Premium Bonds...

Premium Bonds

I've owned Premium Bonds for many years and always thought of them as a way to have a little flutter without loosing my shirt. Over the years I've invested quite a sum of money, always thinking that the more I own the greater chance I have of winning the jackpot, or one of the smaller prizes. I mean £10,000 would do me just fine, tax-free, I'm not greedy. A couple of years ago I set-up a standing order so that I bought £50 worth each month. Obviously this was just money that wouldn’t end up in my savings account. Recently I had started to think about stopping the standing order and cashing some of them in. Only because I ended up with more money in Premium Bonds than I had in accessible cash. Also I did wonder whether they were worth it.

On Wednesday I received the weekly ‘Martin’s Money Tips’ e-mail and the top headline was ‘Premium Bonds: are they worth it?’. What Martin says is that for someone like me, a basic rate taxpayer, I would be much better off investing in a good savings account than investing in premium bonds. It’s just that people would much rather have a chance of winning big than earning interest on savings each month.

So, last night I filled in the form, you have to ask for this at the Post Office, to cash in the majority of my bonds. Of course I checked the box which says that you want to sell them after the next draw… it would just be my luck to miss out on a big win.