St ill nothing for me, I’ve €10,225 in now.
One day.
Nothing again
2 x €75 for me today.
€50k gone to Tipperary. Dublin got 10no. of the 20no. €1k prizes.
This week’s €50k winning ticket AOI542656 was purchased in May 2019.
You're in one win a year territory with that sort of money unfortunately as you no doubt realise.Good luck going forward.👍
The fund stands at €4.4 billion today, that's €45 million lighter than on Jan 1. If sales are €28m, refunds must be €32m, leaving Fexco to handle c. €60m per month.
Yes I’ve looked into some generalised odds and so on. But honestly, I have it in here to be accessible and as some type of emergency fund. I keep €1,000 and €2,000 on BOI and Revolut for immediate things. I’ve mentioned before that the stock market just upset me, I was checking it all day and it caused me more anxiety than it’s worth. So the money in lose bonds are a mixture of fun and security. The pension is tipping away well, and I am available if an SAYE scheme in work for 20% discount shares. So I do have a lot of areas covered. But the short lived bouts of excitement of a little win here and there will help lift my spirits.
In a more lucrative bond investment
100k in UK Premium Bonds (two 50k accounts) £300 for May (£150 each).
A little bit of history.
https://www.rte.ie/archives/2026/0119/1553935-unclaimed-prize-bonds-winnings/
Back in the day, 54 million punts was probably an extraordinary amount of money.
Less than €300 million equivalent today. Prize Bonds weren't nearly as attractive back then during inflation rates of over 15%. You could get £610 interest on £1,000 in 5 years on another Post Office product, Savings Certificates. The big inflow into Prize Bonds happened after the Crash in 2008.
https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1981/si/52/made/en/print
2 x €75 today, email sent at 12:39. Newest bond to win today BKU700005. My MN and AYA bonds are doing well.
08/05/2026 Prize Reinvestment€75.00Winning Bond Number(s): MN575511 New Bond Range:BKU897749 - BKU897760
08/05/2026 Prize Reinvestment
€75.00
Winning Bond Number(s): MN575511 New Bond Range:BKU897749 - BKU897760
08/05/2026 Prize Reinvestment€75.00Winning Bond Number(s): AYA716667 New Bond Range:BKU898397 - BKU898408
Winning Bond Number(s): AYA716667 New Bond Range:BKU898397 - BKU898408
Draw Date Winning Bond Number(s) Win Value
08/05/2026 MN575511€75.00
08/05/2026 MN575511
08/05/2026 AYA716667€75.00
08/05/2026 AYA716667
24/04/2026 MN576274€75.00
24/04/2026 MN576274
17/04/2026 AYA717689€75.00
17/04/2026 AYA717689
03/04/2026 MN575852€75.00
03/04/2026 MN575852
€75 for me today.
€50k gone to Cavan. Dublin got 10no. of the 20no. €1k prizes.
This week’s €50k winning ticket BCF257463 was purchased Nov 2022.
I remember looking at the Oireachtas website some time back and being amazed by the number of times that this has been asked about in the Daily over the years by politicians of every hue - “Can the Minister provide details of the total value of unclaimed Prize Bond prizes and make a statement on the matter“ - for some reason politicians seem to be fascinated by the topic.
Nothing again - this is definitely the worst run I have had in years
Very interesting looking at that link and the Savings Cert interest rates. I’ve done a comparison between the return then (1981) and today. Eye watering !
1981
2026
(i)
if it is held for less than six months from the date of purchase
10,000
(ii)
if it is held for six months or more and less than one year from such date
10,400
(iii)
if it is held for one year or more and less than one and one half years from such date
10,850
(iv)
if it is held for one and one half years or more and less than two years from such date
11,300
(v)
if it is held for two years or more and less than two and one half years from such date
11,850
10,150
(vi)
if it is held for two and one half years or more and less than three years from such date
12,400
(vii)
if it is held for three years or more and less than three and one half years from such date
13,040
10,250
(viii)
if it is held for three and one half years or more and less than four years from such date
13,690
(ix)
if it is held for four years or more and less than four and one half years from such date
14,440
10,450
(x)
if it is held for four and one half years or more and less than five years from such date
15,240
(xi)
if it is held for five years from such date
16,100
10,900
Two points to note. The difference in rates, and also the particularly mean way in which the payout in the early years has been slashed. It totally changed the nature of the product and disadvantaged the most vulnerable.
Mind you if you look at mortgage rates in 1981 vs 2026 the gap is every bit as staggering !
9% is the best rate since around 2014 I think. Anyone who tied up their money before October 2023 was/is getting only 5% after 5 years. All the long term schemes work the same, very poor returns in the early years. And if the rates do increase with a new issue, no transfer into that one possible. I would take my chances with Prize Bonds. A couple of wins in the early years would put them ahead of the three long term schemes.
The odd thing to me is that the reduction in the Prize Bond Fund (more encashments than sales) started around the time when our chances went way up. For many years before that the rates were miserable, but the fund kept increasing every month.
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2023/0901/1402840-interest-on-state-savings-to-rise/ (01 October 2023)
"The NTMA said the total tax free return on the new fixed rate State Savings products will see the 3-Year Savings Bond increase from 1% to 4%, while the 5-Year Savings Certificate from rise from 5% to 9%.
Its 6-Year Instalment Savings from go up from 5.5% to 10% and the 10-Year National Solidarity Bond from increase from 16% to 22%.
The NTMA also said the variable rate used to calculate the total prize fund is increasing from 0.35% to 1% of the total value of Prize Bonds, while the prize fund is almost trebling in size and prizes remain tax free."
Indo article on Prize Bonds. As you’d expect from the Indo the article contains a number of errors and misleading statements.
€75 last Friday
What, exactly is a prize Bond
A bad investment that gets you wound up each week hoping that its not such a bad investment.
Winnings on 15th May 2026: €0 Last win 23rd December 2025: €75 Total winnings on €25k from February 2011 to date: €3525
2011: €75 x 4 = €300 2012: €75 x 6 = €450 2013: €50 x 12 = €600 2014: €50 x 9 = €450 2015: €50 x 5 = €250 2016: €50 x 5 = €250 2017: €50 x 4 = €200 2018: €50 x 2 = €100 2019: €50 x 6 = €300 2020: €50 x 5 = €250 2021: €50 x 1 = €50 2022: €50 x 1 = €50 2023: €50 x 1 = €50 2024: €75 x 1 = €75 2025: €75 x 2 = €150 2026: €0
https://www.statesavings.ie/prize-bonds
€75 win today lifts me over the 54k. 😊
Been a stressful day at work so a pleasant surprise to check just now and see I have a notification.
€75, third win of the year.
Nothing for me today
The €50k went to Dublin. Of the 20no. €1,000 prizes, 13no. gone to Dublin, 3no. gone to Mayo and 2no. gone to Cork, leaving precisely 2no. for everybody in the rest of Ireland and the rest of the world (one each to Donegal and Meath).
This week’s €50k prize winning bond, no. NB666030, was purchased in June 2010.
what do you al do with winnings? Reinvest?
Like I said, I cashed in all mine out into an aviva bond per finance consultant and it has returned 18% in a year..
Nothing for me today.
As always, Dublin and Cork combined got more than half of the €75 prizes. Dublin 40.41%, Cork 11.5%.
I'll take some comfort from the fact that @dxhound2005 and @Hibernicis didn't win this week either - as usual, nothing for me …
So what kind of returns are people getting on this ?
As I sort of predicted the Premium Bond notional rate is going back up to 3.8% after the June draw. The UK has to pay much higher rates to borrow internationally these days.
https://www.nsandi.com/interest-rates
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czr2pl5lj84o
