate of at least 10% for that year. If I recall, at least one Lifer has told us they've bagged £5k. I've been subconsciously telling myself this for a while when justifying my continued holding; that and the monthly shared disappointment and occasional joy on this thread.
me zip on 45k
I won the £5k about this time last year, having only been on PBs for about 6 months at that time. Was on full holding right from the get go. Admittedly haven't had any big wins since then, but that one off windfall was more than enough to convince me its worth sticking with.
I think another important aspect to consider is the tax bracket one is in. If you're a 45% tax payer, then having savings in the tax-free PBs is likely to make it significantly better than just regular cash savings - even a high interest account.