prize bonds

justforgroups

nice_guy80 wrote: »

remember there are millions of prize bonds in circulation, and every one of them is entered into every draw

In 2009, there was a little over €1 billions worth of prize bonds going into the draws. That's €1 billion entered into the draw every week and on average that number increases by 25% of sales every year (i.e. almost €300k of new PBs every year).

Out of that amount, just under a pitiful €28m was paid out. In terms of winnings, from that €1 billion in the draw, these are the statistics for the whole of 2009:

Number of Prizes: Value €
8 : 1,000,000
4 : 500,000
40 : 20,000
260 : 1,000
520 : 250
221,877 : 75

In summary, this shows that if you win anything other than €75, you are very lucky indeed! Even the Euromillions give better odds than this!

colsku

BillyBobWinters wrote: »

Freebird, put €5,000 on Bank of Ireland shares. Now get them at €9.21 - down from a high of €18.50 last year. Never a better opportunity to buy them than now - Dividend around 6% but should hold for minimum 5 year period.

As safe as a punt on the stock market can be.

I bought €10,000 worth before the crash at €13.50 - not a bad drop considering the unforeseen crash so should gradually get back to that level no problem.

BB

Oh dear!

ravima

one of the €1m winners last year was in Cork, and teh bond was bougth within the past 12 months.

I gave a friend some on the birth of her child and within a month, she had won €75

I do accept however, that there are others who hold a small no of bonds since Moses was a boy and the Dead Sea was known as the Sick Sea and who have won nothing.

I think its all about bulk. The more you have, the better your chances.

justforgroups

ravima wrote: »

I think its all about bulk. The more you have, the better your chances.

...but not much of a chance! See my post above. Excluding the sucker €75 wins, only 832 people for the entire year of 2009 won anything!

That's only 832 people out of the tens/hundreds of thousands of people that own bonds :eek:

Their website says "A customer with €1,000 invested has a 3.9 to 1 chance of winning a cash prize in a 12 month period.". So correct me if I'm wrong in my reasoning, but there are 52 draws a year (1 every Friday) so you have a chance of winning something (most likely €75) only 13 times in 365 days?

Methinks the government is onto a good thing here - free money & not having to pay any interest to the vast numbers of 'depositors'!:mad:

tommy21

justforgroups wrote: »

Methinks the government is onto a good thing here - free money & not having to pay any interest to the vast numbers of 'depositors'!:mad:

So are you though, you still have your money in the end. Are the chances incredibly remote of a big win -yes and if you are correct even more so than the lotto.But there is something nice about being able to have that little bet and still get your money back in time. No interest though, so I think it is only worth it for small amounts.

Farls

I have something over 1k worth of them for about 3 years now won €75 twice so far.

Father has prize bonds from way back in the day and never won a thing.

mw3guc

Seamus Clancy wrote: »

I have prize bonds since 1970's. No win. My wife won €75 some years ago - nothing since.

Same here - all of my large extended family have them for donkeys' years, and none of us have ever won anything on them It was the done thing for us in the past to buy/get them for birthdays, Xmas etc - not so much now. At a guess, I'd say we have at least €3k worth amongst us. Maybe we're just very unlucky people ...

Domaca

From my limited experience with prize bonds it seems there are "lucky" numbers and "unlucky" numbers. I had €200 prize bonds years ago, never won a penny. Got a gift of €75 prize bonds last year, have since won €75 twice. I know from other people that some numbers win repeatedly while other's never win anything! If anything, this suggests a very un-random draw, kinda like the way my ipod, when set to shuffle, will always plays certain songs and never play some other songs.

Mr Bleech

Basically if you have less than 1k in bonds, then forget about winning a prize. For 1k, you have 25% of winnning 1 prize in 1 calender year, so that may mean you only win 75 euro.

if like me, i've put in about 30k, and win 75 euro on average once a month, which is better than a deposit account and have instant access to cash them in now, and they're 100% safe.


i'd recommend it for serious money, rather that under 5k, i just wouldn't bother.

justforgroups

Mr Bleech wrote: »

Basically if you have less than 1k in bonds, then forget about winning a prize. For 1k, you have 25% of winnning 1 prize in 1 calender year, so that may mean you only win 75 euro.

if like me, i've put in about 30k, and win 75 euro on average once a month, which is better than a deposit account and have instant access to cash them in now, and they're 100% safe.

i'd recommend it for serious money, rather that under 5k, i just wouldn't bother.

On average €75 month? I seriously doubt it :P They are a complete rip-off. For example, there's no €1m prize draw if someone wins the €100k!? The whole scam is designed not to pay out.

And as for being "100% safe", your PB money is actually held (you hope!) in the Bank Of Ireland. Draw your own conclusions from that on how safe your money actually is :-P

justforgroups

homer911 wrote: »

Based on the statistics here - would you be better disposing of and reacquiring your prize bonds every three months?

Can't do any harm. Might be a good idea to try it for a year (i.e. 4 times) and see if on average you do better then just holding onto the same numbers?

Remember to post your findings! :-)

liptonvillag

BillyBobWinters wrote: »

Freebird, put €5,000 on Bank of Ireland shares. Now get them at €9.21 - down from a high of €18.50 last year. Never a better opportunity to buy them than now - Dividend around 6% but should hold for minimum 5 year period.

As safe as a punt on the stock market can be.

I bought €10,000 worth before the crash at €13.50 - not a bad drop considering the unforeseen crash so should gradually get back to that level no problem.

BB

Here's a clear case of Main street meeting Wall Street lol. Well done BillyBobwinters. Gordon Gekco would be proud of ya. You typify the arrogance of the celtic tiger. Every wannabe with a few quid thinking that it was all easy money.

justforgroups

liptonvillag wrote: »

Here's a clear case of Main street meeting Wall Street lol. Well done BillyBobwinters. Gordon Gekco would be proud of ya. You typify the arrogance of the celtic tiger. Every wannabe with a few quid thinking that it was all easy money.

Wrong thread bud!

ironclaw

justforgroups wrote: »

Wrong thread bud!

Its on the first page and I note its from March 2008!

As regards Prize Bonds, had them for a few months, haven't won anything. Most I've heard about is €150 that a mate won.

who_ru

had 2k worth pf prize bonds for 2yrs, didn't win a single thing.

cashed them in recently, might as well earn some interest on that money. never again with the prize bonds.

Black Rock

justforgroups wrote: »

On average €75 month? I seriously doubt it :P They are a complete rip-off. For example, there's no €1m prize draw if someone wins the €100k!? The whole scam is designed not to pay out.

And as for being "100% safe", your PB money is actually held (you hope!) in the Bank Of Ireland. Draw your own conclusions from that on how safe your money actually is :-P

Bank of Ireland have no role whatsoever.

Prize Bonds are an part of the suite of NTMA State Savings products offered to personal savers by the Government under the management of the NTMA (National Treasury Management Agency). The Prize Bond Company is an agent of the NTMA and hands the money directly to the Government. The other products are Savings Bonds, Savings Certificates, Intalment Savings, National Solidarity Bond, Ordinary Deposit Account and Deposit Account Plus.

The security of all NTMA State Savings products is explained in a brochure 1 on the State Savings dot ie website

justforgroups

Black Rock wrote: »

Bank of Ireland have no role whatsoever.

Yes, it was taken over by NTMA recently.

Black Rock

It is 22 years since the Bank of Ireland had any role in Prize Bonds - the last time was May 1989. The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) issues Prize Bonds which are an integral part of the range of State Savings products offered by the NTMA to personal customers.

The Prize Bond Company is an agent of the NTMA in respect of operation of the Prize Bonds scheme.

All "NTMA State Savings" products are part of the soverign debt of Ireland.

goat2

The Prize Bond Company is an agent of the NTMA and hands the money directly to the Government.


This is the sentence that worries me, so the governments over the past decade had their paws on this cash,
Question,,,,, is it safe

Black Rock

goat2 wrote: »

The Prize Bond Company is an agent of the NTMA and hands the money directly to the Government.


This is the sentence that worries me, so the governments over the past decade had their paws on this cash,
Question,,,,, is it safe

This has been the case for 54 years now since the first Prize Bonds draw in September 1957 - the money has always been part of Ireland's sovereign debt.

Amik

But what if the country defaults? Will Prize Bond holders lose their money? Yes or no answer please.

tommy21

Amik wrote: »

But what if the country defaults? Will Prize Bond holders lose their money? Yes or no answer please.

No one can say that for sure unfortunately. But on the balance of things I think if we defaulted, yes the money would be gone. Or devalued. Or stolen away on the promise of reimbursement in the future (e.g. pensions).

But my opinion has changed in terms of thinking we will default. I now believe the Eurozone won't let it happen. My opinion changes daily sometimes though!

Barrt2

won 75 euro a few years back i was rather happy. but no win since how much are they worth if i sell them ?

SteoL

Barrt2 wrote: »

won 75 euro a few years back i was rather happy. but no win since how much are they worth if i sell them ?

Whatever you paid for them Always worth face value......no more no less. That's why some people think they're great (no risk) and others think they're crap (no profit bar winning which is crap odds).

scotchy

scotchy wrote: »

I'm up to about €5000 now....Still nuthin:mad:

.

At last. I just came home to find a cheque for €75 in my letterbox. I'm A winner:D

.

coylemj

God help us if some scratchcard addict starts a similar thread giving us a daily update!

scotchy

scotchy wrote: »

At last. I just came home to find a cheque for €75 in my letterbox. I'm A winner:D

.

Just won another €75, never rains but it pours:D


.

Drexl Spivey

I think this is a scam.

I've had 40 units since June 2008 and never won anything.

How do I go about getting my investment back?

liptonvillag

Drexl Spivey wrote: »

I think this is a scam.

I've had 40 units since June 2008 and never won anything.

How do I go about getting my investment back?

deatails are on the back where to post to for full refund. To give you and idea of the amount in invested in PB's. In 2009 there was a record 800 million invested in them. Its in operation since the 50's. There's billions in it so 40 units is nothing. people buy blocks of 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 blocks. 40 units is nothing.

broker2008

With 7,525 winners and a total prize fund of €590,675 and only 6 prizes in excess of €250 per week I don't the government will be selling this one.

I did win €75 x 2 in the same draw a couple of months ago and the prize bonds were bought 16 years apart.

12gauge dave

Will prizebonds alert you by post if you win or have you to check ur bonds code online as ive never checked my bond codes?

BuffyBot

IF they have your up to date address, you'll get notified by post.