Archive for the ‘Premium Bonds’ Category
Premium Bonds and Islamic Law
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.
The best time to learn about Premium Bonds is before you’re in the thick of things. Wise readers will keep reading to earn some valuable Premium Bonds experience while it’s still free.
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.
Don’t limit yourself by refusing to learn the details about Premium Bonds. The more you know, the easier it will be to focus on what’s important.
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By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO
How to Claim Your Premium Bonds Winning
In today’s world, it seems that almost any topic is open for debate. While I was gathering facts for this article, I was quite surprised to find some of the issues I thought were settled are actually still being openly discussed.
Premium bonds are a great way to save money and at the same time have a chance to winning up to a million pounds. Each one pond bond has a unique number on it that is put into an automatic number generator machine that produces numbers for a monthly lottery. If your number is picked you and a million and a half other investors have a chance to win a cash prize from fifty to a million pounds. If you have premium bonds you have twelve chances a year to receive a significant amount of money in lieu of the percentages from a regular savings account.
Some people have won a cash prize for the premium bonds and don’t even know that they have won. They could have moved and their new address wasn’t registered with the National Savings and Investments agency. A notice of their win would have gone out and the recipient would have never known. The National Savings and Investments agency will keep the money until someone claims it. You just have to step up to the plate and claim it. But like many investors, you don’t know how. There may be money out there you just have to ask.
So far, we’ve uncovered some interesting facts about Premium Bonds. You may decide that the following information is even more interesting.
There are online services that will search the National Savings and Investments unclaimed prize list and let you know that if you have a payment or prize pending. The great thing about this service is that it is free. You just give them the bond numbers and they will tell you if you have won. They cannot do anything with the bond numbers themselves. The bond itself is the proof that you won when you present it for the prize. The bond number itself is useless to anyone trying to scam the system.
The investor must remember that the bondholder number is a unique code given to each holder. The bondholder number will allow the finding service to search all premium bond numbers you have in your account. If you don’t know your number, it is the number tat was given to you when you bought your first premium bonds. The numbers are arranged in eight digits and a letter at the end. The premium bond numbers will have letters throughout the number sequences and will be distinct from any other sequence. This way you can discern between your bond holder number and your actual bond identification number.
With most online bondholder checking services, the list of prizes is updated on a regular basis. Again, just your book holder number is needed and not the individual numbers from your individual premium bonds. The service will match the numbers and give you the results, either positive or negative, by email. You don’t have to worry about moving and having the notice sent to the wrong address. You can even be out of the country and be able to be notified. Both recent and past numbers will be matched and you will have an answer within a few days.
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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO
Why is It Smart to Invest in 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.
Most of this information comes straight from the Premium Bonds pros. Careful reading to the end virtually guarantees that you’ll know what they know.
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.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO
Facts about Premium Bonds
Are you looking for some inside information on Premium Bonds? Here’s an up-to-date report from Premium Bonds experts who should know.
Premium bonds are the British answer to the need for savings and the fun of gambling. Each bond you buy will have a specific number. The number of the bond is put into a numbers generating machine and monthly thousands of numbers are chosen randomly to receive a cash prize in lieu of interest. The investment is completely safe and you can cash in your bonds at value when ever you wish. There is a thirty thousand pound cap on the investments so large corporations cannot buy millions of bonds to skew the chance for the common man to win.
There are ways to improve your odds. For example the more bonds that you buy and hold the more chance you will have in winning a cash prize that can equal as much as one million pounds. Statistically you have about 23,000 to one shot with a one pound premium bond. By buying more bonds, your odds of winning increase significantly. The system is designed to choose number randomly so the more numbers you have in the system the more money you will make as a cash prize. You can even sign up for a monthly fifty pound savings program where you can have the money automatically drawn from your regular checking account.
See how much you can learn about Premium Bonds when you take a little time to read a well-researched article? Don’t miss out on the rest of this great information.
A thirty thousand pound investment would give you a little of four hundred thousand chance to one for winning the big million pound prize. So the more you save the more chances you have of winning enough money to set you up for life. You can even buy the premium bonds online or over the phone. You can even purchase the bonds at your local post office. It’s that easy. Purchase, save, and win. Of course not all bonds are going to win you money, but you will have a nice nest egg to help you in your advanced years or if you run into financial troubles.
You can buy the bonds for a child or if you are sixteen you can buy them yourself. It is a great way to save money for college or to put away some extra cash for when you meet that special someone and want to start a family. If you win a high end prize you can even pay for your college with the winnings. The big prize of a million pounds would be enough to set you up for life. So don’t let your young age keep you from purchasing and holding premium bonds. Even if you are a senior citizen, it is never too late to put away some money for a cloudy day.
If you win a cash prize, it is free of taxes. So when you win those million pounds, you get to keep the whole million. You can reinvest and at the same time live the quality of life you always dreamed of. Even if you one the minimal prize of fifty pounds, you would have made more money on your investment than you would have if you put it in a savings account at the bank.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO
If American Adopted the Premium Bonds Program
The British have found a unique way to invest their money. By buying premium bonds the citizens of Britain can enter their bond numbers into a lottery each month and have a chance to win over a million pounds. There are millions of other cash prizes that awarded to the bond numbers drawn and this cash prize is seen to be better than interest generated from traditional savings program. The system is so popular more than a third of the country invests this way. The investor can pull out their money at any time and there is not penalty or cost to do so. The money invested is used by the government to fund projects and at the same time give their citizens a chance to be millionaires.
What would happen if this system was used in the United States? Premium bonds would be a welcome financial opportunity for American citizens. The current lottery system is taking in millions of dollars across the country but there are few winners. Once you buy a lottery ticket you don’t get your money back and you lose that dollar. This is gambling and not investing. The odds of winning an American lottery are astronomical. One person in Florida in 1999 bought ten thousand lottery tickets. After the numbers were pulled, the person only won eight hundred and sixty three dollars. The investor lost over nine thousand dollars in taking a huge chance of winning the twenty three million dollar prize.
You may not consider everything you just read to be crucial information about Premium Bonds. But don’t be surprised if you find yourself recalling and using this very information in the next few days.
This would not happen with premium bonds. Thought the prize money is not as huge as the American lottery, the British investor would have twelve chances to win a million pounds over the course of a year. The chances of winning less amounts are even greater. The British citizen is allowed to invest up to thirty thousand pounds into the system and if they don’t win they can take their money out anytime they want. They lose nothing for their investment. This way the premium bond market is not considered gambling and the investor can be assured that their nest egg will remain in place.
The problem with premium bonds coming to America is that the government will have to restructure their thinking of how to save and distribute the funds. They are making millions now without having to do anything but have the weekly lottery and pay off the winners. They pocket out the cash without having the responsibility of letting people have the opportunity to save. Church groups and other anti-gambling groups will win a victory as they will look at the investment opportunity as a savings plan and not a gambling operation.
Unlike the British system where the investors purchase their bonds from the post office the postal service in the United States would probably be overwhelmed if they had to take responsibility for the program. The United States would probably benefit by selling premium bonds online and have an agency that deposits and awards the prizes. This would take a lot of planning but the American population would definitely embrace it.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO
Premium Bonds and the Difference Between NSI and Banks
When looking for investments such as premium bonds, you might be confused by the difference between a bank and the National Savings and Investments. Banks are usually private institutions. When you save you receive an interest on your money. The interest is determined and set by the bank which generates profit off of your money. The profit is then shared by the owners or if it is a credit union, the members share in the profit. The Savings and Investments is an agency of the British government. When you invest your money goes to pay for governmental expenditures and the government guarantees the safety of your money. You can’t find that kind of guarantee at a bank.
The National Savings and Investments offer several different investment packages including the sale of premium bonds. You can either save your money in an easy access account where you can claim your cash at any time or you can go for a longer package where your money is invested for several years. These packages can be and most are tax free. A lot of people do not trust short term investments so they opt for a fixed rate savings bond. Here the bank will give you a certain interest, usually higher than a savings account, if you promise to keep your money with them for a certain length of time. You usually have a penalty fee if you take it out before it is matured.
Hopefully the information presented so far has been applicable. You might also want to consider the following:
If you want to save money and maybe even get a 500 percent interest or more you may choose the premium bonds program. Premium bonds can be bought at your local post office at that bond will be exactly worth what you paid for it when you cash it out. The good thing is that your bond number will be included in a monthly lottery where you could win as little as a million pounds and as much as a million pounds. Almost one and a half million winners will be picked out and paid each month. At 21,000 to 1 odds, you are better off saving with premium bonds then with the conventional savings account.
If you are buying for a child you can buy premium bonds for children under sixteen. If you have a thrifty teenager, then at the age of sixteen they can buy them themselves. Some people opt out of premium bonds and go for more secure, lower interest bonds that will make some money to help the child through school or to help them financially in the future.
So whether you choose a bank or National Savings and Investments, be sure to ask a financial advisor what saving program bests suits you. The investment strategy that you choose can determine happiness and prosperity in your later years or the type of education your child will be able to afford. Interest rates are variable and if there is a national financial crisis, you, your money and your future could be hung out to dry.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO
Premium Bonds and the Northern Ireland Widow
Are you looking for some inside information on Premium Bonds? Here’s an up-to-date report from Premium Bonds experts who should know.
Premium bonds have been a great way to save money in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland. There is speculation amongst the Irish citizens that most of the prize money is allocated to the British Isle and they are shortchanged on the winning. The cash prizes given out to premium bond holders are based on the bond number. The more bonds you buy the more chances you have to win a cash prize. The population of Britain far exceeds the population of Northern Island so statistically the winnings would be less frequent. The salary range for the average citizen in Northern Ireland is less so there are not as many individuals able to invest the cap of thirty thousand bonds. It is just simple math not a conspiracy.
Over a million prizes are given out each month that range from fifty pounds to two one million pound prizes. The ERNIE random number generator puts out the winning numbers each month and the winners are notified about their winnings. This does not stop conspiracy theories though, either in Northern Ireland or in Great Britain. A lady in Northern Ireland reported that she had inherited premium bonds from her dead husband and the National Savings and Investments refused to acknowledge her rewards. She even claimed that it was because she was Irish.
The best time to learn about Premium Bonds is before you’re in the thick of things. Wise readers will keep reading to earn some valuable Premium Bonds experience while it’s still free.
A local radio station took up the woman’s problems and called the National Savings and Investment. They found out that only the original owner can claim the prizes and that nobody can inherit the premium bonds. This means if your spouse dies and has the maximum thirty thousand pound investment, the surviving spouse will not see a penny of it. There was no conspiracy against the Irish widow, but there was a loophole in the premium bond contract that let the money be kept by the government. The bonds cannot be transferred to another name after a death, but they can be cashed in for new bonds. There is more than three hundred thousand pounds unclaimed in Northern Ireland alone. So instead of looking at the conspiracies of the National Savings and Investments, they should be looking to see if they have a winning bond.
The Nations Savings and Investments agency has a free tracing service that can track down your numbers for you and see if you have a cash prize waiting for you. Even if the bond is forty years old the agency can track it down for you. If you have a claim you can fill out the payment order and about seven days you will receive your cash prize.
So next time you feel that the National Savings and Investments are trying to swindle you out of your money or that there is a huge conspiracy against you, contact the agency and ask. They are always willing to help you with your particular problem and will gladly provide the tracing service for you. You can contact the National Savings and Investments online or call their toll free number. You can find contractual information about premium bonds at your post office or you can get the contract information directly from the National Savings and Investments online.
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
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO
Success Stories About Premium Bonds
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.
If your Premium Bonds facts are out-of-date, how will that affect your actions and decisions? Make certain you don’t let important Premium Bonds information slip by you.
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.
Don’t limit yourself by refusing to learn the details about Premium Bonds. The more you know, the easier it will be to focus on what’s important.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO
Fun Facts and Myths about Premium Bonds
There are many web pages dedicated to successes of the premium bond program in Great Britain but there are also some false facts that are circulating around the net that gives premium bonds a bad name and puts out false information that would keep some otherwise wise investors from even purchasing their first bond. This report presents some of this false information so that the discerning investor can make clear and logical choices when investing their money in the premium bond system. Remember these are myths and false facts that have been discounted by the government agencies that were selected to monitor the actions of the National Savings and Investment agency.
One myth is that the million pound winner is always notified in person on the last day of the month after the drawing. The winner has to be at home or the prize will be given to another premium bond member or will not be given away at all. The myth also supports another. Since you have to be home to win the prize, the myth says the statistics support the idea that most people that win the million pounds are in their nineties and that they are home all the time anyway. Most people in their nineties live in a retirement community or nursing home and they would not have an address that would support the myth.
Hopefully the information presented so far has been applicable. You might also want to consider the following:
There is a ridiculous rumor that nobody has ever met a million pound winner. This myth contends that it is a government hoax and the sole purpose of this hoax is to trick people into giving their money to the government in lieu of taxes. This is completely false. Not only is there a website that lists all the million pound winners, it even lists the towns they live in and what date they won. Of course the National Savings and Interest agency is going to keep them secret because the publicity generated would destroy their privacy and make the million pounds more of a burden than a pleasure.
There is even a rumor about premium bonds and the famous British comedian Bennie Hill. Though Bennie Hill died at the age of 92, the myth says he had just won a million pound prize and he was killed by his jealous grandmother because of the money. Bennie Hill was already a wealthy man and the age of the jealous grandmother would make her about hundred and twenty years old. This does not only make sense chronologically but the woman at that age would have a hard time killing anyone.
There has even been a website posted with these myths and the challenge for anyone that has won a million pounds to come forward and dispute the myths. To this day, no one has posted on the site. This is logical because by posting they would be giving up their privacy as well as the possibility of setting themselves up for a scam. The National Savings and Investment is a sound agency that guarantees your money. These myths are just created to destroy their integrity.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO
Premium Bonds Is Not Considered Gambling by Most
Premium bonds have come under fire from various groups. This government plan to give a saving opportunity to the common man allows people to buy premium bonds for a chance to win a fifty to a million pound cash prize. Unlike American lotteries, the money that you invest to buy the bonds can be used again and again during the monthly drawings. The bonds you invest in, the more you have a chance to win. The can buy up to thirty thousand premium bonds in your lifetime and the cash winnings can add up nicely if you are consistent.
Some religious groups find this is a way to gamble. Most protestant worshippers think that lottery or any other money for chance activities is prohibited by the Bible. What they do not know that you can’t lose money in the premium bond market, you only invest. If you win a cash prize fine, otherwise you can take your money and cash in the bonds with no penalty. The cash prize just adds the element of gambling to savings with the chance that you will forfeit your original investment. The random picking of the bond numbers is just making the activity fairer to all investors.
How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything.
In the Bible there is no direct instruction not to gamble. In the Ten Commandments, thou shall not covet, is mentioned, but this could be interpreted as coveting another man’s wife or property. The idea that money is coveted could be listed with the seven deadly sins of greed, but is the hope for a brighter future a sin. Premium bonds offer the saver a safe place for their money and a hope for money. There is nothing malicious about it. Even some of the money used by the government who sponsors the premium bonds goes to charitable organizations.
Even if it is not religiously oriented, there is a strong moral objection to gambling. There are some people that go over board when they are at a casino or playing the lottery, but premium bonds do not let you do that. You are not going to lose money. The money you put in will be able to be collected back anytime you want. The winnings are an interest given out randomly with no chance of your losing the investment. It is not gambling. It is a different way to accrue your interest in a exciting way. Why get the meager interest rates offered by the traditional financial savings plan? You have the chance of making thousand percents on your original money.
If you are now swayed from your belief that premium bonds are a system of gambling, you can purchase the bonds at your local post office and start a savings account that could make you a rich person. Even if you don’t become another Bill Gates you might get a couple of cash prizes that will be more than the three to four percent interest you receive in the traditional savings programs.
About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO