newbie,couple of premium bond questions

In message , Matt writes

Yes, a cheque. But I think for big wins they may be able to send it direct to your bank.

I wonder what a big win is in this context.

For the really big wins, a man comes and knocks on your door (so I am told, sadly).

All of my wins come as an annoying cheque that I have to take to the bank. When is this payment going to move into the 20th century? :-)

tim

In message , Matt writes

Yes. Anyone receiving a top prize will be checked personally. I'm not sure how I would credit a stranger at my doorstep claiming to give me a million (or two). I'd probably owe her/him a debt of gratitude, though. Are you supposed to give them a tip?

Try the NS&I web site - it's all there for you to cheque.

"John Boyle" wrote

I think they say it's actually (probably)

"John Boyle" wrote

Not quite - they say it's a "...warrant (like a cheque)" !

Why do you have to sign it yourself, rather than NS&I having signed it before posting??!

It is a pain in the @rse isn't it. I know we should be glad of any wins, but the only time I ever have to visit the bank is when I get a PB cheque. Sadly it doesn't happen very often, so it's not *too* much of a chore, but you'd think poking it straight into your bank account would be an option by now.

I heard an interview with someone doing this and she said it must be one of the best jobs in the country, regularly breaking good news to people.

Andrew McP

In message , Tim writes

Its 30000 entries. The certs come in different denominations and have as many numbers as there are pounds.

Your right!

Its a receipt.

In any event, you'll get 30,000 units. The 6 bonds probably means you'd get six certificates each representing a range of 5000 contiguous unit numbers.

Current annual prize fund is advertised as 3.55% and, after deducting the proportion paid in large prizes, you might expect the average number of £50/£100 wins on a full investment of £30,000 to give you a regular return in the region of 3% pa, tax-free.( you tend to lose money when measured against the real rate of inflation, in return for the remote chance of a large win.)

Worth mentioning regarding the payment by warrant, that, if you have less than the investment limit, you can opt to have payouts made as further allocation of bonds.

Toom

"John Boyle" wrote

"John Boyle" wrote

What, a receipt from me to the bank for them putting money in my account?

Nothing to do with NS&I at all?

In message , Tim writes

No, its a receipt to the Government in which you are discharging their debt to you.

Also worth a look is Martin Lewis' article on premium bonds - shows how unlikely you are to win a decent prize :-(

Jeff

There is another option, automatic re-investment in PB's. I suspect they want to encourage this - so they only offer cheques as an alternative. That way people who want the easy option will go for automatic reinvestment.

Can't see any other reason - it must cost them a fortune in postage sending out all those cheques as well as it being a PITA to the punters.

I look on PBs as a sort of "thinking person's lottery". You stand bugger-all chance of winning anything useful, just as with the real lottery. However you don't lose all your stake every month, just the inflationary bit.

Long term the money's probably much better off in e-savings or the stock market, but I'm inclined to think that the stock market's as much of a lottery as anything else at the moment, given the way the dollar-based global economy's starting to creak at the seams.

Andrew McP

More like a lottery for the "gambler in denial".

PB's are just as much of a lottery as the National Lottery, you just need to be clear what you're gambling. With PB's you're gambling the interest. Someone who spends 10 a week on lottery tickets/scratchcards is gambling far less than someone who invests

Except the stock market is a gamble which (historically) the majority of punters win.

o spends £10

With premium bonds you are gambling the marginal interest. If you have a large enough stake for the law of averages to operate, you'll at present get about 3% pa tax-free return in £50/£100 prizes.

Toom

Why do you have to go to the bank? I always post such things, very little effort and only costs 30p or so.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I agree, and accept the irrational component to this "investment". However I do have a strong aversion to stocks & shares at this stage in the market cycle (which looks very peaky to me) so any savings I have over my 3k cash ISA each year go into PBs for the time being. I know it's a gamble, but a gamble where I get to keep my stake is about as close as I'll ever get to living dangerously. ;-)

Andrew McP

I didn't realise it was an option. :-) Besides, my bank's only about 150 yards away... opposite the post office. Paying in is just one of life's chores I'd rather avoid in this age of easy financial transfers.

Andrew McP

clear

The same of course applies to the lottery, even scratchcards. Spend enough and you can practically guarantee a stream of smaller prizes.

Exactly. The idea of them printing off thousands of bits of paper every month and sending them in the post, then the punter needing to fill in a paying in slip and putting the cheque back in the post is like something out of the stone age.