Prize Bonds

boardsie08

Ok, so I know that Prize Bonds have been discussed on here before and I think the general consensus was that you'd be better off putting your money into a savings account where you could be guaranteed a % of interest each year, as opposed to hanging onto the chance of winning a big prize whilst in reality you could get a big fat money, and your money would be losing out to inflation.

However given that interest rates are falling (So far from what I see on average interest rates vary between 2-5% - if someone knows of better rates by all means enlighten me!) and I believe that Prize Bonds work out on average of about 3% per annum (Of course that's just an average, it may be much higher, or it may be zilch!) would now be a better time to invest in Prize Bonds?

The reason for my thinking is that in the past people dismissed because your money was missing out on inflation, however in the current climate inflation is at a standstill and if anything will be decreasing.. sooo... Good time for Prize Bonds?

Newbie_2009

Ya Anglo Irish pay 5.5% on a demand a/c but in reality this is likely to fall pretty soon. They also pay 8% on a monthly saver a/c again that is likely to fall fairly soon.

Boi + halifax have 7% regualr saver a/c s as well

If u want a gauranteed return Anglo Irish give 6% on a 1 year fixed term a/c and 5.35% on a 6 months fixed term.

Which aint bad given the flexible interest rates will fall more in 2009 and given that fact Anglo has been effectively nationalised that will be forced to bring interest in line with or lower than its none state owned competitors

But Im not a fan of fixed term a/cs my self

pureirish

I got 7.5% - 8% on prizebonds last year. No DIRT on it either.

Fighting Irish

It sorta depends how much money you're investing

small amount of money = pb
large amount of money = bank
or gamble and throw the large amount of money into pb

pureirish

Last yr I had about €2k - I've a monthly dd set up also

This is more of a test to see what I can average on return but so far I'm pretty happy. Needless to say I keep larger sums in interest guaranteed accounts.

jellymaster

You have to do the maths. If the return on prize bonds in something like 2.5% and the minimum prize I think is €75 then you need €3000 of bonds to get a single €75 tax free win each year. Using that maths if you had €300 then expect 10 years to past before you see a €75 win. If you have €30 in prize bonds then it's 100 years. I think anything less than 10k in prize bonds is a lottery but still nothing wrong with it in. If having a few quid in refundable prize bonds is how you convince yourself not to burn cash on weekly lottery tickets then it's a good thing. Prize bonds sales have soared recently as people look for a safe place to put their savings.

heno55

i had 10k in prize bonds for a few years the most i ever won was 2 75euro prizes in one year, the post office is probably the best place at the moment