Laura Whitcombe

Reckless conservatism: don’t blow your fortune in cash

Savers are wasting a fortune by keeping their money in cash only. They may as well be burying the £735 billion they’ve collectively put by in a sock in the back garden for all the good it’s doing them.

The figure was revealed by investment platform Selftrade, which also found that 62 per cent of savers leave their money in cash. Of those who have bank and building society accounts for the money they squirrel away, two-thirds keep it in their current account, just over half use ISAs and 16 per cent have a piggy bank.

Only a quarter of British adults hold investment products, according to the company, and only 10 per cent take the trouble of shielding their returns from the taxman by using a stocks and shares ISA.

Of course, Selftrade is using these findings to peddle the merit of investing, but it makes a good point.

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