Sign up to This is Money's savings alerts to beat the pack on the best buy rates
- Savers can sign up to our free service by simply inputting their email address below - that's it
Savers have benefitted as this year's Isa season was marked by a frenzy of rate rises on the top savings deals but the best buys often don't stick around for long.
So whether you are looking for a cash Isa, an easy access account or a fixed rate savings deal, it pays to find out about new best buys straight away.
That's where our free Savings Alert service comes in.
When This is Money clocks a new best buy account that's a really good deal in our independent best savings rate tables, you can be among the first to hear about it.
Sign up to our savings alert service by entering your email below. We need your email address and... that's it. (And we will only use it to send you savings alerts.)
Savings rates: Get ahead of the pack and a good deal
After years in the doldrums, savings rates are back with a bang. In a world of apparent gloom, this is good news. You don't want to miss out.
Despite the Bank of England having cut rates over the past year or so, savings rates have held up well. You can get a cash Isa above 5 per cent and easy access and fixed rate deals at about 4.5 per cent.
But many savers aren't getting anywhere near this, with money sitting in old bank and building society accounts paying poor rates.
Check if you have cash languishing in some of the legacy accounts still paying pitiful sums that you didn't realise had become a worthless enterprise. If you do, then it is time to move your money.
Average rates are dragged down by often complacent, intransigent, arrogant (choose your adjective) larger banks offering a pittance. You need to shop around.
There are plenty of new, reputable banks on the block worth checking out, with the same FSCS protection for your savings.
You sometimes need to be swift though, as top deals can often not stick around.
Which is where our savings alerts come in. You can join the thousands of other This is Money readers already signed up, so that we can let them know when the best new deals land, via a short email straight to their inbox. Sign up, using the box below.
Best buy alerts: This is Money aims to give its readers the edge as interest rates rise.
What savings deal should you go for?
Traditionally, fixed-term savings accounts - usually over one, two, three or five years - offer better rates than accounts where you can withdraw money as you please.
Different types of account will be right for different savers, but one way to think about it is that opting for easy-access or fixing isn't an all or nothing affair for your savings.
You can split your pot between easy-access savings and fixed rates and even dabble with notice accounts.
We briefly explain the different types of savings account below:
Easy-access savings accounts
Easy-access savings account holders can move their money at will. Some accounts are true easy-access with unlimited withdrawals, whereas others allow a set number of withdrawals per year otherwise the rate drops.
If you might need your cash at short notice, an easy-access account is the best home for it - and a good place for building up a savings pot.
But remember the difference between a best easy-access deal and a best one-year fix can be a meaningful amount in interest on a £10,000 deposit and you are protected from rates falling. So, do think about if you really need instant access to all your savings.
Fixed rate savings accounts
With a fixed rate savings account, you agree to lock your money up for a certain period in return for a set interest rate over those years, for example, one, two or five years.
Fixed rates are usually higher than easy access deals and provide certainty on the interest that you will earn. However, if rates rise then you are locked into an account on a lower rate. This means that it pays to beware locking up all your cash for long periods.
One option is to split money between different fixed rate periods, but at the moment the general advice for savers is to be wary of locking away too much for too long, as rates are on the rise.
Notice accounts
One potential solution for savers who are concerned about losing access to their cash, but also keen to boost their rate is to consider a notice account.
A notice account is a halfway house between an easy-access and fixed rate account - it allows you to get your cash after a notice period, for example 90 days.
Cash Isas
Tax-free cash Isas are a vital weapon in your savings armoury.
A cash Isa allows you to earn interest free of the income tax that would otherwise be charged. There is a personal savings allowance below which you don't pay tax, of £1,000 of interest per year, but this drops to just £500 for 40 per cent taxpayers.
With savings rates now higher and income tax thresholds frozen, more are at risk of the taxman nabbing their interest. With an Isa you are shielded.
Stay on top of new deals: sign up to savings alerts
Sign up to our savings alerts and we'll send you carefully selected articles, as they are published, with details of new best-buy accounts that have been announced, plus links to tips, research and explainers about the latest deals on offer.
We take savings seriously and want our readers to get the best deals.
This is Money's best savings rates tables are as independent and reliable as they were at the turn of the Millennium when the average savings rate was... somewhere in the region of where we're almost back to now.
* This is Money's savings alerts were set up by our late colleague Richard Browning, as a mark of respect his byline remains on this article.
