Premium Bond Winners – Check Premium Bonds

Posts Tagged ‘bonds’

Success Stories About Premium Bonds

Premium bonds are a great way to invest for your future. Not only do you get the chance to store your money in a secure environment but you get a chance to win a million pounds. Some people doubt the system but there is a plethora of success stories that prove that premium bonds are a good investment and is a great way to have fun playing the monthly lottery. Each month bond numbers are randomly picked and if are the lucky investor, you could win a prize from fifty to a million pounds. The following are some testimonials about the success for premium bonds.

Click for premium bond checker

One lady had a one pound bond purchased for her by her grandparents. Even though the bond was purchased in 1965, this single bond has been picked twice for a fifty pound and a hundred pound cash prize.  This has spurred the woman to invest heavily in the program and she encourages her children to invest also.  These two wins have created a saving culture within the family and with other wise financial decisions; this woman will be set up in her retirement age. Her family also will be able to save for college and their retirement also.

Another lady in Liverpool stated that she had twenty thousand premium bonds and that she was disappointed that she didn’t win anything after a few months. She had only won one fifty pound prize after the purchase. She was so up set that she wrote the National Savings and Investment agency and complained. Not only did she get a reply and an explanation but she also was notified that she had won another fifty pound prize and ironically the same bond number she won on the first prize was the same bond number that was picked for the second time.

This was picked up by a conspiracy theorist who spouted the odds that if one bond is bought for one person, that person will have a chance of winning every three thousand years or so. Also that person has a chance of winning the million dollar prize at the odds of twenty three million to one. He is skeptical about the ladies story, but refuses to pull out his premium bonds because he knows it is a safe place for saving and he still has faith that he will earn a prize, maybe the million dollar prize for his investment. He says not only he will save but will invest more until he gets to the cap of thirty thousand pounds.

Another lady supports the theory that newer bonds have a better chance to win than older bonds. She bought her son a bond in the 1961. Her son never won a prize for the bond since the purchase. The gentleman bought a new bond last year and won a fifty pound prize the first month. The theory that newer bonds win more frequently can be explained by the fact that the population and the popularity of bonds has increased since the sixties. Therefore the statistics are slanted more toward the new bonds than the ones bought decades ago.

Related Posts:

Premium Bond prizes protected against base rate cuts

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has announced that the Premium Bond prize fund is to stay at current levels, in February and March. The size of the prize fund is determined by the base rate and aggressive cuts in the rate have [...] 

Premium Bonds are a gamble, not an investment

The first thing to say about Premium Bonds is that in spite of all National Savings’ (NS&I) attempts to promote them as an investment they are nothing of the sort. They are a gamble, like the Lottery

Are Premium Bonds a good idea at the moment?

Q I Am thinking of investing in premium bonds and would like to know what the odds are of getting a prize and how safe my money will be. A Premium Bonds are issued by National Savings and Investments and are backed by the Government

Premium Bonds National Savings and Savings Bond

Premium bonds-Bond winner: According to the National Savings and Investments, prize money worth 0000 is lying unclaimed by the bond winners. NS&I notifies the bond winners by writing directly to the customers who own the premium bonds

Technorati Tags: bonds, i bond rate, nsandi, premium bond numbers, prize checker, unclaimed, winners

Do Mutual Funds Fit Your Financial Goals?

Making mutual funds a part of your diversified portfolio can help you realize both long and short-term investment goals. Even with the recent uproar on Wall Street, I am sure you will find most fund managers can help you decide on a realistic plan that can minimize risk and provide mutual funds that meet your needs.

One good thing about the turmoil, most investors want a better understanding of the question, "What are mutual funds and how are they managed?" Learning where the three main types of funds will best fit your goals is what your management team should be able to explain to your satisfaction.

Finding a balance between the profits and risks in investing isn’t easy, but a diversified portfolio is the first step toward success. With mutual funds you are basically creating a limited partnership for investing your money with other people who want access to stocks and bonds beyond their individual means.

Here are the standard choices:

Equity Funds

Equity funds primarily use US and foreign stocks for a chance at high returns. These funds are at the top of the risk scale, and since you are  essentially a shareholder in every security in that fund, this should be considered a long-term investment.

Bond Funds

As the name implies, bond funds invest money in bonds issued by private companies, municipalities, and state and federal government agencies. These bond funds do not have specific dates for repayment, and interest payments are usually scheduled during the life of the loan.

More of a medium risk, interest rates can greatly effect the yield. Usually low interest rates mean higher value, but this can also lead to early repayment of the bond, and loss of interest payments.

Money Market Funds

Money market funds are short-term loans to governments and businesses through interest-bearing securities. The goal is to maintain a one dollar per share price that reduces risk. Limited to 13 months, this type of fund is strictly regulated to preserve your investment. Are mutual funds insured? No, so even the shorter terms do not guarantee your investment is safe.

Since mutual funds can be one of the most liquid types of investing, the profits and risks in investing can be better controlled, when included in a diversified porfolio. Along with professional management and low cost,  mutual funds can be a welcome addition when you approach the subject of monetary goals.

J.A.Neal

Technorati Tags: bonds, diversified, equity, funds, investment, market, money, mutual, portfolio, profits, risk, stock

Randomness in the Premium Bonds Market

Some people wonder about the randomness of the premium bonds lottery that is conducted each month. The randomness has been under scrutiny in the past and the National Savings and Interest agency, the people who conduct the lottery are scrutinized by an outside agency to provide security so that winners have an equal chance.

The Government Actuary Department was created for the sole purpose of checking the premium bond system and the randomness of the numbers. The Government Actuary Department is not associated with the National Savings and Interest agency and is does not receive any monetary funds. Just like the agency that checks the gauges and meters of gas pumps, the Government Actuary Department just regulates honesty for the good will of the citizens of Great Britain.

Click here for premium bond winners.

There are conspiracy theories that say that only regional areas of the British Isle win more than others. What these people do not take to mind is that the population differences as well as economic differences create statistical abnormalities that skew the awarding of cash prizes. The Government Actuary Department investigates these allocations and through statistical analysis most are proven only disparities in population and how many people in each region actually participates in the program.

The National Savings and Interest agency also takes these allocations very seriously and encourages investigation from outside agencies. If these false allocations are true, it could seriously affect the premium bond program and the agency that supports it.  The scrutiny and honesty is the upmost priority of the National Savings and Investments, and scrupulous behavior is not tolerated.

Another theory is that new bonds win more than old bonds bought decades ago.  The Government Actuary Department explains this by stating that populations have grown as well as the population of people buying premium bonds.  The randomness remains the same, but if the purchase of new bonds that were purchased in the last decade is double or triple the amount of bonds purchased in the decade between 1950 and 1960, the number of winners will mostly come from the last decade. The general public has a hard time explaining this and when they have had bonds that have not won ever, of course they think that there is something fishy with the random number generator or the people at the National Savings and Investment. The Government of Actuary Department assures the public that the randomness does not discriminate against older bonds than newer ones.

The premium bond program relies on the effectiveness of the random number generator. Some people have suggested the ping pong number generator that American lotteries use. The only problem with that is that there are millions and millions of numbers generated to use and the ping pong method.  The random generator that the British system uses has gone through four upgrades and a fifth is being looked at if the popularity of premium bonds continues to increase. Premium bonds still remain a great investment and the fun at a chance of winning will continue to make the program succeed.

Savers Suffer From Premium Bond Fund Shrinkage

NS&I says that the pot has got smaller, thanks to recent rate cuts.

Premium bonds – Building

Having been engaged as an independent loss adjuster in the handling of claims on performance.

Premium Bonds offer worst deal for 50 years

Britain’s 23million savers who have Premium Bonds are being hit by the worst deal since they were launched more than 50 years ago.  

Let the Government Buy Corporate Bonds – Finance Blog

An institution with limitless liquidity, like the government, doesn’t have that problem, and can happily hold cash bonds without having to pay a hefty Libor-OIS premium. If the government were to buy credit protection from banks,

Technorati Tags: bond checker, bonds, ns&i premium, savings, uk bonds, unclaimed, values

Premium Bonds Or Savings Accounts The Choice is Yours

There is controversy about premium bonds and if they are really worth the investments.  If you calculate the odds of winning per bond and the interest rates for regular savings accounts, the argument could go both ways. On the positive side a premium bond gives the saver a chance to win over a million pounds if they are the two lucky numbers picked during the monthly lottery. The flip side of the coin is that there are thirty six billion losers each month.  There money stays the same, it does not loose its value, but there is no interest to generate profit. So the government, in all actuality, is using thirty six billion pounds worth of British money for free.

Click for nsandi premium bonds.

People who are skeptical about premium bonds contend that the reason the odds are so against the majority of the investors is that the distribution is skew by the way it awards the prizes. This would allow for the majority of the investors to have little to no chance of winning a cash prize. Their earning potential of their money would actually decline because they would not be earning the interest rate in a regular savings account or the rise of the earnings if the money was invested in stocks.

If you get past the hope of winning a million pounds then you can look at premium bonds for what they are. A fun way to save money and at the same time you can have the excitement of winning the lottery. To look at winning backwards suppose that one million people put in one pound apiece for the lottery. One person would win the million pounds, but there would nine hundred and ninety nine thousand and nine hundred and ninety nine people who would be losers.  Those people would have at least made a small percentage on their savings. It’s a choice between a chance for something big or a small interest to give you the satisfaction of profit.

Another way of looking at it is to look at the interest rate of a premium bound. The interest rat of four percent is the estimated payout for your one pound bond. The government uses the interest to create the prize bank and to allocate the prizes. So you would expect to win four pounds on a hundred pound investment. This is impossible because the smallest prize is fifty pounds. It would take around seven investors to loose their interest for that month if you won those fifty pounds. Even more people would lose their money to finance the two million pound give away to two winners.

There is simply a choice in the way you should invest your money and that choice is yours. Lotteries always provide hope for a better life even though you know in your heart that winning is a very long shot.  Savings accounts provide security both financially and emotionally because you know that you will get a return on your money.  It is just a manner of tastes and were you feel more comfortable.

Related Posts:

NS&I cuts interest rate but protects Premium Bonds

NS&I cuts interest rate but protects Premium Bonds – National Savings and Investments is slashing interest rates on its savings products by up to 1.85 per cent this week but returns on Premium Bonds will not be cut. 

Are Premium Bonds a good idea at the moment?

Q I Am thinking of investing in premium bonds and would like to know what the odds are of getting a prize and how safe my money will be. A Premium Bonds are issued by National Savings and Investments and are backed by the Government [...] 

Premium Bond prizes protected against base rate cuts

Premium Bond prizes protected against base rate cuts. by Gill Montia. Story link: Premium Bond prizes protected against base rate cuts. National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has announced that the Premium Bond prize fund is to stay at [...] 

Technorati Tags: bonds, national premium, premium bond prizes, rates, unclaimed numbers