#savings-accounts

#savings-accounts

The benefits of using a cash ISA are clear: no tax payable on the interest earned, regardless of amounts, and you can put in up to 20,000 a year for now. That will change from April 2027, capped at 12,000 (the rest can go into other ISA types), but if you'd even been putting in 150 - nowhere near enough to max your allowance - you'd still have been able to save up more than 21,000 after a decade, assuming an average 3 per cent interest rate.

Nearly one in five (18%) of accounts include a bonus rate of 1.88% for nearly a year on average. Nearly half (44%) restrict the number of withdrawals, while 28% impose interest penalties for too many withdrawals and 16% have restrictions such as a high minimum balance or requiring customers to have a current account with them.

In Germany, Sparkonten are popular financial products that provide a secure way to earn interest without exposing savings to stock market volatility.

Investing in gold yielded a profit of £249.82 in one year compared to HSBC's best savings account earning just £41.

You are taxed on the interest on your savings when it is accessible by you. So if you pick a fixed-rate savings account that pays out all the interest at maturity, for tax purposes all of that interest will be counted in one tax year.