The Prize Bond prize fund rate rose from 1.00% to 1.50% this month, the first State Savings increase in about three years. Almost every write-up has described that 1.5% as a return. It is not one. It is the size of the prize pool spread across the whole €4.4 billion in issue, and what an individual holder receives is decided by a draw.

Paddy Delaney works through the NTMA's own published figures and puts a realistic number on what Prize Bonds are actually worth to a normal holding, then lines them up against what the same State will pay for certainty.

What you'll learn:

• Why the 1.5% prize fund rate is not interest, and what it actually describes

• What the odds look like in practice — 0.067% per bond, and a 59% chance of a year with nothing on a €5,000 holding

• The new State Savings rates: 1.96%, 2.29%, 2.33% and 2.66%, all tax-free, and the one product that pays DIRT

• How to compare any bank rate properly by dividing the gross rate by 0.67

• Why the State Savings guarantee has no €100,000 ceiling, and who that actually matters to

• The trap in locking a 10-year rate, and why "eaten bread is soon forgotten" belongs in this decision

If you are holding Prize Bonds, State Savings or cash on deposit in Ireland and want to know what those balances are really doing, this episode is for you.

📖 Blog: www.informeddecisions.ie/post/prize-bonds-ireland-what-the-rate-means

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