Savings Accounts

Savings accounts are an attractive option to many people with money to put away or save. Savings accounts offer a low risk form of investing your money.

With a savings account the money you put in is not at risk and so is often particularly attractive as an investment option in times of economic instability.

Before choosing a savings account you need to consider how much you are likely to want to save and how long you want to save the money for. Different types of savings account offer different options. Generally though the longer you are willing to leave your money in a savings account and the more you out in the greater the level of interest that the savings account will pay.

Some savings accounts allow you to make regular small payments in whereas other savings accounts require you to invest a large initial lump sum into the savings account. See our table of savings accounts comparison table for examples of the various savings accounts.

Certain savings accounts penalise you for taking your money out early so watch out for this if you still want the flexibility of being able to access your money when you want you must avoid savings accounts with this type of penalty.

Make sure that you read all the terms and conditions that apply to the savings account.

If you have a lump sum to put into a savings account then be sure to shop around as the levels of interest paid on the savings accounts vary significantly between different savings accounts. It is a very competitive market and some temporary offers for great savings accounts can be found if you take the time to look around at different savings accounts.

Certain savings accounts are fixed term. This type of savings account enable you to pay in a sum of money for an agreed level of interest for the time your money are in the savings account. This type of savings account typically makes a penalty if you want to withdraw all or part of your money from the savings account before the expiry of the fixed period.

Some accounts are fixed term. This allows you to deposit a sum of money for a fixed period of time at an agreed level of interest. But if you need access to the money before the term expires there will usually be a reduction in the level of interest as a penalty.

Most general savings accounts apply a variable rate of interest to the money you have in the savings account. The level of interest varies according to levels set by the bank of England every three months.

There are many savings account options available and with a little research you should be able to find the savings account that suits your requirements.

If you are in any doubt as to the suitability of a particular savings account take advice from an independent financial adviser.

The comparison tables on this site provide a useful means of comparing key details of various different savings accounts but because there are so many savings account options available we cannot provide links to all the savings account options that exist and therefore you should always consider taking independent advice. However we hope that you will find our comparison tables useful when considering what savings account is the best option for you.