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The Premium Bond scheme - often known as Ernie - is run by the Government's savings arm, National Savings & Investments (NS & I), and were launched by Harold Macmillan in his budget in 1956 as a way of reducing inflation and to encourage saving after the end of the Second World War.
The idea was aimed at those who were more interested in winning a prize than getting regular interest payments. The Opposition called it a "squalid raffle", but the country disagreed.
On the first day, ￡ 5 m of Premium Bonds were sold, and by the time the first draw took place on June 1, 1957, ￡ 82 m had been invested, with a top prize of ￡ 1,000 paid.In all, 23,000 prizes were awarded.
A single ￡ 1 m prize is awarded each month, although to celebrate the bonds' 50th anniversary, NS & I paid out five ￡ 1 m jackpots in December 2006 and June 2007. In 1994, there was ￡ EADS invested in Premium Bonds, goal that has risen to ￡ 41bn today.
Sally Swait, Premium Bonds manager at NS & I said: "We wanted to recognise these landmark dates by holding our biggest ever prize draws."
Each Premium Bond costs ￡ 1 and the most you can invest is ￡ 30,000.While there is no interest paid, you are entered into a draw with the chance to win ￡ 1 m every month.The chances of winning "the big one" are slim at 24.000 to one, but the chances of winning the National Lottery are about 14 m to one, so the odds could be a lot worse.
Even though there is no specific interest rate paid on the bonds, because of the way the prize funds work out, there is an estimated annual prize fund interest rate of 1. 5pc at present. All prizes are paid tax-free.
Penny O' deny, of independent financial adviser The Onion Group, believes there is a "place for Premium Bonds in most people's portfolios". "For risk takers, they can "balance high-risk equity by providing the fun of gambling without the risk of losing vital".
"For the charge investor they offer the potential for high returns with only the risk of losing out against inflation, as no. interest is paid on the monies invested."
"For the 'balanced portfolio' investor - when you have made conventional investments, such as a balance of equity, fixed interest and property and maxed your individual savings account investment, filled your pension pot and are looking for something you don't ' have already, Premium Bonds are a good place as capital is guaranteed and winnings tax-free."
Anyone over 16 can buy Premium Bonds.If you want to buy some for a child, you put your details on the application, as well as the child's.But you have to do this by phone, post or monthly standing order, you cannot do it online.
You must buy a minimum of ￡ 100 in Premium Bonds, unless you are buying them regularly by standing order, when the limit drops to ￡ 50.Once you have ￡ 100 worth, you can get them in multiple of ￡ 10, and hold up to ￡ 30,000 in total.
Philippa Gee, managing director of Philippa Gee Wealth Management, cautioned against investing a large proportion of a portfolio in Premium Bonds.
"We are in an environment where there is little choice by way of low-risk investment products;"cash returns are terrible, other National Savings products are currently unobtainable, yet at the other end of the risk spectrum, there is a plethora of higher-risk volatile funds to choose from.
"Investors need simple, low-risk products to choose from and without that opportunity, Premium Bonds will start to look a lot more attractive." So to have a percentage of your portfolio invested in this way is ideal, but when you start holding more than is necessary you need to worry and I would tend to say that 20pc of your portfolio would be too high.
"But with the limit of ￡ 30,000 a larger investor is restricted anyway."Let's not forget that proceeds are tax free, the capital remains yours and a general conversation piece by most of my clients is how much money they have won.
"Don't go in it with the view of becoming the next millionaire, aim for a low-risk, simple product, this is hard to beat at present."
The winning numbers are drawn by "Ernie" - which stands for Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment - and "he" is now in a fourth incarnation.
Despite myths that Ernie is not random and that newer bonds win more prizes, NS & said the system is random, and each bond has an equal chance of winning, no matter when it was bought.The skew towards newer bonds winning more could be because more bonds have been bought in the past six years than in the previous 48 years altogether.
If you want to cash in a bond, you can do this any time by filling in a form you can download online or get from the Post Office.Ideally, you should send the certificates of the bonds you want to cash in to NS & I at National Savings and Investments, Glasgow, G58 1SB.
If you do not have the certificates, you can still claim your investment back.The money will usually be paid into your bank account within eight working days, or you can ask for a cheque if you prefer.
This short turnaround means many self employed people use Premium Bonds to hold their tax fund, providing a nice irony that the Government is giving the chance to win a serious amount of money through money that you owe it.
About ￡ 39 m is sitting at NS & I in unclaimed prizes waiting for 680,000 of us to pick it up.
Given the financial worries many people have, there is no better time for an unexpected windfall.There is no time limit on claiming Premium Bond prizes;If the money is yours, you will be able to get it no matter how long ago you won.
To see if you have won and not claimed, go to www.nsandi.com and enter your premium bond number into the prize checker.
If you have lost your Premium Bond certificate, there is a tracing service you can use to not only find your bonds, but check whether they won, too.
A spokesman said: "A Premium Bond holder with the maximum amount invested (￡ 30,000) and average luck could win 15 prizes each year."
While NS & I will make an effort to check the addresses of Premium Bonds, you should tell it if you have changed address.You can call free on 0500 007007 or write to NS & I at National Savings & Investments, Glasgow, G58 1SB.
To use the tracing service, you can download a form from www.nsandi.com and send it to the tracing service at National Savings and Investments, Blackpool, FY3 9YP.You need separate applications for tracks for more than one person.
Alternatively, you can visit www.mylostaccount.org.uk, which not only covers & NS, but 42 banks taking deposits in the UK and all 59 building societies.This is a one-stop shop for any lost account investigating you might need.
With this, complete the online form, you give as much detail as you can about your lost Premium Bond, or other account, such as names and addresses of the holders, and this information will be passed to the relevant organisation previous.
The good news is that if you have a Premium Bond prize to claim and you make your application now, you will get the money before Christmas.
A spokesman for NS & I said: "We would be able to process the claim out and get the payment of that prize to the winner in less than a fortnight."

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"Millions of British are likely to be seriously underprepared and on the back foot should they need available to the State, said Susan Barclay of Scottish provident, who conducted the research." "It is clear that people need to take action themselves to build a financial safety net security should the worst happen.

With this in mind, here are our guide would be available if you have lost your job tomorrow's Government safety nets.

New recipients of unemployment benefits may be shocked by very little that they Scottish provident re?oivent.Recherche showed that one in seven people were aware of the benefits of State level did not suffice to live.

To be eligible for jobseeker allowance (JSA), you should ask working, age 18 and State retirement age less than 16 hours per week working and living in the United Kingdom.

If you've recently lost your job, you're probably JSA begin by focusing on the contribution that depends on how much you paid contributions for the years insurance tax both. Your income and savings are not taken into account with this type of JSA, but it is only payable to a maximum of six months.The more you receive is of ￡ 65.45 per week if you are more than 25 years, or ￡ 51.71 if you are aged 16 to 24.

If you cannot find work in the six month period, you can be established based on the revenu.Cela JSA is paid until you find a job and you'll get less if you have savings of more than ￡ 6,000. If you have savings of more than ￡ 16,000 you probably get nothing.If your partner is more than 24 working hours per week you do qualify and if he or she worked fewer can affect what you get.

If you are not eligible for income-based JSA, the maximum that you can get is ￡ 51.71 as a single person or ￡ 102.75 if two of you are their only travail.Un aged parents over 18 years of age was able to obtain as much as 65.45 ￡ per week.

JSA to claim you must go to an interview with the Jobcentre.After that, the JSA is paid every two weeks from your account bancaire.Continuer to obtain the benefit, you will participate in interviews every fifteen days. For more details call Jobcentre Plus 0800 055 6688.

Is - this useful? Up to ￡ 65.45 per week.

If you're their work and savings of ￡ 16,000, you will get your tax paid by entier.Ceci applies whether you rent or own or even if you are still earning a low revenu.Vous can apply for Council tax with the application for the job-seeker allowance benefits.

Is - this useful? An average of ￡ 27 per week.

Although the tax credits are cut off, you may be eligible if you have dependent children and are of their work. For 2010 - 2011, you can get credit if you are earning up to ￡ 50,000. All eligible applicants to obtain a fundamental element of family ￡ 545 per year, while if you have a baby in a single you would get a further ￡ 545 (Mr. Osborne is this phasing out).Further, you can obtain child maximum amount is ￡ 2300, although this is set to increase. To find out if you qualify, complete the quick survey DirectGov Web site.

Is - this useful?￡ 99 per week for a family with two children one.

If you rent and the economies of less than ￡ 16,000, you may be admissible.Si you live with a partner, only one of you can claim.If you are single and less 25, you can get it for only one ai or shared a room in a housing.This threshold age rise 35 after the expenditure review.If you are a private tenant, housing benefit is calculated localement.Tarifs local housing allowance are set for different types of accommodation in each region.For example, if you have the right to rent a house in three bedrooms in Cambridge you receive ￡ 182.96 per week for the delivery of housing.For an apartment of a house in Derby, you would receive ￡ 86.30 by semaine.Si your rent is lower than the rate of local housing allowance, you may continue any advantage excess up to ￡ 15 per week.If your rent is higher, you have to pay the différence.Faire a claim you must telephone of the Department of housing tax benefits and the Council of your local Council.

Is - this useful?￡ 183 per week for a three?bedroomed Cambridge House.

If you own a House and will strive to pay your mortgage, Mr. Osborne has announced this week continued help for homeowners mortgage interest.

Support for mortgage interest (SMI) covers eligible interest on mortgages, payments if you receive ch?mage.Vous allowances must either wait for 13 weeks before you ask, and you can ask for two years of a mortgage interest of up to ￡ 200,000 .the support covers 3 63pc interest and income is taken into compte.En effect, if the partner WINS ￡ 5,000 or more, the couple are not eligible.

SMI is normally paid directly to your prêteur.Certains owners may be lower than that used to calculate the SMI, so that they receive IMS nécessaire.Ces payments can only be credited to their account mortgage interest rates.

If you fear of restitution, there is a system managed mortgage rescue councils locaux.Certains households will get a loan in the municipality of fairness, while others are assistance plan "mortgage to rent", whereby a local housing association buys their property and leases it to them.

Is - this useful?Up to ￡ 140 per week (interest on a mortgage of ￡ 200,000).

If you are concerned about the redundancy, you could take unemployment insurance, even if you are working in the service income publique.Un seeking 1 000 ￡ 30 years a month would pay ￡ 27 months to insure against unemployment or ￡ 29.70 to ensure against unemployment, accidents and illness.

These policies pay after 30 days of unemployment continue.Paiements monthly may continue for a year.

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