Premium Bonds

      From an early age I've always had a certain fascination with Premium Bonds and this all came about when my Father won £250, upon "Ernie" and he generously gave me a share of £25 £25 for my Sister and £100 for my Mother and himself this quite rightly seemed like a lot of money at the time. And so, as soon as I was able, I began building my own pile of National Insurance and Savings Bonds, or Premium Bonds, with the £25 and a couple twenty-first birthday presents, of twenty-five and fifty pounds, which gave me an initial stake of £100, though to be honest this has only won me one small prize in a great many years.
     Still no matter, I still held this one hundred pound bond and a good many years later, I was able to purchase a serious stake of £20k trough the sale of a house. These were the good times, when interest rates were somewhat more substantial than of late and I can happily recall twice winning 5 x £50 on two separate months! Over the years with the maximum holding rising first to £30k and then more recently £50k I've been fortunate to be able to keep adding to my pot. 
      Of course matters are different in these days of austerity, low interest rates, reduced and less frequent wins, mostly £25 a time, all seem to add up to a less promising future. And with all this in mind it's easy to come across lots of newspaper articles and expert opinions from people only to happy to have you believe  Premium Bonds, are a poor investment, offering feeble and less than competitive returns. And it's a simple fact, for everyone who wins a million pounds, thousands more must win nothing at all. The odds are heavily stacked against you, almost impossible to accurately forecast just how severe these odds against you can be.
      One of the allures to draw people into the system is that a Premium Bond Cheque, is known as "Winnings" and not simply as the more ordinary and less exciting "Interest!" At least everything you do win is classed Tax-Free and this can be very useful to the high tax payer.
      On a personal note, I've noticed in the past twenty-five years, there as been only one South Lakeland winner of one of the one million pound jackpot prizes. But this isn't like a Lottery, you're not having to pay more stake money every week, every pound you save, will still be there for the next month's draw and still yours when you want to draw it out again. I always find it best to try and put them out of your thoughts and then it's a pleasant surprise when a cheque drops through your letterbox, or directly into your bank account!