# Premium bonds v ISA?



## Dave Davenport (30 Mar 2018)

As interests rates are so low at the moment I was thinking of using some savings I've got in a cash ISA to buy some premium bonds, pros / cons?


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## winjim (30 Mar 2018)

When we got our mortgage last year our financial advisor said premium bonds were giving a better return than ISAs at the moment. That's where she recommended we keep our spare cash.


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## perplexed (30 Mar 2018)

An advantage of the isa is that even with poor rates, it might be worth 'bagging' your allowance for the year. Then as and when rates improve you can transfer this year's allowance to a better performing one in the future. Usually. I like bonds too tho'... I'm not a financial advisor, jus chucking a thought out there


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## Paulus (30 Mar 2018)

With premium bonds, your money is always there and any winnings will be tax free. So if you balance the potential winnings against interest rates it may well be better. But because of inflation, ultimately your stake in NS&I will diminish by that rate.
I have money invested in bonds for a year now, and at the moment I am up on any interest that ISA's can pay.


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## vickster (30 Mar 2018)

I tend to get £25-50 a month from PBS (15k in maybe?), my cash ISA basically gives me nothing. My low risk shares ISA is flying at around 7% growth IIRC but depends on whether you are prepared to accept risk...I recently shifted cash into that from the cash ISA


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## accountantpete (30 Mar 2018)

Chuck it in a pension.

Instant 24% return together with selecting a safe type of investment should provide security and increase in wealth - but you need to take a year or two off just before retirement to make it pay.


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## wonderloaf (30 Mar 2018)

accountantpete said:


> Chuck it in a pension.
> 
> Instant 24% return together with selecting a safe type of investment should provide security and increase in wealth - but you need to take a year or two off just before retirement to make it pay.


Tell me more .... I'm at a point where I'm trying to decide if I can afford to retire or not, my retirement isn't due for another for a few years but I may have just enough savings to see me over until the pensions kick in. Got the financial advisor coming round next week as well so would be good to go into the meeting with some cards up my sleeve!


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## accountantpete (30 Mar 2018)

wonderloaf said:


> Tell me more .... I'm at a point where I'm trying to decide if I can afford to retire or not, my retirement isn't due for another for a few years but I may have just enough savings to see me over until the pensions kick in. Got the financial advisor coming round next week as well so would be good to go into the meeting with some cards up my sleeve!



It's simple - you start a SIPP or something similar. Anything you contribute is eligible for tax relief at 20% gross - so if you invest £500 then that is regarded as net (80%) and the government then adds on the "tax relief" to the amount invested (£125) so you get £625 sitting in your account.

You can then withdraw this at any time after 55 - the only rule being that 25% of any amounts taken are tax free and the remainder is added to the rest of your income for that year. But if the rest of your income plus the amount taxable are less than £11,000 (personal allowance) then the whole of the amount taken escapes tax.

You just need to ensure that the amounts are invested in "safe" investments like government bonds and that whatever Pension provider you choose doesn't charge too much!


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## User269 (30 Mar 2018)

vickster said:


> I tend to get £25-50 a month from PBS (15k in maybe?), my cash ISA basically gives me nothing. My low risk shares ISA is flying at around 7% growth IIRC but depends on whether you are prepared to accept risk...I recently shifted cash into that from the cash ISA



According to moneysavingexpert premium bond calculator;

*The Key Result*
You are lucky - only 7.05% of people who have put £15000 in premium bonds over 1 year win more than £300.

According to me;

Even a crummy .75% cash ISA will earn you a guaranteed £112.50pa on a £15k investment.


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## Dave Davenport (30 Mar 2018)

I'm going to go for £10k in PB's as I'd rather have the chance (ok, slim chance) off winning a few grand than the 100 quid or so I'm getting in annual interest. I'll have enough annual allowance left to stick it back in an ISA if the rates improve any time.


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## Dave Davenport (30 Mar 2018)

Re. the pension idea; I've got a pension running (and a final salary one in the PPF), this is savings I'd like access to if needed.


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## User269 (30 Mar 2018)

Dave Davenport said:


> I'm going to go for £10k in PB's as I'd rather have the chance (ok, slim chance) off winning a few grand than the 100 quid or so I'm getting in annual interest. I'll have enough annual allowance left to stick it back in an ISA if the rates improve any time.



*The Key Result*
With £10,000 in Premium Bonds, if you have average luck
you would expect to win roughly £100 over 1 year


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## vickster (30 Mar 2018)

User269 said:


> According to moneysavingexpert premium bond calculator;
> 
> *The Key Result*
> You are lucky - only 7.05% of people who have put £15000 in premium bonds over 1 year win more than £300.
> ...


No 7% on shares ISA not PBS.


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## oldfatfool (30 Mar 2018)

Pension put in 12k net for every year you want to retire early. Each year you are retired before state age withdraw approx 16k tax free if no other earnings. With a modest return should be a few quid left over. Both you and wife do same £32k a year tax free ample to live the good life.


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## PK99 (30 Mar 2018)

Dave Davenport said:


> I'm going to go for £10k in PB's as I'd rather have the chance (ok, slim chance) off winning a few grand than the 100 quid or so I'm getting in annual interest. I'll have enough annual allowance left to stick it back in an ISA if the rates improve any time.



check out other national savings products:

https://www.nsandi.com/interest-rates


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## oldwheels (30 Mar 2018)

I use PB’s as I reckon to get a better return then an ISA which was virtually nothing. The other consideration is I can get at the cash if required almost immediately. After reading the small print carefully on most other products I was not impressed.


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## ColinJ (30 Mar 2018)

My sister has the maximum holding (£50,000). In theory that should produce about 23 wins a year. I think she had a couple in January and February, and she won 5 times in the March draw (all small wins, mostly £25 prizes).

I bought a lot of bonds with the money that I inherited from my parents and best mate, but I am having to cash them in month by month now to pay my household bills.

I would definitely buy the maximum holding if one of my hare-brained schemes ever actually bore sufficient fruit.


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## wonderloaf (30 Mar 2018)

accountantpete said:


> It's simple - you start a SIPP or something similar. Anything you contribute is eligible for tax relief at 20% gross - so if you invest £500 then that is regarded as net (80%) and the government then adds on the "tax relief" to the amount invested (£125) so you get £625 sitting in your account.
> 
> You can then withdraw this at any time after 55 - the only rule being that 25% of any amounts taken are tax free and the remainder is added to the rest of your income for that year. But if the rest of your income plus the amount taxable are less than £11,000 (personal allowance) then the whole of the amount taken escapes tax.
> 
> You just need to ensure that the amounts are invested in "safe" investments like government bonds and that whatever Pension provider you choose doesn't charge too much!





oldfatfool said:


> Pension put in 12k net for every year you want to retire early. Each year you are retired before state age withdraw approx 16k tax free if no other earnings. With a modest return should be a few quid left over. Both you and wife do same £32k a year tax free ample to live the good life.



Cheers guys, this has given me something to think about, think I need to sit down, take on board what you've said and do some maths , finance isn't my strongpoint though!


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## biggs682 (30 Mar 2018)

accountantpete said:


> It's simple - you start a SIPP or something similar. Anything you contribute is eligible for tax relief at 20% gross - so if you invest £500 then that is regarded as net (80%) and the government then adds on the "tax relief" to the amount invested (£125) so you get £625 sitting in your account.
> 
> You can then withdraw this at any time after 55 - the only rule being that 25% of any amounts taken are tax free and the remainder is added to the rest of your income for that year. But if the rest of your income plus the amount taxable are less than £11,000 (personal allowance) then the whole of the amount taken escapes tax.
> 
> You just need to ensure that the amounts are invested in "safe" investments like government bonds and that whatever Pension provider you choose doesn't charge too much!



Never even heard of a sipp but will be looking at it soon in better detail soon


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## PK99 (30 Mar 2018)

ColinJ said:


> My sister has the maximum holding (£50,000). In theory that should produce about 23 wins a year. .



A long time ago we used to have the maximum, and the return was pretty good most years - every month a few envelopes dropped through the door IIRC never more than £100.

We cashed them in when GB's budget sneaked in a stealth tax in an under the line item in one of his budgets. Prior to the change, the Prize fund was based directly on one of the National savings interest rates and tax-free in the hands of the winner After the change the prize fund was based on one of the NS rates less an amount representing the average tax take across income taxpayers. So, while the winnings were still tax-free in the hands of the winner, the winning probability was less. We noticed the difference -the $40k went into PEPS and eventually became ISAs


With £50,000

*Winnings Probability*
£0 Exactly 1 in 43,251,547,540
At least £25 Virtual certainty
At least £50 Virtual certainty
At least £75 Virtual certainty
At least £100 Virtual certainty
At least £150 Virtual certainty
At least £175 Virtual certainty
At least £200 Virtual certainty
At least £250 Virtual certainty
At least £350 99.3%
At least £400 97.7%
At least £450 93.9%
At least £500 87%
At least £750 24.7%
At least £1,000 5.63%
At least £1,500 1.44%
At least £2,500 1 in 675
At least £5,000 1 in 723
At least £10,000 1 in 1,556
At least £25,000 1 in 3,678
At least £50,000 1 in 8,080
At least £100,000 1 in 17,276
At least £1,000,000 1 in 59,822
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds-calculator/#result


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## screenman (30 Mar 2018)

I have not had a single win on the premium bonds in the 51 years that I have owned them.


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## ColinJ (30 Mar 2018)

screenman said:


> I have not had a single win on the premium bonds in the 51 years that I have owned them.


What - _neither _of them has ever won - blimey, bad luck!


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## snorri (30 Mar 2018)

screenman said:


> I have not had a single win on the premium bonds in the 51 years that I have owned them.


That is amazingly bad luck.
It's time to cut your losses, cash them in and getaway on a Round the World cruise or some such extravagance with the takings.


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## screenman (30 Mar 2018)

ColinJ said:


> What - _neither _of them has ever won - blimey, bad luck!



How did you know?


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## ColinJ (30 Mar 2018)

screenman said:


> How did you know?


I assumed that it must be a very small number otherwise you would have probably won at least _once,_ and the number couldn't be 1 because it was '_them_' rather than '_it_' so I took a guess at 2! 

ColinJ, aka 'Sherlock'


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## Beebo (31 Mar 2018)

There was a scam a few years ago where you bought the maximum limit, then sold them all except the first and last one. 
These numbers could not be resold, so you only had £2 of bonds across a huge range. 
The ERNIE couldn’t account for the missing numbers so if they were selected by the computer it moved to the nearest actual number. 
The loop hole was swiftly closed.


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## DaveReading (31 Mar 2018)

Beebo said:


> There was a scam a few years ago where you bought the maximum limit, then sold them all except the first and last one.
> These numbers could not be resold, so you only had £2 of bonds across a huge range.
> The ERNIE couldn’t account for the missing numbers so if they were selected by the computer it moved to the nearest actual number.
> The loop hole was swiftly closed.



That sounds like an urban myth. Either that, or some incredibly sloppy prograamming.


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## PaulSB (31 Mar 2018)

Dave Davenport said:


> As interests rates are so low at the moment I was thinking of using some savings I've got in a cash ISA to buy some premium bonds, pros / cons?



We retired 12 months ago. In the years leading up to this we saved like fury, basically one full time salary every month, on top of pensions etc. We currently have £100,000 in PBS and have had for a while - all the savings went there. We consistently beat an ISA winning an average of £150/month.
I know it’s luck. I also enjoy the anticipation each month of the big one. Sad I know. 

If you are considering retirement there is a lot to consider and I would think about pensions as well. You’re FA will help. We did not add to the pension fund as five or six years before retirement I knew I had a large enough pot. I had an opportunity to “protect”the pot and receive a guaranteed 4.5% pa. It meant I couldn’t easily add to my pot though.

One place I’ve put money from my lump sum is Prufund. I’m happy with it.

Living off savings till pensions kick in is OK. We do it and have several friends who do. A good FA will provide an illustration/projection on this up to whatever age you wish - I plumped for 95!! We combine taking maximum income below the tax free amount with spending savings if necessary - it usually isn’t. 

BTW - retirement living costs are not as high as working. This really surprised me, working is expensive.


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## Beebo (31 Mar 2018)

PaulSB said:


> BTW - retirement living costs are not as high as working. This really surprised me, working is expensive.


I’ll tell you what is expensive, bloody kids!
I was chatting to my retired Dad and realised how frugal you can live once the mortgage is paid off and the kids are gone. We could quite easily save £2000 per month without a mortgage or kids!


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## Levo-Lon (31 Mar 2018)

PB's for me.
i get £25 regularly as does the wife.
my daughter has won a grand twice in 2 years..


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## Brandane (31 Mar 2018)

I've got a few PB's too. The return on them is slightly disappointing, but still better than having savings sitting in an ISA at extremely low rates of interest IMHO.. 
I haven't bothered to compare the odds of winning a £million versus the lottery (which I stopped wasting money on years ago), but at least you get to keep the stake money with PB's..


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## PK99 (31 Mar 2018)

Brandane said:


> but at least you get to keep the stake money with PB's..



don't forget you are currently losing 3% of the value of your holding every year to inflation.

also, if regarding PBs as an investment you should be reinvesting winnings to benefit from the compounding effect.

remember Einstein on *Compound interest*.

*Compound interest* is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it. *Compound interest* is the most powerful force in the universe.


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## DaveReading (31 Mar 2018)

PK99 said:


> *Compound interest* is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it. *Compound interest* is the most powerful force in the universe.



Not when you're starting with an average annual return of 1.25%, it isn't.


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## furball (31 Mar 2018)

A premium bond I've had for 55 years has just earned me £25. Can't decide I what to splash put on.


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## BoldonLad (31 Mar 2018)

Unless you have a large sum of money in an cash ISA, or, unless you are a higher rate tax payer, I can see no advantage in a Cash ISA over an ordinary Savings Account, since most people pay no tax on savings interest (I forget the exact figure, but, I think you can earn something like £1000pa in interest, before it is taxable). 

The usual "good" advice, is to spread your risk, some cash, some equities (in an ISA), some PBs, some property even.

But, whatever you do, be assured, Politicians of all colours will want to spend it for you, because, they love spending other peoples money!


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## PK99 (31 Mar 2018)

[QUOTE 5199014, member: 9609"]Maybe even a bitcoin, they seem to be a bit more sensibly priced now, have lost about 60% of their value since the bubble burst in December. If they go much lower I might have one. It is a completely mad currency with huge risks but it will peak again.[/QUOTE]

It is not a currency it is a digital asset.


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## ColinJ (31 Mar 2018)

PK99 said:


> It is not a currency it is a digital asset.


A really good way of annoying ped ants is to call them ped ants!


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## Donger (31 Mar 2018)

I regard my premium bonds as refundable lottery tickets and just sit back and wait for the payouts ... which so far seem to have roughly matched my ISAs.


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## colly (31 Mar 2018)

With regards to Bitcoin.

I understand there is a cash machine in a restaurant in Leeds where you can get 'real' cash out of your Bitcoin account.

The machine charges a massive 20% commission though.

I also understand its quite busy too.


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## PaulSB (31 Mar 2018)

Beebo said:


> I’ll tell you what is expensive, bloody kids!
> I was chatting to my retired Dad and realised how frugal you can live once the mortgage is paid off and the kids are gone. We could quite easily save £2000 per month without a mortgage or kids!



Correct. With some sensible planning we manage on about £18k and don’t feel we miss out on anything. We certainly never say “we can’t afford to do that.”


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## Alex H (2 Apr 2018)

As there are a few quotes from moneysavingexpert.com, I thought I would just throw in this one as well.

_If you owned every premium bond in existence, the amount won over a year would be equal to 1.15% of what you put in. So very roughly, for every £100 put into premium bonds on average, you'd expect a £1.15 annual return.
_
Same as an ISA, no?


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## DaveReading (2 Apr 2018)

Alex H said:


> As there are a few quotes from moneysavingexpert.com, I thought I would just throw in this one as well.
> 
> _If you owned every premium bond in existence, the amount won over a year would be equal to 1.15% of what you put in. So very roughly, for every £100 put into premium bonds on average, you'd expect a £1.15 annual return.
> _
> Same as an ISA, no?



That's out of date.

Premium Bond rate boosted from 1.15% to 1.4% – should you pile in?

(MSE's verdict is still No)


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## PK99 (2 Apr 2018)

[QUOTE 5201028, member: 9609"]easy to get 1.5 to 1.6% cash isa (2year)



shares have seen massive growths this last year or so but I can't see it continuing. 7% is poor, I have managed over 12 in the pension pot I self manage, (mainly SE Asia) would like a safe harbour for it now, trump is taking a big risk with this tariff bolloxs. My guess is stocks will be worth less in 12 months.[/QUOTE]

7% isn't poor for a low risk pot.
12% inevitably carries more risk


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## vickster (2 Apr 2018)

7% was a guess...If anyone is actually interested 

Looking at last statement (Oct 2017)
About 6.5% over last 10 years
9-10% over 2017

It's a diversified investment fund, UK, EU, US, Japan, Asia ex Japan, emerging markets

I'm not that interested in financial stuff, but it's better than a cash ISA for sure


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## vickster (2 Apr 2018)

Natwest, have had it for years

Otherwise I have no idea what you are talking about


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## vickster (2 Apr 2018)

Presumably you mean Trump...yes he's a loon


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## SpokeyDokey (2 Apr 2018)

PaulSB said:


> We retired 12 months ago. In the years leading up to this we saved like fury, basically one full time salary every month, on top of pensions etc. We currently have £100,000 in PBS and have had for a while - all the savings went there. We consistently beat an ISA winning an average of £150/month.
> I know it’s luck. I also enjoy the anticipation each month of the big one. Sad I know.
> 
> If you are considering retirement there is a lot to consider and I would think about pensions as well. You’re FA will help. We did not add to the pension fund as five or six years before retirement I knew I had a large enough pot. I had an opportunity to “protect”the pot and receive a guaranteed 4.5% pa. It meant I couldn’t easily add to my pot though.
> ...



How does 1.8% beat ISA rates?

Our batch of ISA's has an average of 2.21% - mainly 5 year and some 3 year lock ins. These are the last 7 ISA's that we have opened in the last 5 months. Two are new and the rest are transfers. 

2.00%
1.75%
2.50%
2.20%
2.15%
2.20%
2.15%

We also have a few NS&I bonds running at decent* rates that we recently opened:

Oct 17 2.2%
Jan 18 2.2%
Jan 18 2.15%

Edit: *in the current (FSCS protected) market.


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## PaulSB (2 Apr 2018)

@SpokeyDokey in my view this isn’t comparing like with like. Premium Bonds allow instant access whereas as the examples you give are 3 and 5 year lock ins. I believe, but could well be wrong, cash instant access ISAs are around 1.25 to 1.5%. Our PB money is that which we want with instant access without penalty.

The money I want to tie up for 3-5 years is elsewhere, not an ISA.

Plus I enjoy having the possibility of a major win. Which may seem foolish but I feel money should be for pleasure. It took long enough to earn it so might as well enjoy it!!


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## SpokeyDokey (3 Apr 2018)

PaulSB said:


> @SpokeyDokey in my view this isn’t comparing like with like. Premium Bonds allow instant access whereas as the examples you give are 3 and 5 year lock ins. I believe, but could well be wrong, cash instant access ISAs are around 1.25 to 1.5%. Our PB money is that which we want with instant access without penalty.
> 
> The money I want to tie up for 3-5 years is elsewhere, not an ISA.
> 
> Plus I enjoy having the possibility of a major win. Which may seem foolish but I feel money should be for pleasure. It took long enough to earn it so might as well enjoy it!!



Fair point re the instant access. Our quick grab money is in Santander 123 a/c's which gives a reasonable return - at least by today's paltry standards.

Our best earning investments are in stocks & shares ISA's which have returned in the 4-9% range over the last few years. I did try self select some while back but I'm useless at it so I just use managed funds where I select broad investment areas and risk level and let the experts crack on.

Best result I ever had was putting £sizeable into a Friends Life fund (now Aviva) in 2003 and when I cashed it in the year before last it had grown by 3.6 times. I wish I'd put everything we had into that one! Probably would've crashed then!

Good luck with your PB's and I hope you get a monster win one day. My mum bought me 2 x £1 PB's in 1956 when I was born and I've had a £30 in 1965 (quite a lot then) and a £25 the year before last. Only found out about the latter when I did that check online thing!


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## PaulSB (4 Apr 2018)

@SpokeyDokey Thanks for the good wishes. We have stocks and shares but in a managed fund as I've never felt sufficiently confident to do this myself. We achieve 4-5%, as I'm risk adverse I'm happy with this. We have Santander as well but only use it as a current account since the interest rate was halved, you can get 3% with Tesco.

Best advice I ever got from my FA was to secure my pension pot a number of years before retiring. It proved to be very sage advice.

I remember years ago reading ASDA shares were 23p. That was ridiculous so I bought 2000, sometime later Walmart came along!!!


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## SpokeyDokey (4 Apr 2018)

PaulSB said:


> @SpokeyDokey Thanks for the good wishes. We have stocks and shares but in a managed fund as I've never felt sufficiently confident to do this myself. We achieve 4-5%, as I'm risk adverse I'm happy with this. We have Santander as well but only use it as a current account since the interest rate was halved, you can get 3% with Tesco.
> 
> Best advice I ever got from my FA was to secure my pension pot a number of years before retiring. It proved to be very sage advice.
> 
> I remember years ago reading ASDA shares were 23p. That was ridiculous so I bought 2000, sometime later Walmart came along!!!



Agree with the pension pot advice. I retired at 48 but couldn't take my pension until I was 53 (obviously that's now 55) but I'm glad I paid in my AVC's and was fortunate that at its core it was a fully funded scheme. 

Apart from that we were high earners through the 90's/early noughties so, like you, we saved and invested for our old age - dumped the mortgage first though.

I'm very risk adverse in most walks of life which has become more pronounced as the years have scrolled on by and even now I fret over our stocks & shares ISA's - and I just haven't got the nerve to get involved in P2P lending.

Might have a look at Tesco - thanks. I was a bit miffed when Santander chopped the rates. We had three a/c's with them (two personal and one joint) so it was a handy little earner for a while. As in all walks of life nothing lasts forever!

Nice result re ASDA shares!


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## ColinJ (4 Apr 2018)

Ooh, I just won (nearly) half a set of chainrings on the PBs! 

(I ordered some chainrings for £51 and then discovered that I won £25 in the April draw.)



PaulSB said:


> I remember years ago reading ASDA shares were 23p. That was ridiculous so I bought 2000, sometime later Walmart came along!!!


Did each ASDA share become one Walmart share? If so - blimey, well done - they are trading at over $80 today!


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## PK99 (4 Apr 2018)

ColinJ said:


> Ooh, I just won (nearly) half a set of chainrings on the PBs!
> 
> (I ordered some chainrings for £51 and then discovered that I won £25 in the April draw.)
> 
> ...



take over was for cash @220p per share in1999


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## ColinJ (4 Apr 2018)

PK99 said:


> take over was for cash @220p per share in1999


Still, a VERY nice return!


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## PaulSB (4 Apr 2018)

PK99 said:


> take over was for cash @220p per share in1999


Correct.


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## SpokeyDokey (6 Jan 2021)

We now have a decent chunk of money invested in Premium Bonds - driven to this due to *iss poor rates on FRB's and ISA's.

Saying that we have today opened another FRB with Vanquis Bank at 1% for 3 years as I couldn't stand the thought of putting too much money into the ifs/buts/maybes rate of Premium Bonds.

Back to Premium Bonds...

...our first dip into the electronic luck dip pot is next month. 

Getting very excited...


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## vickster (6 Jan 2021)

Clearly not risk free but my Shares Isa opened in April/May is up around 10.3% currently (mix of low and medium risk)


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## SpokeyDokey (6 Jan 2021)

vickster said:


> Clearly not risk free but my Shares Isa opened in April/May is up around 10.3% currently (mix of low and medium risk)



Great result thus far!

Who did you go with in the end? I remember the discussions on here but can't remember the outcome.

We have just switched an Aviva investment fund that invested in property to a UK/Euro/emerging markets fund and are thinking of increasing our monthly payments into it. Hope it at least matches yours in terms of outcome!


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## vickster (6 Jan 2021)

Vanguard


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## SpokeyDokey (6 Jan 2021)

vickster said:


> Vanguard



Thank you. 

I was just going to edit my post by saying: 'oops, sorry I forgot my manners - if you don't mind me asking'.


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## vickster (6 Jan 2021)

I'll need to decide whether to put more in up to the allowed limit once my accounts come through and I know what divis to pay myself.

I'm also sticking £500 a month into a reg saver (at 1.85%) - I'll need to seek another of those once the first year term ends

Cash ISAs are likely to be utterly pointless (although I do have a couple)


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## BoldonLad (6 Jan 2021)

vickster said:


> Clearly not risk free but my Shares Isa opened in April/May is up around 10.3% currently (mix of low and medium risk)


Yes, I always preferred Shares ISA (self select). Been retired now for 14 years, so, switched my holdings to income rather than capital growth. Did quite nicely, until Covid, currently about 5% down on Capital, but, returning 4.5%pa, so, on balance, I am reasonably happy with my selections.


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## simongt (7 Jan 2021)

Paulus said:


> I am up on any interest that ISA's can pay.


We've money in Premium Bonds and likewise, they've paid out more than any investment account.


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## Flick of the Elbow (7 Jan 2021)

Just checked on my ISA, after fees and charges it’s up 6.7% on the year.


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## PK99 (7 Jan 2021)

Premium bonds are a good home for short term cash in times of very low interest rates as they are risk free and the foregone interest is an entry in the monthly lottery but as a long term investment vehicle they are a poor bet - A Stocks & Shares ISA pot is a much better home for long term money.


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## SpokeyDokey (7 Jan 2021)

PK99 said:


> Premium bonds are a good home for short term cash in times of very low interest rates as they are risk free and the foregone interest is an entry in the monthly lottery but as a long term investment vehicle they are a poor bet - A Stocks & Shares ISA pot is a much better home for long term money.



The liquidity angle was important for us as well.

We used to have a lot more ISA's, and although we never had to we could've always terminated one and stood the 90 or 180 day interest hit if needs be.

Since shifting from ISA's to FRB's over the past 4 or 5 years the early termination option has obviously diminished.

At one stage our Santander 123 a/c's were handy for quick access especially when they were paying 3% - heady days!

Whilst we are fortunate that our unearned income exceeds our expenditure we do like to have a bit of liquidity on tap for if we fancy a splurge. Premium Bonds seem to fit the bill nicely at the moment.


----------



## Flick of the Elbow (7 Jan 2021)

SpokeyDokey said:


> We used to have a lot more ISA's, and although we never had to we could've always terminated one and stood the 90 or 180 day interest hit if needs be.


Is there a difference I wonder between ISA’s through IFA’s and “branded” ISA’s from banks etc ? My ISA is through an IFA and I don’t believe there is any notice period, if I want him to sell any of it I just need to instruct him and he will do so as per the usual market process.


----------



## BoldonLad (7 Jan 2021)

Flick of the Elbow said:


> Is there a difference I wonder between ISA’s through IFA’s and “branded” ISA’s from banks etc ? My ISA is through an IFA and I don’t believe there is any notice period, if I want him to sell any of it I just need to instruct him and he will do so as per the usual market process.



The term ISA covers a range of products. 

To begin, there are several types of ISA:
- cash ISA
- Shares ISA
- lifetime ISA
- help to buy ISA

I may be out of date with last two, since they don’t apply to me (not a first time buyer and not under 40).


----------



## vickster (7 Jan 2021)

Flick of the Elbow said:


> Is there a difference I wonder between ISA’s through IFA’s and “branded” ISA’s from banks etc ? My ISA is through an IFA and I don’t believe there is any notice period, if I want him to sell any of it I just need to instruct him and he will do so as per the usual market process.


Maybe he means a fixed term (cash) product?


----------



## NorthernSky (15 Jan 2021)

i stuck most of mine in premium bonds recently. was just depressing looking at the interest rates on saving accounts
may as well be in with a minute chance of winning something


----------



## MontyVeda (15 Jan 2021)

Does anyone ever win a Million with PBs?


----------



## vickster (15 Jan 2021)

MontyVeda said:


> Does anyone ever win a Million with PBs?


Yes. Two a month
https://www.nsandi.com/get-to-know-us/monthly-prize-allocation#


----------



## annedonnelly (15 Jan 2021)

Martin Lewis has recently updated his info on Premium Bonds and whether it's worth having them - link


----------



## NorthernSky (15 Jan 2021)

vickster said:


> Yes. Two a month
> https://www.nsandi.com/get-to-know-us/monthly-prize-allocation#


beat me to it
also - https://www.nsandi.com/prize-checker/winners
it's a miniscule chance but it does happen


----------



## vickster (15 Jan 2021)

annedonnelly said:


> Martin Lewis has recently updated his info on Premium Bonds and whether it's worth having them - link


I see them as an utterly low risk, easy to access place to have money with the likelihood of a few quid a month tax free. Far better than a cash isa!


----------



## MontyVeda (15 Jan 2021)

vickster said:


> Yes. Two a month
> https://www.nsandi.com/get-to-know-us/monthly-prize-allocation#


aye i did find that page after asking 

It did raise another question though...







...regarding the value of premium bonds.

If i put £1000 into PBs tomorrow, would that get me one PB worth £1000?


----------



## vickster (15 Jan 2021)

MontyVeda said:


> aye i did find that page after asking
> 
> It did raise another question though...
> 
> ...


You'll get a block of PBs (I think) which go into the draw...and never lose the amount you paid in...if that's what you mean?


----------



## BoldonLad (15 Jan 2021)

MontyVeda said:


> aye i did find that page after asking
> 
> It did raise another question though...
> 
> ...


Each bond is £1, so, if you put £1000 in you get 1000 bonds (ie numbers).


----------



## MontyVeda (15 Jan 2021)

vickster said:


> You'll get a block of PBs (I think) which go into the draw...and never lose the amount you paid in...if that's what you mean?





BoldonLad said:


> Each bond is £1, so, if you put £1000 in you get 1000 bonds (ie numbers).


I presumed they were each worth a pound, but the 'bond value' column on the right hand side confused me... what's that?


----------



## BoldonLad (15 Jan 2021)

MontyVeda said:


> I presumed they were each worth a pound, but the 'bond value' column on the right hand side... what's that?


The honest answer is, I don’t know... but... I would say it is either, the total holding the person has, or, the value of the tranche bought, within which the winning single bond lies, ie, in your example it would be £1,000.


----------



## MontyVeda (15 Jan 2021)

BoldonLad said:


> The honest answer is, I don’t know... but... I would say it is either, the total holding the person has, or, the value of the tranche bought, within which the winning single bond lies, ie, in your example it would be £1,000.


thank you 

Next naïve question. If I put in £1000 tomorrow, could withdraw half that amount next year?

Edit... yes i could 



> *How do I cash in my Premium Bonds?*
> You can cash in all or part of your Bonds at any time.


----------



## ColinJ (15 Jan 2021)

I bought a block of bonds when I sold my house and have been slowly nibbling away at it to see me through to my state pension.

There is a short delay between cashing them in and the money getting to your bank account. (I got caught out once and had to borrow some money off my sister for a couple of days.) I just checked and if (for example) I tried to cash some in on Sunday, it would be Wednesday before I saw the money.


----------



## vickster (15 Jan 2021)

ColinJ said:


> I bought a block of bonds when I sold my house and have been slowly nibbling away at it to see me through to my state pension.
> 
> There is a short delay between cashing them in and the money getting to your bank account. (I got caught out once and had to borrow some money off my sister for a couple of days.) I just checked and if (for example) I tried to cash some in on Sunday, it would be Wednesday before I saw the money.


I'd always allow a couple of weeks for any banking transaction if don't have funds to cover a delay (ISA transfers always seem to take an age)


----------



## MontyVeda (15 Jan 2021)

ColinJ said:


> I bought a block of bonds when I sold my house and have been slowly nibbling away at it to see me through to my state pension.
> 
> *There is a short delay between cashing them in and the money getting to your bank account*. (I got caught out once and had to borrow some money off my sister for a couple of days.) I just checked and if (for example) I tried to cash some in on Sunday, it would be Wednesday before I saw the money.


Yes... that's exactly what i want... easy access to my money but not so easy that i can spend it on a whim. 

That to me is more important than my money making me money... it just want it squirrelled away somewhere.


----------



## ColinJ (15 Jan 2021)

vickster said:


> I'd always allow a couple of weeks for any banking transaction if don't have funds to cover a delay (ISA transfers always seem to take an age)


Good advice - I don't really trust the quoted delay either now, having been caught out once! Especially if bank holidays and/or pandemics might slow things up...


----------



## Flick of the Elbow (2 Feb 2021)

Had an interesting chat with my IFA yesterday. Our managed fund ISA’s continue to look good. And he confirmed that we can access them without penalty at 2-5 days notice. However, he was making the case that because I am no longer earning and my wife also will stop earning in a few months, then we need to be holding more cash. Not because of liquidity, but because if the market were to drop significantly, we would need the cash to tide us over to allow our managed funds to recover before we start dipping into them again.
So I’m now revisiting the options around cash products. I already have an instant access savings account that pays 0.5%, so I could add more to that. I could buy a cash ISA, the interest would be about the same but it would be available to convert to a stocks/shares ISA at a future date. Or I could buy PB’s. I’m tempted to buy PB’s, they sound more fun


----------



## vickster (2 Feb 2021)

The nonsense with GameStop reddit group has knocked back my shares Isa, was 10.7% growth last week, now 9.6% and down £500. Hopefully this is just a short term thing.
£75 on the PBs this month...that’ll pay for the boiler service that was done this morning!


----------



## SpokeyDokey (2 Feb 2021)

Flick of the Elbow said:


> Had an interesting chat with my IFA yesterday. Our managed fund ISA’s continue to look good. And he confirmed that we can access them without penalty at 2-5 days notice. However, he was making the case that because I am no longer earning and my wife also will stop earning in a few months, then we need to be holding more cash. Not because of liquidity, but because if the market were to drop significantly, we would need the cash to tide us over to allow our managed funds to recover before we start dipping into them again.
> So I’m now revisiting the options around cash products. I already have an instant access savings account that pays 0.5%, so I could add more to that. I could buy a cash ISA, the interest would be about the same but it would be available to convert to a stocks/shares ISA at a future date. Or I could buy PB’s. I’m tempted to buy PB’s, they sound more fun



Similar here - we do have a few different income streams that are very liquid but we are currently in the process of severing those. Therefore, we too needed some rapid access cash.

We've recently dumped £20k in there so not big beans but it fulfills the brief and as you say it's a bit of fun. 

Our first entry into the electronic whiz-bang thingy is this month so we are hopeful! Someone will now tell us that the draw was yesterday and we have dipped out this time around.


----------



## vickster (2 Feb 2021)

SpokeyDokey said:


> Similar here - we do have a few different income streams that are very liquid but we are currently in the process of severing those. Therefore, we too needed some rapid access cash.
> 
> We've recently dumped £20k in there so not big beans but it fulfills the brief and as you say it's a bit of fun.
> 
> Our first entry into the electronic whiz-bang thingy is this month so we are hopeful! Someone will now tell us that the draw was yesterday and we have dipped out this time around.


The results are online as of this morning


----------



## SpokeyDokey (2 Feb 2021)

vickster said:


> The results are online as of this morning



How long after the draw do we get an email saying we have won a small fortune?

Nothing so far.


----------



## vickster (2 Feb 2021)

SpokeyDokey said:


> How long after the draw do we get an email saying we have won a small fortune?
> 
> Nothing so far.


You won't get an email telling you how much, the one saying you have something takes a few days, just register online and go to the prize checker, you just need your holder number
https://www.nsandi.com/prize-checker


----------



## ianrauk (2 Feb 2021)

SpokeyDokey said:


> How long after the draw do we get an email saying we have won a small fortune?
> 
> Nothing so far.



You should get an email. No email, no win.
Or you can check your account on the app or online


----------



## SpokeyDokey (2 Feb 2021)

vickster said:


> You won't get an email telling you how much, the one saying you have something takes a few days, just register online and go to the prize checker, you just need your holder number
> https://www.nsandi.com/prize-checker





ianrauk said:


> You should get an email. No email, no win.
> Or you can check your account on the app or online



Thanks.

Bit disappointed - we thought that someone would waltz up the drive with a giant bouquet of flowers and one of those over-sized cheques you see on Children in Need etc.


----------



## sheddy (2 Feb 2021)

Can anyone recommend a S&S Robo ISA where I can easily make monthly withdrawals ? 

£20k to be invested mid April 2021.


----------



## SpokeyDokey (2 Feb 2021)

sheddy said:


> Can anyone recommend a S&S Robo ISA where I can easily make monthly withdrawals ?
> 
> £20k to be invested mid April 2021.



*I may be talking complete tosh* but i think I recently read somewhere (and I haven't a clue where but it might've been hollyboringmoney) that the robo-platforms were under-performing vs traditional platforms etc.

Sorry I cannot be more specific but I thought I'd mention it just in case - maybe some Googling needed?


----------



## vickster (2 Feb 2021)

sheddy said:


> Can anyone recommend a S&S Robo ISA where I can easily make monthly withdrawals ?
> 
> £20k to be invested mid April 2021.


If you withdraw from an ISA you can't put more in


----------



## vickster (2 Feb 2021)

SpokeyDokey said:


> Thanks.
> 
> Bit disappointed - we thought that someone would waltz up the drive with a giant bouquet of flowers and one of those over-sized cheques you see on Children in Need etc.


No, but I think you hear quicker if you win a big prize. Do you want your neighbours to know you've won a million quid?


----------



## Archie_tect (2 Feb 2021)

vickster said:


> No, but I think you hear quicker if you win a big prize. Do you want your neighbours to know you've won a million quid?


If I won a million I wouldn't mind ... they'd find out eventually. 
£75 this month!


----------



## Salty seadog (2 Feb 2021)

3 months on the spin I've struck out. They slashed the prize fund last month to be 1%, down from 1.4%


----------



## bikingdad90 (3 Feb 2021)

NorthernSky said:


> beat me to it
> also - https://www.nsandi.com/prize-checker/winners
> it's a miniscule chance but it does happen



Looking at people’s holdings vs winnings, premium bonds are not worth it unless you invest a considerable amount?


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## TheDoctor (3 Feb 2021)

I'm currently running the ISA / Premium Bond experiment, in that since early December I've had the same amount in each. 
Both equally ungainful so far.
Best investment I ever made was buying Airbus shares when I worked there. Paid about £800, and before the market crashed last year they were worth about £10000. Now down to £7000 or so, but they'll go back up.


----------



## SpokeyDokey (3 Feb 2021)

ianrauk said:


> You should get an email. No email, no win.
> Or you can check your account on the app or online



Bit OT - but I think the gold stars system needs a short form. Yours are getting seriously too long and unwieldy.  (Well done though.)


----------



## SpokeyDokey (3 Feb 2021)

Good grief!

A text arrived this morning and it appears we have won £25.



I think the Devil is on our side here as in 66.6 years time at this rate we'll have pretty much doubled our investment.


----------



## Dave Davenport (3 Feb 2021)

Fifty quid this month, running at about 1.7% return over the last year.


----------



## MontyVeda (3 Feb 2021)

bikingdad90 said:


> Looking at people’s holdings vs winnings, premium bonds are not worth it unless you invest a considerable amount?


According to Money Saving Expert, £10K is the minimum amount you'll see a return based on 'typical luck'. 
(there's a video somewhere in the first few pages of this thread explaining it)

I've just invested £500... but I'm not in it to win it. It's just somewhere safe to squirrel away some cash for when i need it.


----------



## TheDoctor (2 Apr 2021)

TheDoctor said:


> I'm currently running the ISA / Premium Bond experiment, in that since early December I've had the same amount in each.
> Both equally ungainful so far.
> Best investment I ever made was buying Airbus shares when I worked there. Paid about £800, and before the market crashed last year they were worth about £10000. Now down to £7000 or so, but they'll go back up.


OK, here's the results thus far. Premium bonds - up by £350. Fundsmith ISA up by £185. I've also got £1000 in AMD shares, which are up by a tenner since I bought them yesterday. Yay.
I don't want to work out what I could have done since Christmas with GME shares, £20000 to play with and a degree of foresight...


----------



## vickster (2 Apr 2021)

£75 on the PBs for April  £275 since October


----------



## potsy (2 Apr 2021)

vickster said:


> £75 on the PBs for April  £275 since October


Nice vickster, you are getting my share!! 
Nothing 2 months on the bounce after an initial 2 x £25 the previous months


----------



## vickster (2 Apr 2021)

potsy said:


> Nice vickster, you are getting my share!!
> Nothing 2 months on the bounce after an initial 2 x £25 the previous months


How much did you invest though?


----------



## welsh dragon (2 Apr 2021)

I have made £150 in 4 months on premium bonds as opposed to £1.60 or so in interest in 12 months with my money in the bank. It's a no brainer for me.


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## Once a Wheeler (2 Apr 2021)

This is the key calculator to see if Premium Bonds are likely to be worth it for you:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds-calculator/


----------



## potsy (2 Apr 2021)

vickster said:


> How much did you invest though?


Enough to have had a few more wins by now


----------



## ebikeerwidnes (2 Apr 2021)

The last cash ISA I had dropped to 0.1% interest

so it was not really paying me anything

The other option - which I have - is a shares based ISA - but then your money is at risk. Probably not much risk but some.
Having said which my main savings lost a lot when the pandemic started - but is now making about 3-5% per year taken over the period from before the pandemic to now - so pretty good really.

but for no risk investment - PBs are king at the moment - it is your only chance of getting something back but still being able to get your money back - unless you count 0.1% as 'getting something back'

Hence I now have some PBs - awaiting the phone call!!!!!


----------



## vickster (2 Apr 2021)

ebikeerwidnes said:


> The last cash ISA I had dropped to 0.1% interest
> 
> so it was not really paying me anything
> 
> ...


You won’t get a phone call I think, you check your account online (or they send you a cheque if you’ve not registered)


----------



## ColinJ (2 Apr 2021)

vickster said:


> You won’t get a phone call I think, you check your account online (or they send you a cheque if you’ve not registered)


I reckon you'd get a call for a £1,000,000 win! 

I've got less than £1,000 worth of bonds left now so it is no surprise that I haven't won anything for almost a year.


----------



## Saluki (2 Apr 2021)

I do both.
I try and fill my ISA up, over the year and anything else goes in PBs.
I have just emptied my PB account and set up a new one and put the old PB money in there. I do this fairly regularly. I tend to get a few wins then nothing for ages. New account, few wins then nothing for ages. So on and so forth. I was recommended to get a new account from time to time by someone at work. He says that he finds the same few wins thing.


----------



## SpokeyDokey (3 Apr 2021)

£25 for Feb

£0 for Mar

£0 for Apr

Thinking this is a waste of time other than there is a chance of winning something on a very liquid investment which was our main reason for setting it up in the first place.

Overall returns on PB's generally look pitiful at best.


----------



## vickster (3 Apr 2021)

SpokeyDokey said:


> £25 for Feb
> 
> £0 for Mar
> 
> ...


Better than 0.1% on a cash isa if you want zero risk and easy access


----------



## Milkfloat (4 Apr 2021)

Saluki said:


> I do both.
> I try and fill my ISA up, over the year and anything else goes in PBs.
> I have just emptied my PB account and set up a new one and put the old PB money in there. I do this fairly regularly. I tend to get a few wins then nothing for ages. New account, few wins then nothing for ages. So on and so forth. I was recommended to get a new account from time to time by someone at work. He says that he finds the same few wins thing.


You do realise that you are losing out by doing this?


----------



## PeteXXX (4 Apr 2021)

My last 6 draw PB winnings are:
October £25
January £25
February £25
March £25
April £25

I don't have a huge amount in Bonds, but it's a £five figure number. I consider that a very good return on investment, though I do know that I could win absolutely nothing for the next six draws!


----------



## Saluki (4 Apr 2021)

Milkfloat said:


> You do realise that you are losing out by doing this?


Only a months worth.
I realised that I had won zilch since November 2019 so it was time for a move.


----------



## SpokeyDokey (3 Jun 2021)

Second £25 this year.

Still the sickly runt of our various investments but we are giving it a full year to see how it goes.


----------



## MontyVeda (3 Jun 2021)

zilch from my PBs so far... but i never really expected anything and that's not the reason i have them... but winning a Million would be nice


----------



## BoldonLad (3 Jun 2021)

As, I think, others have said above, you need to be specific about the type of ISA, ie, cash of stocks and shares.

IMHO, Cash ISA is pointless now, very few people pay tax on interest earned, and, interest earned is paltry.

Stocks and Shares ISA, you have the opportunity for income (dividends) and capital growth, but, there is a risk, it can also be Capital Loss, and zero return.

Premium Bonds. It is a form of lottery, where you do not lose your stake (except by depreciation/inflation).

We have Stocks and Shares ISAs, which last year paid out about 4% and held their Capital Value. Over same period, our PB's paid out about 1.5%, but, we had the monthly excitement of waiting for "the big one" (which didn't come).


----------



## vickster (3 Jun 2021)

£25 this month after a dud last month.
vanguard S&S back at 10.46% growth over last year. I’ve got 5k in another shares isa that did nothing that I might transfer across!


----------



## Tom... (3 Jun 2021)

vickster said:


> £25 this month after a dud last month.
> vanguard S&S back at 10.46% growth over last year. I’ve got 5k in another shares isa that did nothing that I might transfer across!



Which Vanguard fund(s)/ETF(s) are you invested in? 10.46% is awfully low for the past year. Their Global All Cap Index Fund has returned circa 25%


----------



## vickster (3 Jun 2021)

No idea what that means.
Mixed, low/medium risk
LifeStrategy® 40% Equity Fund and 20% Equity Fund


----------



## Mattk50 (19 Jun 2021)

Aside from my SIPP and emergency savings. A lot of my spare cash goes into my retirement wine cellar spread around london merchants. Makes a few quid sometimes on some resales plus I'll drink it all in retirement if the market ever tanks so that keeps a floor under any potential losses lol!


----------



## SkipdiverJohn (28 Jun 2021)

The more diversified your total pool of assets is, the more "average" your returns will tend to be. That comes down to personal mindset and risk appetite. The non interest bearing stuff like gold/wine/whisky/fine art etc, tends to be used as a hedge against low returns from conventional investments, and sometimes for tax efficiency.
My overriding aim when investing is to beat RPI inflation, so get a real terms increase in the value of my assets. So long as I'm overall in positive territory, I dont stress too much whether I could have made a fraction of a percent more by doing something differently.
If something is underwater I tend to look a bit more closely at it, but even then, sometimes bailing out when underwater is not the smartest strategy because any hitherto purely paper loss will become a real one.


----------



## Beebo (29 Jun 2021)

it’s rather sad that the thread was started by Dave Davenport. 
It just goes to show that what ever investment strategy you take you never know what’s around the corner.


----------



## SpokeyDokey (29 Jun 2021)

Beebo said:


> it’s rather sad that the thread was started by Dave Davenport.
> It just goes to show that what ever investment strategy you take you never know what’s around the corner.



Well spotted.

I hadn't realised that and yes you are correct you never know...


----------



## vickster (2 Sep 2021)

£75 on the PBs this month 

Vanguard funds running at average return of 14.69% as of now.

I shifted £10k of a non returning cash ISA into another Vanguard fund. Up £59 in a week  (should be a bit better than the annual 0.75% (I think) return on the cash ISA). I shan't spend it all at once (although I have my eyes on a gravel bike)


----------



## SpokeyDokey (2 Sep 2021)

vickster said:


> £75 on the PBs this month
> 
> Vanguard funds running at average return of 14.69% as of now.
> 
> I shifted £10k of a non returning cash ISA into another Vanguard fund. Up £59 in a week  (should be a bit better than the annual 0.75% (I think) return on the cash ISA). I shan't spend it all at once (although I have my eyes on a gravel bike)



Nice one!

Nothing on the PB's yet again!

Vanguard fund up 8.58% since Feb.

A J Bell fund up 6.76% since Feb.

Old Friends Life fund (100% commercial property based) up18% on Dec 2019 which is our pre pandemic reference point. Was concerned that this would crash for obvious reasons but it continues to climb.

Apart from our monthly funds drip feeds we have no more significant funds to reinvest until late 2022 when 3 fixed term Isa's finish.

We are currently thinking of dumping, some or all of them, subject to 180 day interest hits and transferring the monies to S&S Isa's.

As ever we are procrastinating scaredy cats!

What to do, what to do... 🙄


----------



## Jenkins (2 Sep 2021)

£50 on the Premium Bonds and Vanguard (I'm sensing a pattern here!) up by around 4% since May.


----------



## SpokeyDokey (3 Sep 2021)

Blooming heck - got an email today and have won £50.

Must take longer for the email to get this far North!


----------



## potsy (3 Sep 2021)

SpokeyDokey said:


> Blooming heck - got an email today and have won £50.
> 
> Must take longer for the email to get this far North!


I got my notification this afternoon, its always quicker to check yourself


----------



## PaulSB (3 Sep 2021)

potsy said:


> I got my notification this afternoon, its always quicker to check yourself


Or use the app.


----------



## SpokeyDokey (15 Nov 2021)

Update:

Our PB's are nearly a year old and thus far have returned a derisory sub 1%.

Compared to (over the same time frame) :

AJ Bell S&S ISA 8.35%

Vanguard S&S ISA 10.05%

Aviva Personal Pension fund 17.7% of which 9.2% is real growth with the balance being Post-Covid bounce back.

Various Cash ISA's & FRB's 2.21%


----------



## mistyoptic (2 Dec 2021)

PBs another £50 this month. That makes 0.9% for the year 2021. Not as good as my share portfolio (although no heart-stopping fall in value last week) but better than my cash savings


----------



## PK99 (2 Dec 2021)

mistyoptic said:


> PBs another £50 this month. That makes 0.9% for the year 2021. *Not as good as my share portfolio (although no heart-stopping fall in value last week)* but better than my cash savings



If you invest in shares you are investing for the long run - ignore short-term fluctuations.


----------



## vickster (2 Dec 2021)

No PB payout for me this month 

Vanguard ISAs have dipped below 14% due to Omnicron wobbles but can't complain (not that I need to use the money)


----------



## mistyoptic (2 Dec 2021)

PK99 said:


> If you invest in shares you are investing for the long run - ignore short-term fluctuations.


Well aware of that, thanks. Still a heart stopping moment though, as there have been in the past


----------



## potsy (2 Dec 2021)

Nothing for me either regards PBs 

Definitely returned less than 1% for the calendar year.


----------



## SpokeyDokey (2 Dec 2021)

mistyoptic said:


> PBs another £50 this month. That makes 0.9% for the year 2021. Not as good as my share portfolio (although no heart-stopping fall in value last week) but better than my cash savings



We still moved forward for the month by a fair chunk although fair chunk would've been a decent chunk if not for Omicron jitters.


----------



## SpokeyDokey (2 Dec 2021)

potsy said:


> Nothing for me either regards PBs
> 
> Definitely returned less than 1% for the calendar year.



Even more laughable are the NS&I Green Bonds at 0.65% for 3 years.

Why would anyone go for that deal when 2% is readily available over that time frame?


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## Jenkins (3 Dec 2021)

SpokeyDokey said:


> Even more laughable are the NS&I Green Bonds at 0.65% for 3 years.
> 
> Why would anyone go for that deal when 2% is readily available over that time frame?


Just look at some of the high street bank rates - Santander offers a pitiful 0.1% on a 2 year ISA or 0.5% on a 3 year fixed rate bond for example, and others are at around the same level. Even Saga offer 0.5% on an easy access savings acount with no need to lock away the money.


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## SpokeyDokey (3 Dec 2021)

Jenkins said:


> Just look at some of the high street bank rates - Santander offers a pitiful 0.1% on a 2 year ISA or 0.5% on a 3 year fixed rate bond for example, and others are at around the same level. Even Saga offer 0.5% on an easy access savings acount with no need to lock away the money.



Not quite understanding the point of your post tbh. Sorry. 

The Green Bonds are 3 years fixed term and my point was that this is easily beaten with 2% ish currently freely available elsewhere .


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## Jenkins (3 Dec 2021)

SpokeyDokey said:


> Not quite understanding the point of your post tbh. Sorry.
> 
> The Green Bonds are 3 years fixed term and my point was that this is easily beaten with 2% ish currently freely available elsewhere .


I was backing up your observation about the low rates on fixed term bonds/ISAs offered by some of the major players.


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## SpokeyDokey (4 Dec 2021)

Jenkins said:


> I was backing up your observation about the low rates on fixed term bonds/ISAs offered by some of the major players.



Apologies - I wasn't sure; thanks for the clarification.


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## SpokeyDokey (16 Dec 2021)

Just sold half of ours due to pathetic performance in a fraction over one year. 

Leaving the other half for quick cash should we need it.


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## Brandane (6 Jan 2022)

SpokeyDokey said:


> Just sold half of ours due to pathetic performance in a fraction over one year.
> 
> Leaving the other half for quick cash should we need it.


3 months on the trot now, zero prizes . Without giving too much away, most of my savings are in PB's (but not for much longer), and this time a year or two ago it was very unusual to go even one month prizeless. Most months I was averaging about £50.
I know interest rates are low, but at this rate I would be considerably better off pulling the lot and sticking it in my current account!


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## potsy (6 Jan 2022)

Brandane said:


> 3 months on the trot now, zero prizes . Without giving too much away, most of my savings are in PB's (but not for much longer), and this time a year or two ago it was very unusual to go even one month prizeless. Most months I was averaging about £50.
> I know interest rates are low, but at this rate I would be considerably better off pulling the lot and sticking it in my current account!


I felt the same after 7 months of getting zilch, then I got £75 twice in a few months. 
It is a lottery after all, but with interest rates so low I don't see much point in moving.


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## Brandane (6 Jan 2022)

With inflation running at about 4%, where exactly can you put savings without losing money? There is no incentive to save money, which is probably the point. Spend spend spend and put money in the treasury's pocket.


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## Adam4868 (7 Jan 2022)

Read this in local paper...nice after Xmas!


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## Saluki (7 Jan 2022)

I haven’t won anything in 2 years. But it’s safe in there, no penalty for withdrawal and it might win next month. Who knows.


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## All uphill (7 Jan 2022)

Adam4868 said:


> Read this in local paper...nice after Xmas!
> View attachment 625380


Have we heard from @Accy cyclist today?

If he's won the charity shops will have a bonanza!


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## Accy cyclist (7 Jan 2022)

All uphill said:


> Have we heard from @Accy cyclist today?
> 
> If he's won the charity shops will have a bonanza!


Yeah, it's me but keep it


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