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The 500th holder of Premium Bonds to win the £1 million jackpot has been announced, and they’ve done so with one of the smallest stakes ever.
The prize went to a winner in Sheffield who had £3,000 worth of Premium Bonds after purchasing the winning bond in February 2008.
It is the lowest worth £1 million since a winner in Devon hit the jackpot with £1,001 in August 2021.
Five hundred Premium Bond holders have now become millionaires since the £1 million jackpot prize was first introduced in 1994, thanks to the historic February draw
Overall, this month’s winner hit the jackpot with the 34th lowest position ever, out of all 500 Premium Bonds millionaires since the price was introduced in 1994.
The person with the lowest ever holdings to win did so in July 2004 with just £17 worth of Premium Bonds to his name.
>> View the full list of Premium Bond winners
Premium Bonds’ price fund rate in February was 3.15 percent – the highest level in 14 years, after NS&I raised the rate twice in quick succession.
This month’s draw will see nearly five million prizes worth nearly £314 million, meaning an additional £15 million will be paid out in tax-free prizes compared to last month.
The 499th jackpot winner also announced this month went to a person in Sefton, Merseyside, with a holding of £30,000. They purchased their winning bond in May 2006.
Jill Waters, NS&I’s director of retail, said: ‘February 2023 is a month to remember for Premium Bonds.
“Not only has the prize money reached its highest level in 14 years, but thanks to today’s historic draw, we have now created a whopping 500 Premium Bonds millionaires since 1994.
What a story for that 500th £1 million winner – this Sheffield client has £3,000 worth of Premium Bonds, which is one of the lowest values ever to win the coveted jackpot prize since launch.
“Their investment 15 years ago has paid off, along with our Sefton winner buying their winning bond nearly 17 years ago.”
| Number | Month of draw | Value of holding | Region | Date of purchase | Days between purchase and profit (when using 1st month) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | july-04 | £17 | London | February-59 | 16587 | |||
| 2 | January 15 | £400 | Yorkshire and Humberside | Aug-08 | 2344 | |||
| 3 | Oct-08 | £400 | Scotland | Oct-06 | 731 | |||
| 4 | March-95 | £476 | East | Nov-93 | 485 | |||
| 5 | January 10 | £500 | London | Dec-87 | 8067 | |||
| 6 | Oct-95 | £500 | South West | Dec-94 | 304 | |||
| 7 | 13th of April | £575 | London | Aug-89 | 8644 | |||
| 8 | Jan-98 | £710 | West Midlands | Dec-81 | 5875 | |||
| 9 | Aug-97 | £800 | North West | June-87 | 3714 | |||
| 10 | July-94 | £904 | Northeast | Oct-78 | 5752 | |||
| 11 | April 14 | £1,000 | Northeast | November 11 | 882 | |||
| 12 | July-95 | £1,000 | South West | Nov-92 | 972 | |||
| 13 | Aug 21 | £1,001 | South West | July 20 | 396 | |||
| 14 | Dec-06 | £1,010 | Yorkshire and Humberside | February-03 | 1399 | |||
| 15 | Dec-95 | £1,026 | South West | Oct-95 | 61 | |||
| 16 | November 10 | £1,050 | Yorkshire and Humberside | july-06 | 1584 | |||
| 17 | March-01 | £1,300 | Southeast | Oct-00 | 151 | |||
| 18 | Nov-97 | £1,379 | West Midlands | Aug-87 | 3745 | |||
| 19 | Nov-94 | £1,380 | West Midlands | Aug-87 | 2649 | |||
| 20 | February-98 | £1,550 | London | July-83 | 5329 |
Are premium bonds better than standard savings?
Premium Bonds are one of the most popular savings products in the country and could prove to be an ideal home for someone to kickstart a saving habit, with only a minimum investment of £25 required to get started.
It can also be a good home for one’s savings for rainy days. It takes two business days to withdraw money from Premium Bonds, which means it can be considered an easily accessible account – although it works a little slower than a standard instant savings deal.
The odds of each £1 Bond winning a prize remain fixed at 24,000 to 1, the recent changes mean that the number of prizes worth from £50 to £100,000 has now increased.
The price fund percentage of 3.15 percent Premium Bonds compares favorably with other easily accessible deals in the market. At the moment, only one easily accessible deal offers a higher rate.
– Check out the best easily accessible savings rates here.
However, the 3.15 percent price rate is an average rate of return, and savers can do better or worse than this.
Last week, This is Money editor Simon Lambert asked if Premium Bonds were the best place to go for easy-to-access savings.
He said: “Premium Bond yields outperform the best no-obligation, easily accessible savings deal and come within a whisker of the top.
“Do you get the average return? Of course, that depends on luck, and in a lucky year you might do much better than the said 3.15 percent, while in an unlucky year you could do much worse.
There is one other point to note, however, and that requires a summary of school math: the Premium Bond prize fund percentage is an average average and reflects the total amount paid out in prizes to everyone compared to the amount paid out for all bonds. is arrested.
The problem with this, as with any average mean, is that it can be biased by the large and small numbers at either end or by odd numbers.
‘A fairer way of stating the returns would be to give the median, the middle of all holders, and the existence of a pair of £1 million jackpots plus 59 x £100,000 prizes and 117 x £50,000 prizes, means that the median must be less than the mean.
“The odds of an individual £1 bond winning a prize are 1 in 24,000 and the more Premium Bonds you own, the more likely you are to do well.”
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