{"id":70657,"date":"2025-05-03T08:19:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T08:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/70657\/"},"modified":"2025-05-03T08:19:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T08:19:08","slug":"im-a-money-expert-this-make-a-serious-difference-to-your-savings-personal-finance-finance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/70657\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019m a money expert – this make a serious difference to your savings\u2019 | Personal Finance | Finance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Savers could risk losing out on cash – or landing themselves with a large tax<\/a> bill – if they remain \u201cin the dark\u201d about the interest rate on their savings<\/a> accounts. New research by Hargreaves Lansdown shows more than a quarter of savers (28%) are currently unaware of the returns they\u2019re yielding, which could mean missing out on better rates or unknowingly breaching their Personal Savings Allowance due to higher-than-expected interest income.<\/p>\n

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown<\/a>, said: \u201cGiven how rates have been falling and how much further they\u2019re expected to go, they could end up paying a horrible price for it.\u201d If your savings are languishing in an easy access branch account with a high street giant, Ms Coles noted that you could \u201cmake significantly more\u201d elsewhere. She explained: \u201cIf, for example, you have \u00a330,000 earning 1.35% with a high street giant, you could make \u00a3408 in a year. If you moved to an account paying 4.75%, you could make \u00a31,456 \u2013 leaving you \u00a31,048 better off.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Ms Coles noted that for those with more cash in better-paying savings accounts, by not keeping track, \u201cthere\u2019s a risk you\u2019re in the dark about a potential tax bill\u201d.<\/p>\n

Basic rate taxpayers can earn up to \u00a31,000 worth of interest before exceeding their \u201cpersonal allowance\u201d, and higher rate taxpayers can earn up to \u00a3500.<\/p>\n

However, Ms Coles said: \u201cIf you make more interest than this, you\u2019ll be liable for tax. When you\u2019re paying this through your tax return, it will be due long after you receive the interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

This means there\u2019s a danger of having to pay the tax much later, after the money has already been spent. To avoid this risk, Ms Coles suggested considering a Cash Individual Savings Account (ISA<\/a>), where all the interest earned in this account is tax-free.<\/p>\n

The Bank of England<\/a> is expected to cut central interest rates next week, and the market is pricing in around three more cuts in 2025. This makes it crucial for savers to review their pots now and cash in on the top deals while they\u2019re still around.<\/p>\n

In the past 18 months, savings rates have dropped significantly. The average easy access rate fell from 3.18% to 2.77%, and the average one-year rate fell from 5.36% to 4.12%<\/p>\n

Ms Coles said: \u201cBanks are cutting rates right now, so if you haven\u2019t checked with your provider, or opened letters or emails from them, there\u2019s every chance your easy access rate has dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen rates are falling, savers may think there\u2019s no point in keeping on top of their savings, because they\u2019re lower everywhere. However, with the average easy access rate offering 2.77% and several still offering 4.75% or more, switching could make a serious difference, especially for those with more savings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Savers could risk losing out on cash – or landing themselves with a large tax bill – if…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,1791,474,478,6615,4951,940,2499,1794,3028,35384,35386,35387,35385,35389,35388,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-70657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-cash-isa","10":"tag-finance","11":"tag-interest-rates","12":"tag-investing","13":"tag-isa","14":"tag-money-saving","15":"tag-personal-finance","16":"tag-personal-savings-allowance","17":"tag-savings","18":"tag-savings-accounts","19":"tag-savings-best-accounts","20":"tag-savings-interest-tax-rules","21":"tag-savings-interest-tips","22":"tag-savings-latest","23":"tag-savings-news","24":"tag-uk","25":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114442925697311526","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}