How can you maximise the interest on your savings?
As we know, current savings rates on offer by banks and building societies are at record lows.
The Bank of England’s official interest rate remains close to zero ever since the ’08 financial crisis meaning savers have hardly had any rate rises passed onto them for over a decade.
So what should you do with your savings to make them work harder for you? Here are a few tips you can use to get more bang for your buck.
Shop around
Your cash may currently be parked in an account you’ve been using for the last however-many-years, but there’s nothing stopping you from shopping around to find a savings account that offers a better rate of interest.
If you had £10,000 to spend on a car, you wouldn’t buy the first car you saw. You’d assess the options and purchase the one that’s best for you. A savings account should be no different.
Search aggregators like MoneySuperMarket, Compare the Market and Which? can help you find the best deals.
Beat inflation
One reason why your savings fail to grow is because inflation erodes the purchasing power of your money. In a low-interest rate environment, this can be a real problem, as it can erode all of the gains that your money makes from compound interest.
Inflation is the amount by which the price of everyday household items increases over time. In order for your money to retain its purchasing power, it needs to grow at over and above the rate of inflation each year. If it doesn’t, your savings lose their value.
So when looking for a savings account, compare the rate you’re being offered to inflation. If the savings rate is below inflation, keep on looking. Read more on this subject on our blog here.
Think tax
It’s important to get a handle on how your capital and interest are affected by tax. Like inflation, tax erodes your gains if you aren’t careful with the way you manage it. The best way to avoid paying tax on interest is to use an ISA, as all interest earned within an ISA is tax-free.
Read the full article on the WiseAlpha Website.
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