Premium Bonds saver lauds savings scheme as she wins four times in last six months | Personal Finance | Finance
Daisy Pledge won £75 in the January draw while her partner won £175. She began investing in the Bonds to save up for a house and says they are still a viable savings option.
People with Premium Bonds are entered into a monthly prize draw rather than getting an interest rate on their savings, as with a conventional savings account.
This means a person may not see their balance grow, or if they are a lucky winner, they could win up to £1million, with two millionaire winners each month.
The odds of winning are 24,000 to one although in the January draw the prize fund rate increased from 2.2 percent to three percent, with another £80million in prizes added.
Ms Pledge started investing in the Bonds in February 2018 investing funds from her work as a freelancer, to go towards buying a house.
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Ms Pledge spoke about the other advantages of Premium Bonds, saying: “If you’re in a regular savings account, to get the really high percentages, you have to not touch it for a year or longer.
“Whereas Premium Bonds, you can take it out whenever you fancy. Putting funds back in, you do have to wait that extra month for it to be live again, but I wouldn’t have just Premium Bonds.
“Now the interest rates are up, it’s worth having a savings account if you have enough money for it on the side.
“But it’s like a free lottery. I don’t know why you wouldn’t do it. I know the chances are small of winning £1million, but there is a chance, and it’s costing you nothing. It feels like a no-brainer.”
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The base interest rate set by the Bank of England is currently 3.5 percent, and is set to increase this year as the Bank tries to tackle soaring inflation.
At the time of writing, there are many fixed rate accounts paying more than four percent in interest, where savers often have to lock in the funds until the account matures.
The top paying easy access saver is the Zopa Smart Saver, which offers a 2.86 percent interest rate.
Ms Pledge checks if she has won each month using the prize checker app. She says her Bonds are easy to manage, and she chooses to reinvest her winnings in more Bonds.
She says her winnings are usually for amounts such as £25, £50 or £100, while her partner won £1,500 one month last year.
She said it’s a very challenging time to be saving up for a house. Ms Pledge said: “Obviously it’s incredibly difficult to save for most.
“I had some inheritance to get me started and a wage increase, which finally allowed me to seriously start saving but it’s almost impossible to do so these days if you’re earning less than £50,000 a year.
“And even if you do earn that, mortgages are unaffordable currently. Rent is cheaper – which it never used to be.”
Premium Bonds winners are announced at the start of every month. Other top prizes include £100,000 and £50,000.
