€25k invested in prize bonds

Agent Smyth

@ Oaklands
It would appear the reduction in the number of prizes in January was due to the reduction in the prize fund 3% > 2.25%
and the change in the prize structure
If you take the fund at 1.6 bil and compare the old prize structure to the new one, apart from there being a reduction in the prize fund there also is a reduction in the number of winners. If the fund remained static at 1.6 bil then there would be a difference of 12 million a year in the prize fund and 31853 less winners each year.
So if my figures are correct it would explain the difference between Dec 12 and Jan 13 total prizes and would suggest that the amount of money in the prize bond fund actually increased over that period and will probabley increase month on month during 2013 as it did in 2012

oaklands

@AgentSmyth
Agree with your comments.


FYI - here are the calculations I used and which seem to agree with your conclusions. Based on this the montly sales of PBs doubled in Dec'12 & Jan'13 compared to the previous 7 months, which runs counter to what one would expect!

We will know for sure mid year once the 2012 Annual report is published.

(The PDF shows the breakdown in prize fund, number of prizes, total prize fund, Total PBs, and different views on returns included DIRT equivalent return. There is one section covering from Apr-Dec 2012 and the €75 prizes syetem. and the second section covers the 2013 €50/100 prize structure)

Agent Smyth

Winnings from 15/02/13 draw €50
Last win 11/01/13 €50
Total wins 2013 € 100
Total wins 2012 €375

pbwinner

Winnings from today's draw: €0
Total winnings since Feb 2011 on €25k: €800

Agent Smyth

It would seem that the new prize structure has not affected sales at all and as more bonds are sold it will lesson our odds of having a win

Another thing i noticed was the number of winners is only updated at the beginning of each month and this also lessons your odds
so on the last draw of the month there is all the new bonds that have been issued during the month included in the draw but the prize fund or the number of winners is the same as the first draw of the month

on the PB web site as of end Nov 12 1.6 bil in fund and over 258 million bonds

WhiteMan32

Winnings from today's draw: €0
Total winnings since Feb 2012 on €12k: €150

hairyprincess

Winnings from todays draw: €0

Total winnings since Feb 2010 on €500: €150
Total winnings since Feb 2011 on €50: €0

FoolsGold1

Winnings from 15/02/2013 - €0
Winnings since 1/1/13 - €200.

oaklands

Agent Smyth wrote: »

It would seem that the new prize structure has not affected sales at all and as more bonds are sold it will lesson our odds of having a win

In this case the odds of winning the €1M/€20k/€1k/€100 prizes decrease and the odds of winning €50 increase as the total number of bonds increase. Overall your chances of winning a prize increase slightly.

Agent Smyth wrote: »

Another thing i noticed was the number of winners is only updated at the beginning of each month and this also lessons your odds
so on the last draw of the month there is all the new bonds that have been issued during the month included in the draw but the prize fund or the number of winners is the same as the first draw of the month

This is in line with legislation - they calculate the no of prizes for a month based on the number of bonds issued at midnight on the last day of the previous month. Your point is valid as the return is slightly diminished throughout the month as more bonds are issued. This should provide a dilema for the NTMA as they are mandated also to provide a fixed return of 2.25% and not 2.24999999%, which doesnt seem possible given the methodology used (unless they top it up from time to time to account for this discrepency).

Agent Smyth wrote: »

on the PB web site as of end Nov 12 1.6 bil in fund and over 258 million bonds

Good spot - these numbers equate to the Dec'12 calculations in my earlier PDF exactly, based on bonds issued at end of Nov'12.

ronjo

I have a question I hope someone can help me with or point me in the right direction.

I have a non resident Irishman with a few quid to invest safely. The best interest rate I can get here is about 2% and I was wondering is there any problem for me buying prize bonds or any tax implications of doing so. Thanks.

oaklands

ronjo wrote: »

I have a non resident Irishman with a few quid to invest safely. The best interest rate I can get here is about 2% and I was wondering is there any problem for me buying prize bonds or any tax implications of doing so. Thanks.

Unless you win one of the big prizes (very unlikely), your return from PBs will average out at 1.31% (Tax Free, in the state only). The tax free status only applies to tax returns in ireland - so if you are abroad you would still be liable for tax in your 'domicile'. Also you would need to be investing €25k+ to get a consistent return every year.

If you were returning to Ireland in future, you could look at the state savings products which provide tax free returns over 3->10 year periods.

Normal deposits here attract DIRT tax of 33% which will increase again in 2014.

Based on the info you provided, you may be better off with deposits in your country of residence.

If you do want to buy PBs probably a good idea to email them directly to find out their ID requirements etc for non-residents.

NB: If you are unsure of your investment strategy, please consult a professional first.

nhg

Win 15/2/13 - €0
Win since November 2012 on €30 K - €200

ronjo

oaklands wrote: »

Unless you win one of the big prizes (very unlikely), your return from PBs will average out at 1.31% (Tax Free, in the state only). The tax free status only applies to tax returns in ireland - so if you are abroad you would still be liable for tax in your 'domicile'. Also you would need to be investing €25k+ to get a consistent return every year.

If you were returning to Ireland in future, you could look at the state savings products which provide tax free returns over 3->10 year periods.

Normal deposits here attract DIRT tax of 33% which will increase again in 2014.

Based on the info you provided, you may be better off with deposits in your country of residence.

If you do want to buy PBs probably a good idea to email them directly to find out their ID requirements etc for non-residents.

NB: If you are unsure of your investment strategy, please consult a professional first.

Thanks for the reply.
I really appreciate it.
I will write to them and then think a bit more.

XrayMike235

Winnings from last draw: €0
Total winnings since October 2008 on €18K: €1250

Date of last win: Jan 4th (€50)

pbwinner

pbwinner wrote: »

Winnings from today's draw: €0
Total winnings since Feb 2011 on €25k: €800

Winnings from draw: €100
Total winnings since Feb 2011 on €25k: €900

A cheque for €100 arrived today, in spite of the online check last Friday saying I won nothing. Lesson: wait a few hours more before checking their website! :-)

Agent Smyth

what time did you check at ??
I check after one o'clock and the results are in
Nice win, well done

oaklands

pbwinner wrote: »

Winnings from draw: €100
Total winnings since Feb 2011 on €25k: €900

A cheque for €100 arrived today, in spite of the online check last Friday saying I won nothing. Lesson: wait a few hours more before checking their website! :-)

The results were on the website before 12:32 last Friday. ( I have a script that checks them every Friday)


There are a couple of possibilities - for your situation:

1. Your bowser hadn't refreshed the page and you were seeing a previous week. The date of the draw is always at the top of the page.
2. Due to differences in clocks you may have got in before 12:30 by their clock
3. When you got the cheques did you check the date of the draw? Maybe you won a prize in a previous week?
4. Does the website say now that you won last Friday?

In my case there seems to be a problem getting wins from them. I had a win on 25th Jan & 1st Feb and still havent got any notifications or the prizes as of 19th Feb, despite having emailed them about it on the 7th Feb. Normally they post out the notiification/prize by Wed/Thurs of the following week.

Based on my recent experience I would recommend that everyone checks the website for winners regulary in case it slips thru the cracks.

stedabee

does anyone ever hear off the big money wins or is there ever?

oaklands

@pbwinner

I have just checked the current winners on the website from last friday against what I recorded last friday 12:32 and the list is the same.

So you either got a cached page, checked too early or the win was from a previous week.

Owlhead

Congrats pbwinner, glad to hear it. What is the general consensus, winners, do prizes arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday?

FoolsGold1

Hi! Whenever I won the cheque(s) came on Wednesday and that is Dublin, so I guess it may depend where you live .. so in some cases the cheque might arrive a bit sooner/later. I've asked them to lodge to my Account in future, always hoping that there might possibly be SOMETHING to lodge!

conorfonz

Hi,
I was just thinking about buying prizebonds. Once one buys them I understand you have to hold them for a minimum of 3 months, I was wondering that if at any time after 3 months I needed the money, could I have it in a matter of days?

nhg

On 1 particular batch of prize bonds (30K) I get the winnings paid directly into the bank a/c and it shows up on my online banking on Saturday morning but dated the Monday & a letter comes in the post on a Tuesday telling me that a prize has been lodged to my bank a/c.

The €200 prize bonds that i buy monthly on direct debit are set up to get reinvested into prize bonds - I have never won on these yet, just starting into my 3rd year on these (college fund for child in about another 9 yrs please god)

XrayMike235

Winnings from todays draw: €0
Total winnings since October 2008 on €18K: €1250

Date of last win: Jan 4th (€50)

Agent Smyth

Winnings from 22/02/13 draw €0
Last win 15/02/13 €50
Total wins 2013 € 100
Total wins 2012 €375

pbwinner

Owlhead wrote: »

Congrats pbwinner, glad to hear it. What is the general consensus, winners, do prizes arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday?

I've usually received my cheques on the following Wednesday, living in Dublin.

pbwinner

conorfonz wrote: »

Hi,
I was just thinking about buying prizebonds. Once one buys them I understand you have to hold them for a minimum of 3 months, I was wondering that if at any time after 3 months I needed the money, could I have it in a matter of days?

Yes but probably best to plan a week or two just in case.

pbwinner

oaklands wrote: »

@pbwinner

I have just checked the current winners on the website from last friday against what I recorded last friday 12:32 and the list is the same.

So you either got a cached page, checked too early or the win was from a previous week.

Ah ok. I just have it as a bookmark so maybe it was the cache - will refresh in future! Thanks

pbwinner

stedabee wrote: »

does anyone ever hear off the big money wins or is there ever?

Certainly not on this thread!

pbwinner

Winnings from today's draw: €150
Total winnings since Feb 2011 on €25k: €1050