Anyone with a savings account for over 5 years urged to do 1 thing | Personal Finance | Finance

A money expert has urged Brits to “send their money out to work” if they have had their money in the same bank account for the last five years. Many Brits put away regular amounts of money into the same bank account every month, letting it gradually build up to a nice sum. But one expert says that people should move their money around more as there is serious money to be earned on interest.

Paul Lewis says that a huge number of people are losing out on earnings if they have had the same savings account for five years, with more than £300 billion in savings in accounts earning little to no interest. There was a recent report by Hargreaves Lansdown which revealed that one third of savers hadn’t moved their money in the last five years, despite more interest to be earned. Paul reveals that most savings accounts opened in the UK in 2020 were offering 1 percent interest to customers. However, savers can get interest rates as high as 4 per cent today, so they can be losing out on serious returns on their savings by keeping their funds in the same accounts.

He told Saga Magazine that if a saver has £10,000 in their account, a 4 per cent interest rate would earn them £400 extra income, which works out at around £8 per week.

“Nowadays, it is easy to move money from one savings account to another, especially if you do it all online,” Paul revealed. ” You can easily open a new high-paying savings account, then take the money out of any low-paying accounts into your current account. The moment it arrives – and it usually is in moments now – you can use it to fund the new account. Job done.”

Brits have a wide variety of choices when it comes to savings accounts, with one of the most popular being a Cash ISA, where savers can put away up to £20,000 per year and earn tax-free interest.

While Cash ISAs are the safer option, people often get greater returns on Stocks and Shares ISAs. However, these bare more risk as investments can never be guaranteed to make a return.

Paul added: “You can avoid some of the hassle of moving your money regularly to the best paying account by using a savings platform. You register once with the platform and then you can move your money to any accounts they list, though transfers usually take a day or so.

“You will also be able to see easily where your savings are, what they are earning, and some even provide an end of year statement for tax.”