Owners of Premium Bonds may have to wait years before earning a payout, meaning the money may lose out on years of savings.
In 2025, the first winners of Premium Bonds waited 3.1 years before winning a prize, a freedom of information request submitted to NS&I by Quilter revealed.
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Are Premium Bonds worth it?
Since savers wait more than three years on average before they get any money back, you may wonder if Premium Bonds are worth it.
The answer to this question is uncertain. For some people Premium Bonds are a good option, while others may be better served by a traditional savings account.
Premium Bonds have three important features. First, any money you win from Premium Bonds earnings is completely tax-free, meaning what you win is what you get.
For this reason it may make sense to invest in Premium Bonds once you have used up your annual ISA, such as a cash ISA, as investing in a taxable savings account means you are at risk of paying tax on the gains.
This is particularly important if you are a high earner who wants to put more than £20,000 (the current annual ISA amount) into savings each year.
Second, keeping your money in NS&I is risk-free.
When you save money with traditional banks, you risk losing money if the bank goes under, if the money is not protected by the FSCS. However, since NS&I is an arm of the government, any money you have is guaranteed to be safe as there is very little risk of a total bankruptcy of the government.
That means every investment you hold in Premium Bonds is 100% safe.
Finally, Premium Bonds can be just as fun. There’s a certain attraction to the process, and depositors check to see if they’ve won a prize each month – including two $1 million jackpot payouts.
However, there are many drawbacks to investing in Premium Bonds alone.
As shown above, there is less chance of winning in the monthly bonus game if you don’t have a lot of money in Premium Bonds.
NS&I says someone with “average fortune” should see their income grow by just 3.3% each year. Not only is it cheaper than some of the top savings accounts on the market, it also has no win-win guarantee.
Ultimately, whether or not Premium Bonds are worth it depends on your financial situation.
If you have a lot of money you want to save with money left over after you’ve used up your £20,000 annual ISA, Premium Bonds can be a great place to grow your income tax-free.
But if you only have £25 to put into savings each month, you may find you can grow your money quickly and reliably using a traditional savings account or ISA.
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