€25k invested in prize bonds

pbwinner · 08-06-2011 5:33pm #1

Hiya,
Thought I'd update this thread on the success (or not) of €25k (yes, €25,000) I invested in PBs since February.

Purpose of this thread is to give some indication of the success rate of PBs for the ordinary punter as I assume €25k is large amount to invest in one go.

Planning to keep it in there for a year or so.

Winnings to date: €25

bryaner · 08-06-2011 5:37pm

I'll follow with interest.

syklops · 08-06-2011 5:45pm

I got a 100 pounds worth of Prize bond about 25 years ago. Still waiting for a cheque to come in the post.

Be interested to see how you get on though.

staker · 08-06-2011 5:48pm

Interested to see the return on this over the year..

coylemj · 08-06-2011 7:00pm

Prize Bonds like the Lotto skew a lot of money towards the big prizes for publicity purposes so your 25K could win the jackpot or win nothing, the actual amount you win in a given period is meaningless because as a % of the total fund your holding is insignificant.

If the prize money was dished out as a number of prizes of equal value then there would be some meaning to your results but the imbalance in the distribution of prize money means that no mathematical conclusions can be drawn from how much you win.

Sorry but I'm treating the discussion as an exercise in probability theory and in the case of a 25k holding what you win or don't win means absolutely nothing.

pbwinner · 08-06-2011 7:44pm

coylemj wrote: »

Prize Bonds like the Lotto skew a lot of money towards the big prizes for publicity purposes so your 25K could win the jackpot or win nothing, the actual amount you win in a given period is meaningless because as a % of the total fund your holding is insignificant.

If the prize money was dished out as a number of prizes of equal value then there would be some meaning to your results but the imbalance in the distribution of prize money means that no mathematical conclusions can be drawn from how much you win.

Sorry but I'm treating the discussion as an exercise in probability theory and in the case of a 25k holding what you win or don't win means absolutely nothing.

Yup 100% agree. The fund is unbelievably skewed towards the €75 prize. Here's the breakdown for 2010 (http://www.prizebonds.ie/downloads/AnnualReport2010.pdf page 17) - quite pathetic really...
Number of Winners €Value
12 €1,000,000
41 €20,000
265 €1,000
530 €250
302,860 €75

coylemj · 08-06-2011 8:20pm

No, the money is skewed away from the €75 prizes.

There are 303,708 prize winners each month. Of these, 12 people (0.004% of the prize winners) pick up 12,000,000 which represents 28% of the prize money. The €75 prize winners represent 99.7% of the people winning money but collectively they only get 52% of the prize money. The money is skewed towards the big prize winners.

Thargor · 08-06-2011 11:07pm

bryaner wrote: »

I'll follow with interest.

Me too, I had 10k worth for a year, the odd €75 cheque, think it only worked out at about 2% p/a.

coylemj · 09-06-2011 1:19am

bryaner wrote: »

I'll follow with interest.

If I'm not mistaken, that was a pun.

pbwinner · 09-06-2011 8:54am

coylemj wrote: »

No, the money is skewed away from the €75 prizes.

There are 303,708 prize winners each month. Of these, 12 people (0.004% of the prize winners) pick up 12,000,000 which represents 28% of the prize money. The €75 prize winners represent 99.7% of the people winning money but collectively they only get 52% of the prize money. The money is skewed towards the big prize winners.

Ok :rolleyes: Then let me rephrase: the "chances of winning" is unbelievably skewed towards the €75 prize.

It goes from over 300,000 bonds for €75 right down to a measly 530 bonds for the next prize.

Anyway, my next update will be after 1230 on Friday.

Marcus_Crassus · 09-06-2011 7:56pm

I have 8000 euro in prize bonds -- they've been sitting there for a year -- and I have won 75 twice and 250 once.

TheInquisitor · 09-06-2011 8:00pm

Marcus_Crassus wrote: »

I have 8000 euro in prize bonds -- they've been sitting there for a year -- and I have won 75 twice and 250 once.

That's 5% return which is better than what you'd get in a bank

jc_eire · 09-06-2011 8:12pm

How could you have won €25 to date, I thought the minimum prize was €75!!??

pbwinner wrote: »

Hiya,
Thought I'd update this thread on the success (or not) of €25k (yes, €25,000) I invested in PBs since February.

Purpose of this thread is to give some indication of the success rate of PBs for the ordinary punter as I assume €25k is large amount to invest in one go.

Planning to keep it in there for a year or so.

Winnings to date: €25

pbwinner · 10-06-2011 1:14pm

Sorry yes that was a typo! It was indeed €75

Winnings from today's draw: €0

pbwinner · 17-06-2011 1:02pm

Winnings from today's draw: €0

pjproby · 17-06-2011 5:46pm

I received a gift of 1000 euro in prize bonds, three years ago. Over the last two years I have won 6 prizes of 75 euro.
I also have 1500 in prize bonds accumulated over many years. They have never won.

Wyldwood · 18-06-2011 6:33pm

I have bonds that were a gift to me when I was a smallie over half a century ago. They were worth £50 (old money) this was a lot when they were bought. I have never won anything & they're not worth cashing in now:(

pbwinner · 24-06-2011 1:03pm

Winnings from today's draw: €75
Total winnings to date on €25k: €150

SteelyDanJalapeno · 24-06-2011 1:07pm

How many bonds does 25k represent?

24-06-2011 1:10pm

Horgan wrote: »

How many bonds does 25k represent?

4000 prize bonds. they're €6.25 each (used to be £5)

SteelyDanJalapeno · 24-06-2011 1:11pm

Deleted User wrote: »

4000 prize bonds. they're €6.25 each (used to be £5)

I know nothing about prize bonds, excuse my ignorance.

They're state funded right? very little chance i'd lose any money?

thomasm · 24-06-2011 1:32pm

Grandparents got the kids 6k of prize bonds in March. Have had 3 €75 wins to date

24-06-2011 6:58pm

Horgan wrote: »

I know nothing about prize bonds, excuse my ignorance.

They're state funded right? very little chance i'd lose any money?

ya, and state guarenteed.
all winnings are tax free.

it's impossible to lose money

pbwinner · 24-06-2011 7:29pm

Deleted User wrote: »

it's impossible to lose money

Unless you take the loss of interest that you would have gained from a good saving account and increasing inflation eroding the value of your money over time, into account...

col.in.Cr · 24-06-2011 7:42pm

I have two prizebonds since the 80's with zero prizes so far

TOMP · 24-06-2011 7:53pm

Does anybody on here know of anyone who has won the one-million monthly prize? I know they dont release the names of the winners, but there must be dozens of prize bond millionaires out there . . .you hear of people who won the lottery but not the top PB payout. . . . just curious. . .maybe its all a big scam

kippy · 24-06-2011 7:59pm

I have about 5 prize bonds that were bought for me when I was very ickle. Never won anything - I wish I had more money to put into them!

Just on the million euro winners, it's not a scam, well at least I would hope not, but I would guess a lot of institutions invest in bonds (is there a break down somewhere?) so perhaps these bonds tend to go there more often as there are more of these type investors?

I'd love to get a call about the bonds that were bought for me back in the day, I'd say the chances of winning are well worse than the lotto!
How many bonds have been issued I wonder?

okiss · 24-06-2011 8:41pm

I brought €12,000 worth of prize bonds in May 10 and have won 5 €75 prizes =
€375 which is more than the interest I would have earned on this money.
I can get this money back at any time and I plan to use some of the money for other things at a later date.
I have brought other pb since then in smaller amounts but I have yet to have luck with them.

Onikage · 27-06-2011 6:06pm

OP, how did you pay for so many? Cheque? They don't seem to accept bank transfers.

casandra · 27-06-2011 6:23pm

If Ireland defaults on its debts and is bankrupt, how safe would prize bonds be then ?

kippy · 27-06-2011 6:26pm

casandra wrote: »

If Ireland defaults on its debts and is bankrupt, how safe would prize bonds be then ?

As safe as houses...........

Raskolnikov · 28-06-2011 12:21pm

kippy wrote: »

I have about 5 prize bonds that were bought for me when I was very ickle. Never won anything - I wish I had more money to put into them!

Have you updated your address with Fexco? It's possible that they have been unable to contact you with your winnings.

kippy · 28-06-2011 12:23pm

Raskolnikov wrote: »

Have you updated your address with Fexco? It's possible that they have been unable to contact you with your winnings.

Yeah, Been keeping it up todate alright.

Raskolnikov · 28-06-2011 12:23pm

For the record, I have two prize bonds that are about 30 years old, and another four that are about 20 years old, I have never won anything on them.

aidanki · 28-06-2011 7:34pm

I have 5 that are 20yrs old, my 2 brothers bought them the same time as me

I won £100 ~ 18yrs ago and I won €75 ~3mths ago

brothers haven't won a penny and neither have mother or father who have ~ 10 prize bonds each for 30years

arrowloopboy · 28-06-2011 11:29pm

Not sure if this was already mentioned caus too lazy to read all previous posts BUT,take your money out of pbs and invest it in Government bonds,this will return 11% or so ,and government bonds are safer than pbs.

Black Rock · 29-06-2011 11:47am

State Savings is the brand name used by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) to describe the range of savings products offered by the NTMA to personal savers.

An Post and the Prize Bond Company are agents of the NTMA for the operation of the State Savings schemes. Neither An Post nor the Prize Bond Company have ever retained or managed any State Savings money - all State Savings money is placed directly with the Government under the management of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

The obligation to repay your money to you is an unconditional obligation of the Government - An Post or the Prize Bond Company has never had any role in this regard. There is no difference in the level of security of Prize Bonds as compared to any other NTMA State Savings product or Irish Government Bonds because in line with the normal practice in the sovereign debt markets, Ireland has never issued any debt with either a preferred status or a subordinated status relative to any other debt it has issued, i.e. all debt issued by Ireland ranks “pari passu” and enjoys identical status.

All NTMA State Savings money ranks equally with all other sovereign debt of Ireland.

pbwinner · 01-07-2011 1:07pm

Winnings from today's draw: €0
Total winnings to date on €25k: €150

coylemj · 01-07-2011 3:24pm

arrowloopboy wrote: »

Not sure if this was already mentioned caus too lazy to read all previous posts BUT,take your money out of pbs and invest it in Government bonds,this will return 11% or so ,and government bonds are safer than pbs.

Would you care to tell us which Govt. bond is currently paying 11%?

I hope you mean 11% per annum because if it's 11% after 'n' years then that needs to be reduced to an annual rate in order to make a comparison meaningful.

Prize Bonds and Govt. bonds and Post Office Saving accounts are all part of the national debt, one is not 'safer' than the other.

kippy · 01-07-2011 4:37pm

coylemj wrote: »

Would you care to tell us which Govt. bond is currently paying 11%?

I hope you mean 11% per annum because if it's 11% after 'n' years then that needs to be reduced to an annual rate in order to make a comparison meaningful.

Prize Bonds and Govt. bonds and Post Office Saving accounts are all part of the national debt, one is not 'safer' than the other.

There's no government bond currently trading that pays 11% pa.
If there were I dont think the insurance and investments thread would be as busy as it is, as all money would be invested in this bond.

oceanman · 08-07-2011 7:36am

the problem i would have with prize bonds is that the draws cannot be seen taking place by the general public............. make your own mind why that is!

syklops · 08-07-2011 7:59am

oceanman wrote: »

the problem i would have with prize bonds is that the draws cannot be seen taking place by the general public............. make your own mind why that is!

Because it would be too expensive to hold hold regular public draws?

deelite · 08-07-2011 8:03am

I worked in a post office for a while and got to serve a lady who had about 15 cheques from Prize Bonds. She told me that she normally got at least 5 winning cheques a month and she always re-invests back into Prize Bonds to increase her chances of winning - she also mentioned she had tons of Prize Bonds but had never hit the big one.

pbwinner · 08-07-2011 1:42pm

Winnings from today's draw: €0
Total winnings since Feb on €25k: €150

Pablo Sanchez · 08-07-2011 6:18pm

Can you buy prize bonds online?

Lisa2011 · 08-07-2011 6:36pm

My father bought 400 prizebonds in january and two weeks later after getting them in the post he won €75. No winning since then.

Lisa2011 · 08-07-2011 6:37pm

Pablo Sanchez wrote: »

Can you buy prize bonds online?

Yes you can here is the link https://www.prizebonds.ie/online/purchasing/index.html

pbwinner · 08-07-2011 8:44pm

Lisa2011 wrote: »

My father bought 400 prizebonds in january and two weeks later after getting them in the post he won €75. No winning since then.

I've heard that so many times! Just after they're purchased, they get you hooked by winning almost immediately...

brownbeard · 11-07-2011 4:15am

I have 160 Prize Bonds (€1k) that were purchased at the start of March, and won €75 on June 10th.

I reckon that even if that's all I get for the whole year, 7.5% tax free is a fairly good annual return.

However, most of the people I've talked who have more invested than I do say that their winnings usually amount to ~2%. So it's quite possible, as I believe you are suggesting OP, that there's a suspicious trend of newbies getting prizes against the odds.

At the same time, if you look at the list of winning bonds, the distribution is pretty even with a winning bond for every 20 000 to 40 000 bonds.

In summary: *shrug*

scoobisnacks · 14-07-2011 11:25pm

Bought 3800 worth in January - won 75 three times in February and none since...

pbwinner · 15-07-2011 1:02pm

Winnings from today's draw: €0
Total winnings since Feb '11 on €25k: €150

€25k invested in prize bonds

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