Archive for the ‘Premium Bonds’ Category

PostHeaderIcon Randomness in the Premium Bonds Market

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.

Those of you not familiar with the latest on Premium Bonds now have at least a basic understanding. But there’s more to come.

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.

If you’ve picked some pointers about Premium Bonds that you can put into action, then by all means, do so. You won’t really be able to gain any benefits from your new knowledge if you don’t use it.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

PostHeaderIcon The Difference Between British and Canadian 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, the most successful savings program in British history, has given the common man a chance to win up to a million pounds in a lottery based drawing that draws the numbers from the bonds themselves. Other countries are starting premium bond programs but there are distinct differences between them. The forty plus years of the British system has made millionaires out of two people a month and has given several other millions cash prize in lieu of interest. The great thing about the British premium bond system is that you can withdraw your investment anytime without penalty or loss of money.

Based off of this model, the Canadian government now has started a similar program that has very distinct differences. The Canada Premium Bond is a safe and secure investment is a bond that has interest and even a compound interest. In comparison to the British system that offers no interest the Canadian system offers a guaranteed rate of return and offers a higher interest than the common Canadian Savings bond which is a completely different investment opportunity. They can be redeemed once a year; where as the British premium bond can be cashed in at any time.

Knowledge can give you a real advantage. To make sure you’re fully informed about Premium Bonds, keep reading.

Both premium bonds are backed by the governments so you can be assured that your money is safe. Both countries use the money to fund government projects. This money is used instead of tax money so the investments you make actually help keep tax increases from happening and saving you money in the long run. The British system relies more on giving back the money in the form of random cash prizes while the Canadian system assures their investors a solid interest rate.

Both premium bonds in both countries do not charge a fee of any kind but the Minister of Finance in Canada can stop the sale whenever his department chooses. The British National Savings and Investments have no plans to stop the sale of the bonds and actually the number of bonds being bought is growing rapidly. The only negative aspect to this is that the lottery payout system has to grow because without growth, the odds of winning a cash prize in the British system may grow wider than most of the investors would want to deal with.

A Canadian investor has the same promises as a British person trying to save money. The money is guaranteed and though the return is not guaranteed in the British premium bond plan. Both bond systems are an excellent addition to any investment portfolio but both countries need to diversify the portfolio especially if the portfolio is for a long term savings plan for the retirement. Whether you are a British or a Canadian citizen, both premium bond opportunities presents themselves as an excellent opportunity outside the mainstream savings plans that have been the backbone of most banking institutions. You may want to talk to a financial consultant to find out if either the British or the Canadian premium bonds are right for your portfolio.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

PostHeaderIcon Premium Bonds and the Odds Calculator

The best course of action to take sometimes isn’t clear until you’ve listed and considered your alternatives. The following paragraphs should help clue you in to what the experts think is significant.

A premium bond is a savings plan developed by the British government to give the common man a chance to be able to save money and at the same time is able to win money in a lottery instead of interest. The program is very popular and almost a third of have bought premium bonds to add to their savings portfolio. There are several tiers to the prizes and the odds to figure out your chances of winning a certain prize is often difficult. It would take a person several hours to figure out their odds by doing the statistics and many people do not have the math skills to perform the operations. Now there are odds calculators that figure out the odds of winning in comparison to how many premium bonds purchased.

The odds calculator will allow you to put in the number of premium bonds that you have saved and through an online connection to the National Savings and Interest agency you can find out exactly the odds that you will win a big prize, the two million pounds, or a smaller prize, fifty pounds. You can even figure out the odds for the multitude of prizes between the higher and lower amount. The odds can change as more and more people buy bonds. They can go up if a lot of people suddenly purchase bonds, and they can go down if people cash in their bonds. Whenever you are in a gambling arrangement, especially with your savings, it is nice to know what kind of odds you have for winning.

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 National Savings and Investments does offer your odds based on the average number of premium bonds that have been bought in the past. This table is a good way to figure around what you might earn off of one bond. If you have multiple bonds, again you would have to do the math to figure out the system. The more bonds you buy the more chances you will have to win and the odds will be closer in your favor. There is speculation that with the newfound interest in premium bonds, the odds will get so far out of reality that many people will opt for a traditional savings plan that will bear them interest. The ebb and flow of bond owners will dictate to changing of the odds and with the calculator you can see what month you will be more likely to win.

Remember that you can pull out of the premium bond program at any time. You will have the same amount of cash that you started with. Life changes and the way you invest also changes. You may decide to opt out of the program if you have a family emergency or have a dire need for cash. The government secures your money so you do not have to worry about it being there when you are ready to cash in. Three may even be a better investment down the road and your nest egg in premium bonds will give you the opportunity to reinvest.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

PostHeaderIcon Premium Bond and ERNIE

Premium bonds are bonds that do not pay interest. They do something much better. You purchase premium bonds and let it sit just like in a savings account. Each month there is a lottery and if your bond number is picked, then you have a chance to win over a million dollars. Over one and a half million cash prizes are given away each month and if your bond number is picked, you win from fifty British pounds to well over a million pounds. The great thing is if you do not want to participate in the program anymore you can take back your money like it was never invested at all. This program is so popular that over a third of the population of Great Britain participates in it.

Unlike the American lottery system where numbers are picked randomly from ping pong balls, Great Britain uses ERNIE to generate numbers from premium bonds. ERNIE is a random number generator hardware system and has been around since 1957. ERNIE first generated the bond numbers by picking up on signal noise from a bank of neon tubes. It was the size of a mini van and could only generate about 2000 numbers an hour. The first number generator lasted almost seventeen years and was replaced by an updated version in 1972.

The information about Premium Bonds presented here will do one of two things: either it will reinforce what you know about Premium Bonds or it will teach you something new. Both are good outcomes.

The computer age came to age in the eighties and in 1988 ERNIE 3 was invented. The generator was about the size of a personal computer but ran at no where near the speed personal computers run today. It took ERNIE 3 almost six hours to generate the numbers for the monthly lottery. ERNIE 4 is being used today and it came of age in 2004. Working at speeds five hundred times as fast as the original model, ERNIE 4 uses thermal noise instead of the noise from neon lights. It can compute over a million numbers and hour

Once the numbers are generated, a staff of hundreds validates the generated numbers with real bond numbers that the numbers match. Once matched, prizes are allotted to the public. The machine is checked over monthly to ensure proper validation and to keep the system honest. With over a million and a half winners monthly, the machine keeps every thing running smoothly. The investments pay off as winners are awarded their prizes depending on the order that their premium bond number was generated.

ERNIE is so popular in Great Britain that the machine actually receives cards on holidays such as Christmas. Jethro Tull, a poetic singer and song writer even wrote mentions ERNIE in his song, “Thick as a Brick.” The magic of ERNIE and the thrill of lottery and a chance to win a million has the majority of the population of Britain investing more and more. The idea that your money can earn more than a mere one or two percent that savings accounts earn has the British public flocking to the bank to let ERNIE make them a million.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

PostHeaderIcon Can NonBritish Investors Purchase Premium Bonds?

Premium bonds are is the most unique way of saving money in Great Britain. In increments from a hundred pounds to up to thirty thousand pounds, the government will secure your money. The government will use your money for civil projects and in return, the bond numbers on your bonds will be put into a monthly lottery where you have a chance to become a millionaire. The bonds are able to be cashed in at anytime, but if you didn’t win any of the lottery prizes, you will just get the cash back that you put in. This is a great way to save money and at the same time have a little fun gambling with fate.

Who can purchase these bonds? Any British citizen sixteen years old and older can purchase premium bonds. A young person can start a nest egg for college or for later life and an adult can save me for a rainy day or for their retirement. Not only is the money in a safe and secure place, they have a chance to earn any where from fifty to a million pounds if their bond number is picked. At least two bond holders a month become millionaires.

Hopefully the information presented so far has been applicable. You might also want to consider the following:

Non-British people may buy premium bonds only in Britain. Postal law does not allow bonds or prize money to be mailed. You have to go to Great Britain in person and purchase the bonds from a post office or the National Security and Investments agency. If you win a cash prize, you need to schedule another trip to the island to pick up your money. The prize money is tax free in Great Britain, but you may have to check your nation’s laws about how much money you bring back to your homeland without paying taxes or tariffs.

Premium bonds can be redeemed at cash value without loss. So if you are a foreign investor and need your money, you would have to make a trip back to Britain to get your funds. There are certain restrictions and fees for carrying a large amount of money so you might make arrangements with a British bank to transfer the funds for you. There is also the concern of currency devaluation. The pound might fluctuate and you would have to suffer the loss during the exchange of currencies. A severe depression on either shore could cause a substantial loss. You would have to watch the money market closely to insure your money was safe for withdrawal

To insure your money you could make a formal arrangement with a British national to purchase the bonds for you. The bonds would be in that persons name and a legally binding agreement would have to be made with that person so that you could cash in your bonds or claim a prize. A certain percentage of the prize money would have to be given to that person for letting use your money and their name. A British barrister and an attorney from your country would be advised.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

PostHeaderIcon The Premium Bonds Program Hits A Milestone in Financial History.

The following article presents the very latest information on Premium Bonds. If you have a particular interest in Premium Bonds, then this informative article is required reading.

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.

Knowledge can give you a real advantage. To make sure you’re fully informed about Premium Bonds, keep reading.

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, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

PostHeaderIcon Premium Bonds Have Come Under Fire From Various Groups

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.

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.

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 new GVO affiliate site: GVO

PostHeaderIcon The NS&I and Premium Bonds

If you have even a passing interest in the topic of Premium Bonds, then you should take a look at the following information. This enlightening article presents some of the latest news on the subject of Premium Bonds.

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.

Knowledge can give you a real advantage. To make sure you’re fully informed about Premium Bonds, keep reading.

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.

Now you can understand why there’s a growing interest in Premium Bonds. When people start looking for more information about Premium Bonds, you’ll be in a position to meet their needs.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

PostHeaderIcon Are Premium Bonds Worth It?

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

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, who just launched this great product..
- Do you want to make Your PDF files viral? Use This Secret Viral PDF Rebrander: Viral PDF

PostHeaderIcon Premium Bonds Or Savings Accounts The Choice is Yours

The best course of action to take sometimes isn’t clear until you’ve listed and considered your alternatives. The following paragraphs should help clue you in to what the experts think is significant.

There is controversy about premium bonds and if they are really worth the investments. If you calculate the odds of winning per bond and the interest rates for regular savings accounts, the argument could go both ways. On the positive side a premium bond gives the saver a chance to win over a million pounds if they are the two lucky numbers picked during the monthly lottery. The flip side of the coin is that there are thirty six billion losers each month. There money stays the same, it does not loose its value, but there is no interest to generate profit. So the government, in all actuality, is using thirty six billion pounds worth of British money for free.

People who are skeptical about premium bonds contend that the reason the odds are so against the majority of the investors is that the distribution is skew by the way it awards the prizes. This would allow for the majority of the investors to have little to no chance of winning a cash prize. Their earning potential of their money would actually decline because they would not be earning the interest rate in a regular savings account or the rise of the earnings if the money was invested in stocks.

If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole Premium Bonds story from informed sources.

If you get past the hope of winning a million pounds then you can look at premium bonds for what they are. A fun way to save money and at the same time you can have the excitement of winning the lottery. To look at winning backwards suppose that one million people put in one pound apiece for the lottery. One person would win the million pounds, but there would nine hundred and ninety nine thousand and nine hundred and ninety nine people who would be losers. Those people would have at least made a small percentage on their savings. It’s a choice between a chance for something big or a small interest to give you the satisfaction of profit.

Another way of looking at it is to look at the interest rate of a premium bound. The interest rat of four percent is the estimated payout for your one pound bond. The government uses the interest to create the prize bank and to allocate the prizes. So you would expect to win four pounds on a hundred pound investment. This is impossible because the smallest prize is fifty pounds. It would take around seven investors to loose their interest for that month if you won those fifty pounds. Even more people would lose their money to finance the two million pound give away to two winners.

There is simply a choice in the way you should invest your money and that choice is yours. Lotteries always provide hope for a better life even though you know in your heart that winning is a very long shot. Savings accounts provide security both financially and emotionally because you know that you will get a return on your money. It is just a manner of tastes and were you feel more comfortable.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, who just launched this great product..
- Do you want to make Your PDF files viral? Use This Secret Viral PDF Rebrander: Viral PDF