Premium bonds v ISA?

[TheDoctor]

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]

£75 on the PBs for April £275 since October

 

[potsy]

£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]

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]

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.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

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]

How much did you invest though?

Enough to have had a few more wins by now

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

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]

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!!!!!

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]

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]

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]

£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]

£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.

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

 

[Milkfloat]

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]

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!