To have a reasonable chance of winning at least one £25 prize per month with Premium Bonds, you need to hold a significant amount due to the low odds of winning per bond.
Key Points
• The current odds of any single £1 bond winning a prize are 1 in 22,000 (as of November 2024). • The effective prize fund rate (equivalent to an interest rate) is 4.65%, but not everyone will win prizes, and returns vary widely.
Rule of Thumb
With £25 being the smallest prize: • To expect (not guarantee) an average of one £25 prize per month, you would need to hold about £22,000 in Premium Bonds. • This calculation is based on dividing the odds (1 in 22,000) by the prize fund rate.
Notes
• The £25 prize is not guaranteed, even with £22,000 invested. You may win nothing some months or multiple prizes in others. • Holding the maximum of £50,000 improves your chances of earning regular prizes and slightly boosts your likelihood of larger wins. However, the distribution of prizes is still random.