With £50,000 in Premium Bonds, your odds are the same as anyone else for each individual bond (currently around 1 in 22,000 per £1 bond), but having the maximum amount gives you 50,000 entries, significantly increasing your chances of winning something, with an average return expected around £1,800-£2,000 annually at current rates, though actual wins vary wildly from nothing to much more due to luck, say MoneySavingExpert and thisismoney.co.uk.
However, remember that the maximum amount you can invest is £50,000, and, much like gambling, there's a chance you won't win anything at all. This means Premium Bonds are no good if you want a regular income. Moreover, inflation will eat into your savings over time if you don't win regularly.
The number of savers with £50,000 in Premium Bonds has more than doubled in the past six years. A record 1.4 million people have the maximum allowance sitting in their National Savings and Investments (NS&I) account – up from 600,000 in 2019.
According to NS&I, the odds of winning a prize with any single bond are one in 21,000. But for savers hoping for significant payouts, the numbers tell a more sobering story. For instance, if you invest £1,000 in Premium Bonds, you'd have to wait around 3,500 years for a 50-50 chance of winning £1,000.
Every £1 Bond entered into the prize draw has the same odds of winning, but the more Bonds you buy, the more chances you'll have to win. The prize fund rate, prize values, odds of winning and the way we allocate the number of prizes of each value are all variable, so they can change at any time.
Premium Bonds vs savings on £50k
The average interest rate in the year works out (roughly) as 4.65%, and with £50,000 saved you'd earn an average of £2,325 in guaranteed interest. That's better when compared to the average prize rate of 3.77% and winnings of £1,635. Of course, everyone will get a different win rate.
Get talking to people about Premium Bonds and you might find that some people say that newer Bonds are 'luckier' than older ones. In fact, such is the belief that older Bonds are less likely to win, NS&I had to issue a response, explaining why newer Bonds are getting a larger majority of the prizes.
Disadvantages of Premium Bonds
No Guaranteed Returns: Unlike traditional savings accounts, there's no certainty of earning anything. Low Odds of Winning: The current odds of winning a prize are 24,000 to 1 for each £1 bond.
You can choose to have your prizes paid directly to your bank account (or NS&I Direct Saver) or reinvested into more Bonds, giving you even more chances to win. Choose either of these options and we'll let you know by text or email if you win.
The maximum amount of Premium Bonds you can hold is £50,000. You can purchase bonds in increments of £25, which is the minimum you can deposit. Once you reach the maximum limit, you will no longer be able to buy more. However, the bonds you already own will remain in the prize draw each month.
Put aside just $13.70 per day, and at the end of the year you'll have $5,000; double that to $27.39 daily and you'll have $10,000 by year-end—and that doesn't include the interest you may earn. You can save money by making a budget, automating savings, reducing discretionary spending and seeking discounts.
In order to be entered into the prize draw, you need to have held your Premium Bonds for a full calendar month. In effect, the best time to buy Premium Bonds is the last week of a calendar month. So if you buy bonds the last week of January, they will be entered into the prize draw in March.
Premium Bonds cannot be set up in joint names. You can set up Premium Bonds online, over the phone, or via a postal form. You can save monthly or pay in a lump sum, providing you don't exceed the maximum investment amount.
5 ways to invest $50,000 right now
Government bonds tend to be effective SHs during downturns triggered by macroeconomic or financial market events, as these downturns are typically associated with lower inflation and interest rates. Conversely, geopolitical conflicts often diminish the SH properties of government bonds.
Your chance of winning the jackpot per ticket on the National Lottery is one in 45 million in a week, far outstripping the one in more than 66 BILLION chance of becoming a millionaire through one single Premium Bond in a month. Of course though, the more bonds you have, the more chance you have of winning.
Only the Personal Representative (Executor or Administrator) named in the estate can claim the bonds and any prize money. Beneficiaries or nominated individuals cannot independently cash in the bonds.
The odds of any premium bonds winning a prize in a monthly prize draw are one in 22,000, according to NS&I.
Buffett argues that stocks will continue to provide higher returns over the long run than bonds or cash. Invest the remaining 10% in short-term government bonds such as U.S. Treasury bills. This ensures liquidity (your ability to buy or sell with relative ease) while reducing your overall risk in market downturns.
Furthermore, there are 14.4 million Premium Bond holders who have never won a prize. For those who strike lucky and win a prize, the chances are it'll be for a fairly low amount. According to NS&I, in August 2025, holders won more than 6 million prizes, but almost 99% of them were worth £100 or less.
There's a very small chance you could earn a very high tax-free return. You won't earn regular income on your bonds. Most people who buy Premium Bonds will earn only a small amount as a percentage of the money they contribute. Unless you win one of the bigger prizes, your return is unlikely to beat inflation.
Belong Limited 7.5% Social Bonds due 2030. The Belong Limited 7.5% Social Bonds due 2030 will pay a fixed rate of interest of 7.5% per annum, payable twice yearly on 7 January and 7 July of each year. The Bonds are expected to mature on 7 July 2030 with a final legal maturity on 7 July 2032.
Although the number of higher value prizes has also seen a jump, the vast majority of Premium Bond prizes were worth £100 or less in 2024, meaning the chance of winning the top prizes is still very small. There is a whopping £127.7 billion sat in Premium Bonds, with the average overall holding coming in at £5,406.