Investors told forget savings accounts, think of shares

Britain's 38 million savers have been urged to invest their money in the stock market after being warned that for many of them it is now a "waste of time" putting their cash into a savings account.

Henry Wallop and Gary White
Telegraph

The warning came after official figures indicated that the cost of living had increased once again in November, making it nearly impossible to earn a real rate of return on any bank or building society savings product.

As the London stock market closed at a two-and-a-half-year high, experts said that for many savers taking the risk of abandoning a deposit account and placing it in a high-yielding collection of shares was a more sensible option.

The dearth of decent savings products was laid bare by figures from the personal finance website Moneyfacts which showed that there were just three accounts – out of a total of 2,203 on the market – that paid a real rate of return, and only one for higher-rate taxpayers.

Darius McDermott, the managing director of Chelsea Financial Services, an independent financial adviser, said: "The simple fact is if you have £1 and you invest in cash, you will lose out once you take into account tax and inflation. Most savings accounts are just a waste of time.

"But if you put that £1 into to a good high-yielding fund you will make a return. Of course your capital could increase or it could fall. That's the risk, but I would put my £1 into equities every single time."

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