65+ Bonds

Yes, mollie, I notice that every time they put the maximum amount up on the premium bonds. I know it's not over 65s, but there must be a lot of people who have £10,000 spare just lying around. And it's those with the maximum who win the most big prizes, no matter how many of us there are with a little bit in.
Would be nice to have £40,000 to put in.

Anyone like to put £10,000 in a 65+ bond and £10,000 in a premium bond to compare directly?

I would take issue over the second consequence in the previous post
the burden is I assume the tax taken from younger generations (but over 65s also pay tax (of all colours) from their income
there has already been a transfer of wealth from the elderly to the young with the continuous low savings interest rates over the last 6 years
have to agree with the third consequence though as it is interesting the number of bonds taken out and the amount invested suggests that out of millions of over 65s a MINORITY have invested to the max.

This is what Richard Murphy of taxresearch thinks of them.

"Who would have thought it? George Osborne is the new, and apparently the biggest, fan of government debt. As the Guardian report this morning:

More than £1bn of the government’s new market-leading pensioner bonds have been sold to more than 110,000 over-65s, according to George Osborne.

The chancellor said the sale had been “hugely successful” with £1,153m worth sold in the first two days.

A pot of up to £10bn has been put aside for the 65-plus bonds.

Osborne tweeted: “Latest figures this morning show that we’ve had biggest opening sales of a retail bond sale in modern British history.

“Our long-term economic plan involves supporting savers. Can report that our 65+ Pensioner Bond proving hugely successful.

The hypocrisy inherent in this is quite staggering.

First, Osborne has suddenly realised that there’s no problem funding the deficit with debt because that’s precisely the savings product people want to buy. But I am sure he will not change his austerity plan as a result.

Second, for a man who says he wants to cut the deficit he’s also sending out the message that he has no chance of doing so: he’s saying there’s plenty more debt to come. But I am certain he will not admit that.

And third, for a man who obsesses about the cost of debt to future generations here he is selling debt at 4% when he could quite easily sell it for less than half that price elsewhere. No one has done more to burden future generations than he is as a result. But the tune will not change, I am sure.

So why is he doing this? Candidly, it’s little better than gerrymandering. He’s literally selling the government’s silver to buy votes form the over 65s. Bribery is the nicest and politest possible term for his policy.

And it’s consequence? Four things.

First, over priced debt.

Second, a burden on younger generations to transfer wealth to the elderly.

Third, a transfer from those without wealth to those with wealth (no one buys such bonds unless they already have savings).

And a distortion in the market as a result of deliberate government action.

You could not make it up."

I cashed in a matured bond, from Nationwide, in anticipation of NS&I bonds becoming available, cheque from them has not arrived yet and then it will need three to five days after I get to the bank. I thought I had it all sussed but hadn't reckoned on NW dragging their heels.

I intend to play Santander at their own game having just opened a 123 account. No way am I leaving the RBS having been with them since 1962, I need a bolt hole in case this account goes belly up. They want my money but I certainly want theirs and I intend to spend wisely so that I get the most back. RBS are paying 0.5% on my emergency fund- wowee.

I may grab a place near Oxford Circus to beg- the major problem being I would not be able to get up again!

Just as an aside, as I'm not old enough to get a bond, I wonder how much tax free money one could save in a year by being prudent. I've just saved £100 on home insurance by threatening to go elsewhere. Apparently fully turning off the TV, etc will save about £30 per year etc.
Of course canny GNs may already be doing this! x

I have the same problem Nellie - by the time the money has left the BS and been cleared by the current account, I have no doubt they will all be sold. Don't want to haul money out of the BS only to find I have to put it back again as all bonds sold. Not do I want NS&I to take money out before it has been cleared by current account or we will finish up with a interesting overdraft which will cost us in interest and probably cancel out the good interest rate on the bond.

I have just rung Santander! Up to10 days! 10 B days to get my matured savings out of them and they cannot do a transfer to my bank, it has to be cheque.

As it happens OH has just moved his account which is nominally a joint account to Santander and they offered to put it in that account for me but I do not want to do that, I don't want another debit card and find it a lot easier not to share a bank account.
That way I know exactly where I am with my monthly money.
I have had this trouble getting money out of them before.

I reduced my ready money contingency fund on my kitchen revamp and my February holiday.

The chances of me getting a bond are receeding by the hour.

We are not looking to save for our old age. We are spending what we have now (this is of course out of concern for the economy - spending makes the money go round [if you believe that you will believe anything]). As we get older (if we do) we will need less cash to live, no car etc.. so we have decided to spend our disposable income as we get it. We do have a small emergency pot, but it is small. We are lucky that I have a final salary pension so do not need interest to live on. Feel sorry for those that rely on interest for income, bad times lately.

What i want to know is can you "book a bond" so to speak and then get time to move the money from one account to pay it into the NS&I. I have savings but I don't know how long it would take to transfer some of the fund I have into my bank account. Getting money out of Santander is a b****r I fear I have left it a bit late.

We waited until day 2 then applied on line and had no problems at all. We've both had emails confirming the bonds have been allocated.

mollie I do agree that the BBC is anything but unbiased, both about this and many other things. They need some older, wiser heads directing them.

was about to invest £2k in the 3 year bond (rainy, rainy day money) but feel mortified that I may be thought of as one of those 'well off' pensioners
wish I could invest 20K but as a single pensioner on about £13k gross per year the money just isn't there.
I wish those who keep on about the preferential treatment for pensioners would remember
the 'granny tax' - erosion of the additional personal allowance for the over 65s
the removal of the 10% tax rate
the 'winter fuel allowance' has been frozen at £200 per year (per household) since last decade
the abysmal interest rates on our lifetime savings (for 6 years) which has helped those young ones with loans and mortgages
the comments on the supposedly unbiased BBC are appalling - how would it be if they denigrated the younger generation as 'feckless' - still ageism.

I have just had an email from them saying the only way I will know if my application was successful is when I check my balance next week. They say to let them know if they inadvertently take the money twice if they take that amount from my account twice I will be in dead trouble, wealthy pensioner or not

DH got through eventually on phone and they say there have been a number of problems like ours which they will sort out as a priority. Let's hope they mean it.

Without wishing to "diss" us pensioners there must be a lot of quite well off over 65's as a lot of money has already been invested for the maximum amount.And yes it has been saved and worked hard for but the young only see what they want to.

£10000 in each bond, so £20000 per person.

My DH tried for hours to get signed up for these Bonds and they kept timing out on the computer. He eventually got £10,000 worth.

We went to bank today to check the money had been taken and they had taken it twice - £20,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So he is now trying to get through to them for it to be sorted.

You can't buy more than £10,000 per person but somehow they have managed to do this.

What a ba**s up.

Brenda - at the 4% in the 3 year bond for £10000 that would be £400 per year before tax - or are my sums wrong.
I hope the 'young prat' was not implying the bonds were tax-free

You are getting a very low rate of interest per year if you have invested £10000. Less than one half of a percent. There are much better deals than that around. Even the Post Office are giving 1.40 percent on an instant access account. Their bond pays 1.70.

I have just invested in the 1.70 bond and am ignoring the pensioner one year bond. The difference in the two rates is 1 per cent and even on the full possible amount of £10,OOO this is only £100 a year, less the tax which I would then have to claim back.

Young prat on the TV this lunchtime from The Taxpayers Alliance was very anti the 65+ bonds he kept referring to Monied pensioners almost like its a very dirty word, he repeated it several times. I worked bloody hard to save some money to give me an income in retirement to supplement my state pension. I'm getting about £40 a year interest at the moment and if I could invest my £10000 in this bond I would get some £1000 after tax, my estimate. Is that so wrong. I'm steaming.

Mishap when I was very young my aunt asked me if she could invest some money in premium bonds in my name because she already had the maximum amount. I don't remember her giving me a cut of any prizes and she didn't leave me anything in her will either! Just before I got married she asked me to cash them in for her.

#i'mnotsodaftthesedays

harrigran if you open a 123 Santander account and keep a minimum of £3000 and a max of £20,000 in it you will earn 3%. I think that it is a better option and you will have access to it if necessary.

It all seems a little disorganised, if mine isn't processed I don't think I will try again. I will probably use the money to get an ISA as you can invest £15,000 in a cash ISA.

We have tried the phone line for ages without success. I printed a form off Google and we sent a cheque for £10,0000 with it. God knows when it will be processed if at all. If it isn't then someone else will have our investment.

Exactly the same thing happened to me, sent them an email to see if I was registered because you need the unique number that they mail to you. I wont know for sure until about Tuesday 20th by which time the money will have left the account. they are supposed to confirm by email but it doesn't look as if it is going to happen.