Archive for the ‘Premium Bonds’ Category

The Premium Bonds Program Hits A Milestone in Financial History.

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Imagine the next time you join a discussion about Premium Bonds. When you start sharing the fascinating Premium Bonds facts below, your friends will be absolutely amazed.

Premium bonds have reached a milestone in financial history. At fifty years old this saving system has outlasted other government and private saving plans and seems to have enough stem to last decades to come. Not only is the premium bond a success the nation of Great Britain has embraced the bonds and actually holds an endearment for them. This is amazing for a system that doesn’t pay interest and actually rewards up to a million pounds to a single investor. Over a third of the country invests in the bonds and that account for twenty three million citizens that have a stake in their future and the future of their country.

The big winnings are just the tip of the iceberg with this saving plan. Premium bonds can be put be bought and exchanged for the exact same value as you put in. The cash prizes are just the crème on top of the milk when it comes to earnings. You don’t pay a penalty for withdraw nor do you lose anything except the meager interest that other savings plans have. All you have to do is fill out a repayment form from the National Savings and Investments agency and your money will come back to you. You usually only have to wait about a week to receive your cash in the post.

Truthfully, the only difference between you and Premium Bonds experts is time. If you’ll invest a little more time in reading, you’ll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to Premium Bonds.

The sales of premium bonds are going out of the roof. There is a premium bond bought every ten second in the country and this accounts to about twenty one million bonds bought a day. The accessibility of purchase has increased in the last few years due to the availability of online venues. For those that are less technologically oriented they can go to the post office and purchase them in person. You have to purchase at least one hundred pounds worth of bonds to start your saving and you can even have payroll deductions or account withdrawals that will allow you to save as the purchases are put into savings automatically. You can save a maximum of thirty thousand pounds and just wait for the cash prizes to come to you.

The bonds only cost a pound a piece and this bond gives you a chance to win one of over a million cash prizes awarded monthly. The National Savings and Investment agency has a random number generator that will pick numbers off of individual bonds and then report the winnings to the bond holders. The prizes range from two million pound awards to over a million fifty pound rewards. The bonds are issued consecutively and a single investment will let you be able to keep track of your number between the lowest and the highest. The rewards are also listed online and in most town newspapers.

If you like the thrill of the lottery and the hope of free money coming your way, the premium bonds program is for you. Your money will not just sit in the bank and wait to accrue a meager interest. You will be able to get lump sumps each month if you are that lucky of a person.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, the Cheap Web Hosting Guy!

Randomness in the Premium Bonds Market

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you’ll find that the subject of Premium Bonds is certainly no exception.

Some people wonder about the randomness of the premium bonds lottery that is conducted each month. The randomness has been under scrutiny in the past and the National Savings and Interest agency, the people who conduct the lottery are scrutinized by an outside agency to provide security so that winners have an equal chance.

The Government Actuary Department was created for the sole purpose of checking the premium bond system and the randomness of the numbers. The Government Actuary Department is not associated with the National Savings and Interest agency and is does not receive any monetary funds. Just like the agency that checks the gauges and meters of gas pumps, the Government Actuary Department just regulates honesty for the good will of the citizens of Great Britain.

There are conspiracy theories that say that only regional areas of the British Isle win more than others. What these people do not take to mind is that the population differences as well as economic differences create statistical abnormalities that skew the awarding of cash prizes. The Government Actuary Department investigates these allocations and through statistical analysis most are proven only disparities in population and how many people in each region actually participates in the program.

It seems like new information is discovered about something every day. And the topic of Premium Bonds is no exception. Keep reading to get more fresh news about Premium Bonds.

The National Savings and Interest agency also takes these allocations very seriously and encourages investigation from outside agencies. If these false allocations are true, it could seriously affect the premium bond program and the agency that supports it. The scrutiny and honesty is the upmost priority of the National Savings and Investments, and scrupulous behavior is not tolerated.

Another theory is that new bonds win more than old bonds bought decades ago. The Government Actuary Department explains this by stating that populations have grown as well as the population of people buying premium bonds. The randomness remains the same, but if the purchase of new bonds that were purchased in the last decade is double or triple the amount of bonds purchased in the decade between 1950 and 1960, the number of winners will mostly come from the last decade. The general public has a hard time explaining this and when they have had bonds that have not won ever, of course they think that there is something fishy with the random number generator or the people at the National Savings and Investment. The Government of Actuary Department assures the public that the randomness does not discriminate against older bonds than newer ones.

The premium bond program relies on the effectiveness of the random number generator. Some people have suggested the ping pong number generator that American lotteries use. The only problem with that is that there are millions and millions of numbers generated to use and the ping pong method. The random generator that the British system uses has gone through four upgrades and a fifth is being looked at if the popularity of premium bonds continues to increase. Premium bonds still remain a great investment and the fun at a chance of winning will continue to make the program succeed.

Now that wasn’t hard at all, was it? And you’ve earned a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an expert’s word on Premium Bonds.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, the Cheap Web Hosting Guy!

Are Premium Bonds Worth It?

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

Premium bonds are becoming more popular everyday. Millions of people are investing in these bonds and some are questioning if they are really worth it. Premium bonds were introduced in 1956 as a way to get the public to invest into the British Government. This was set up like a lottery so that the common man could save and at the same time have a chance to winning millions of pounds. Nearly twenty million people, a third of the population now owns at least one premium bond. Investors can buy these bonds directly from the post office or they can purchase from the National Savings and Investment firms.

Since interest rates are falling, premium bonds are seen as a safe way to invest and at the same time have the thrill of winning one of the over million and a half cash prizes awarded each month. Fifteen percent of the prize money is used for high cash prizes and another fifteen percent is used for medium cash prizes. The remaining seventy percent of the money was used to award lower prizes that are as high as fifty pounds. A fifty pound prize on a one bond is almost a 500 percent return. Right now you have a 1 in 21,000 chance to win, but with the bonds becoming more popular, those odds may be greater in the future.

If you don’t have accurate details regarding Premium Bonds, then you might make a bad choice on the subject. Don’t let that happen: keep reading.

You have to buy at least one hundred pounds to invest in premium bonds and you can only have thirty thousand pounds in an account. The bonds are backed and protected by the national treasury. Anyone who invests can be assured that when they decide to pull out their funds, the money will be there. Anyone can invest as long as you are sixteen. Many parents buy premium bonds as a way to pay for their children’s college. Young investors can learn the value of savings and at the same time get the chance to win enough money to set them up for life.

Unlike lottery tickets, the same bond can win over and over. The more you invest, the more times you will have a chance to win. The winnings are tax-free and you can even reinvest the money you win until you reach the thirty thousand pound limit. It has been reported that the odds in winning has declined in the last ten years. It is a matter of statistics that the more bonds that are bought the lower the chance that your bond number will be picked.

The odds are still better than the American lottery because you don’t have to buy a different ticket each time. You can find out if your bond number is picked by looking at the National Saving and Invest website. Here they list all the winning numbers and all you have to do is call or contact them for you to claim your prize. It is recorded that the National Saving and Invest firm has over five hundred thousand unclaimed prizes that they are holding for claimers.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson (Click on the link to learn more about me)

Success Stories About Premium Bonds

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Imagine the next time you join a discussion about Premium Bonds. When you start sharing the fascinating Premium Bonds facts below, your friends will be absolutely amazed.

Premium bonds are a great way to invest for your future. Not only do you get the chance to store your money in a secure environment but you get a chance to win a million pounds. Some people doubt the system but there is a plethora of success stories that prove that premium bonds are a good investment and is a great way to have fun playing the monthly lottery. Each month bond numbers are randomly picked and if are the lucky investor, you could win a prize from fifty to a million pounds. The following are some testimonials about the success for premium bonds.

One lady had a one pound bond purchased for her by her grandparents. Even though the bond was purchased in 1965, this single bond has been picked twice for a fifty pound and a hundred pound cash prize. This has spurred the woman to invest heavily in the program and she encourages her children to invest also. These two wins have created a saving culture within the family and with other wise financial decisions; this woman will be set up in her retirement age. Her family also will be able to save for college and their retirement also.

How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything.

Another lady in Liverpool stated that she had twenty thousand premium bonds and that she was disappointed that she didn’t win anything after a few months. She had only won one fifty pound prize after the purchase. She was so up set that she wrote the National Savings and Investment agency and complained. Not only did she get a reply and an explanation but she also was notified that she had won another fifty pound prize and ironically the same bond number she won on the first prize was the same bond number that was picked for the second time.

This was picked up by a conspiracy theorist who spouted the odds that if one bond is bought for one person, that person will have a chance of winning every three thousand years or so. Also that person has a chance of winning the million dollar prize at the odds of twenty three million to one. He is skeptical about the ladies story, but refuses to pull out his premium bonds because he knows it is a safe place for saving and he still has faith that he will earn a prize, maybe the million dollar prize for his investment. He says not only he will save but will invest more until he gets to the cap of thirty thousand pounds.

Another lady supports the theory that newer bonds have a better chance to win than older bonds. She bought her son a bond in the 1961. Her son never won a prize for the bond since the purchase. The gentleman bought a new bond last year and won a fifty pound prize the first month. The theory that newer bonds win more frequently can be explained by the fact that the population and the popularity of bonds has increased since the sixties. Therefore the statistics are slanted more toward the new bonds than the ones bought decades ago.

When word gets around about your command of Premium Bonds facts, others who need to know about Premium Bonds will start to actively seek you out.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, the creator of Auto Blog Feeder, an automatic blogging solution for WordPress

The NS&I and Premium Bonds

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Current info about Premium Bonds is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest Premium Bonds info available.

Premium bonds were conceived in 1861. It was set up so that ordinary people could save and invest their money if case of accident or death. The original name of the program was called the Post Office Saving Bank. It popularity spread an soon the Chancellor was borrowing money from the funds so that he could support public projects. This gave the premium bonds a duel purpose. First the bond where considered a source of a secure investment that could not go bankrupt or could not loose value. Second the bonds were seen as a way to give the government a source of funds when taxes and other monies were not enough.

The Post Office Bank sold saving certificates that did offer a lottery system to go with them. In 1957 a lottery was issued once a month to persuade British citizens to invest more money. In 1967 the Post Office management changed hands and the Treasury Department took over. The program was renamed the National Savings and the Post Office became the major supplier of premium bonds. The National Savings part of it became a source of other investments besides premium bonds. In 1996 the post office became the store of the agency and the National Savings and Investment became more aligned with the Chancellor. All a citizen had to do was to go to the post office and make a hundred pound investment toward a bond purchase. They could invest until they reached the cap of thirty thousand pounds.

If you find yourself confused by what you’ve read to this point, don’t despair. Everything should be crystal clear by the time you finish.

Siemens Corp became apart of the operation in 1999. In an attempt to modernize the agency over 4000 agency employees were sent to Siemens schools for business to learn new investing techniques. Since then the employees have become more professional in the delivery of investment services. New call centers were added and more technology was used in the handling of investment portfolios. Siemens will end its contract with the National Savings and Investments in 2014 and the agency will be self-sufficient in its own affairs.

Through their training, the employees of the National Savings and Investment have met goals of improved customer care and the professional implication of investment opportunities. The use of the internet has made the communication between provider and customer easier to facilitate and information about the company can be found at the stroke of a keyboard. As the popularity of premium bonds grows so will the commitment of National Savings and Investment to provide their customers with professional, friendly service.

The growth of premium bonds has skyrocketed in the past decade. The negative impact of the growth is that the chances of having your bond picked by the random number generator is widening. Statistically the bigger the population of numbers the gap grows wider for the individual investor to be selected. Many people are pulling their premium bonds investment and putting them into traditional low interest savings accounts. This pull back from impatient investors may reverse the numbers so the chances of winning will grow.

That’s how things stand right now. Keep in mind that any subject can change over time, so be sure you keep up with the latest news.

About the Author
Check out Anders Eriksson’s latest articles: Travel To Exotic Places and Make Money With Adsense

Premium Bonds and Islamic Law

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

The following paragraphs summarize the work of Premium Bonds experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of Premium Bonds. Heed their advice to avoid any Premium Bonds surprises.

Premium bonds have been debated for decades over their ability to actually beat out interest bearing savings plans and conventional banking practices. Premium bonds allow the bond buyer to participate in a monthly lottery that picks out individual bond numbers. If your bond number is picked you are awarded a cash prize that can range from fifty pounds to a million pounds. Your investment is safe and the government uses the money to fund public projects. There have been conspiracy theories and other grumblings about the premium bond system and now there are religious concerns.

A recent ruling in the Islamic world has made premium bonds ownership against Islamic law. Muhammad Adam al-Kawthari has interpreted the Koran in stating that contrary to shares, premium bonds are a loan instead of a partial owning of a company as in shares. The act of making money off of your own money in the form of interest is considered usury and takes away from the pillar of faith that represents being charitable. Islamic scholars have declared all bonds that produce interest as unlawful. Even a premium bond cash prize is considered apart of interest and cannot be allowed.

Now that we’ve covered those aspects of Premium Bonds, let’s turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.

Is the Islamic religion is against premium bonds, imagine what the sales with be like if it was suddenly made lawful. The sale of bonds would go up and the odds would be skewed a little. The Moslem population in Britain might bring many millions of pounds into the government coffers. The funds generated could help Britain pay its war debt and at the same time finance British troops occupying Islamic countries. The Cleric might have made the decision to degree premium bonds unlawful for this very reason. It might be a good idea for the National Savings and Investments or the government to issue a statement that the funds will not be used for military or war funding.

The government is working on a way for the Islamic citizens to be able to participate in the premium bond programs. The Islamic financial systems work on investing on a fixed asset and even Pakistan has Islamic bonds issues to finance its roadways. If the British government figures out a way to do this then they will be able to be the first Europeans ever who are able to allow the Islamic world to participate in the premium bond market. This will boost sales and allow the British Islamic citizen to have fun and save their money in a secure way.

The National Savings and Investments are running against other investing firms that are trying to secure financial relationships with the Muslim communities. Lloyds TSB, one of the largest banks in the country, announced that they have structured Islamic accounts that will be offered to Muslim investors. The account will remain respectful to the Islamic law and at the same time give the investor a secure way to keep their money in a bank and earn money without the idea of interest. Premium bonds may not be the allowed in the Islamic world, but new plans are on the way.

Take time to consider the points presented above. What you learn may help you overcome your hesitation to take action.

About the Author
Check out Anders Eriksson’s latest creations: Online Marketing Succes and Make Money With Adsense

Why is It Smart to Invest in Premium Bonds?

Friday, December 26th, 2008

The following article lists some simple, informative tips that will help you have a better experience with Premium Bonds.

Most people invest their money in savings bond or the stock market. Premium bonds are a good way to invest your money and have fun at the same time. Most savings plans give you set interest rates overtime and unless you have a lot of money invested, it really doesn’t make that much money for you. The meager interest on a money market account or a savings account will only give you a few cents and maybe dollars a month. Some of the investment plans will not even allow you to take the money out of the bank without losing the interest.

In stock market accounts you have the chance to make big money, but most of the time you will even out as the stocks drop and rise. A premium bond does not give you an interest rate, but they give you something better. A premium bond gives you the chance to win a monthly lottery that is well over a million dollars. The prize is not just for one person. There is actually two grand prizes and over a million and a half others. If you have $10,000 pounds invested, you have a 19% chance of winning some sort of cash prize. In other words, the chance or winning is 1 in 21,000. Not only is the possibility of winning exciting, it is more fun to look for a win than watch your money sit in a bank when you know what the final out come will be. The premium bond is like money in the bank and each bond has a unique number. Each bond costs one pound, and you have to have a minimum of one hundred pounds to make an order.

It seems like new information is discovered about something every day. And the topic of Premium Bonds is no exception. Keep reading to get more fresh news about Premium Bonds.

The premium bond is so popular in the United Kingdom, that over one third of the population has saved money in this fashion. Savings accounts and government bonds are stagnant. You agree to the interest upfront and that interest will not go up or down. No matter how much money the bank or the government makes on the bond, you will only get that percentage your agreed to. Even if the bank makes a twenty percent profit on your investment, you will only get the three to five percent you agreed on. If you need the money and take it out of the investment program, you will lose the interest that was promised you. You would have had the money invested for maybe years and you get back only what you put in.

With premium bonds you can get your money back anytime you want. Since you really didn’t agree on a interest rate, you are not losing anything. The only thing you are missing out on is the chance of winning one of the prizes. Premium bond advocates are not promising you anything but a chance, a chance that has better odds and more chances to win then any lottery in existence. Even a small reward will out pay any interest on American bank accounts or government bonds.

Is there really any information about Premium Bonds that is nonessential? We all see things from different angles, so something relatively insignificant to one may be crucial to another.


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