General Chat

Make sure you've checked your lottery tickets then... some big unclaimed prizes.

Happy days

Thanks Harry - your posting reminded me that I had £25.00 cheque from Ernie that I hadn't banked ! It arrived several weeks ago but still not out-of-date, so will be off to join the queue at the bank tomorrow :-D

Thanks Bob. Good for anyone with a big investment but i think most people don't have enough to make a big difference.(and tax free for any winnings)

Thanks for your interest Happy days

I have some bonds which have been paying 2%

much better apparently than the odds on Premium bonds

Interest rates are going to rise during 2016/7 prob. to around 3%. Savers will be happier, mortgage holders less so, premium bond holders will need to consider their position.

The UK is building up a massive asset bubble financed by foreign money pouring into London property though the ripples have spread as far as Leeds. This bubble has created a record balance of payments deficit which Geo Osbourne doesn't like to talk about. He cannot pass a law about it after all.

Without the tax income from the property bubble the govt's efforts to pay down the deficit will look even more feeble. Instead he is relying on Mark Carney.

Maybe premium bonds will rise to the task.

Thank you for the replies. I think they are a reasonable investment. You could possibly be a millionaire or £25 might plop through your letter box.

The interest rate of bonds is not great but neither is putting money in the bank, so what you lose is pretty minimal.

Happy days

I get a better return on mine than I could get elsewhere - other than tying up the money for 3 years or more which I don't want to do and it's not enough to farm out to big fund managers, and I have no interest in 'playing' the stock market. I don't have the maximum amount. And I have no intention of leaving my assets to HM govt... :-D

as I said they can't or won't do the math.
It is much the same mindset as playing slot machines or buying a fistful of scratchcards. So long as you get a winner some of the time all is well.

Up to, say, £ 1000 premium bonds are a bit of fun, you can get yr money back at face value and who knows you might get a big prize. Holding sig. sums in prem bonds though is sad the more so if it is a big chunk of yr total assets.

Look here comes another one.

That's what we think Rollo, but a relative has all their savings in Bonds and regularly gets wins.

We've suggested they work out what the equivalent to the annual interest would be based on that, but they shudder at the thought :-D

They are a terrible investment.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds

At one time if you paid higher rate tax it was worth maxing out yr bonds 'cos the prizes are free of tax. All good things come to an end and at the Treasury some bright sprog who had read maths instead of Greats changed the payout rules and they are no longer worth a punt. The changes were quite popular though with those holding £ 50-5000 'cos the Treasury upped the number of small prizes and the smaller investors cannot do the math.

" The art of taxation is in plucking the goose so as to obtain the largest amount of feathers." - Richelieu

I guess anybody holding over £ 10K belongs to that band of brothers who leave their estates to the nation "for reducing the national debt."

At least with today's announcement from Osbourne we know (a) he is the most economically ignorant person in the country and (b) does not seem to be aware that no government can bind its successor. He is a smart aleck politician though and has laid the (nearly as ignorant) Labour aspirants a bear trap to fall into with Liz Kendall leading from the front. Only trouble is that it is nearly 5 years to the next election unless George knows something that nobody else does.

btw the EU treaty binds all members ( inc the UK ) to keep deficits down to 3%. The Uk was way above that 2010-15 and is not making much progress towards it. Remember King Canute ?

I still have the £ 1 bond I bought about 1968. It has won three times, £ 50, £50, £ 100 . Nothing the last ten years though.

in case you don't know, there was a facility where your wins could be immediately transferred into new bonds ready for the very next months draw.......

Very kind Kandj. Thank you all for the replies. Hope ERNIE comes along and does all you girls a favour.

Best wishes Happy days

I bought some when they first came out at £1 each we had a syndicate at work where we all paid a shilling (5pence) a week for 20 weeks and each week one of the 20 in the syndicate got their bond . Bought a few £10 ones too later on

Think I had a couple of very small wins in the early day but for donkeys years nothing

Well imagine my surprise last week to get a £25, win too . I couldn't even remember where the bonds are in house but a bit of digging around in drawers found them

So do I cash em in now or wait for the BIG one :-P

Hello Harry .well done spend .it wisely ;-) Barbra x

Dear Harry

Hello

Well done!

I won £9-25 on the Euro lottery last week!
Maybe that doesn't count!


Take gentle care
With best wishes
Elizabeth, EOS
xx

Best wishes to you to Harry. LOVE your sense of humour!!

Thank you all for your kind replies. At 82, I think I'll put it in a ten year accumulation bond - for my old age.

best wishes. Happy days

Nice one Harry. Don't spend it all at once!

My daughter won £50 in 1960s
Grandparents used to give my children £1 one for birthdays....THose were the days that children didn't have lots of toys etc.
She was the spender and son the saver. And she then had more than him in the bank....not for long though....lol :-S

I bought lots of them for my son as he grew up and was given money gifts, they never won anything and in the end when he was 17 i drew them out to help him buy his first car.