The Government’s 65+ ‘pensioner bonds’ have been sold to more than a million older savers, who made total investments to the tune of over £13bn, making them the best-selling retail financial product in Britain’s modern history, HM Treasury has revealed.
The ‘65+ Guaranteed Growth Bonds’ from National Savings and Investments went on sale in January 2015 and offered savers aged 65 and over an opportunity to boost the return on their savings by investing up to £10,000 per bond, with an overall investment cap of £10bn set by the Government.
The bonds offered attractive fixed annual interest rates of 2.8% for one-year bonds and 4% for three-year bonds.
However, following the success of the bonds the Chancellor subsequently announced that they would be available until 15 May 2015, with no overall cap, in order that more savers aged 65+ would have the chance to benefit from the scheme.
